Just this morning, North Korea released United States citizen Otto Warmbier from prison by airlift, as it is reported that he was in a coma for over a year while in prison.
Warmbier, 22, a University of Virginia student from suburban Cincinnati, was on his way back to the United States, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement.
"In no uncertain terms North Korea must explain the causes of his coma", Richardson, whose Center for Global Engagement had directly sought Warmbier's release with the North Korean government, said in a statement.
They say that Otto Warmbier is on a Medivac flight on his way home.
It's understood that he has been in a coma since shortly after his show trial in March a year ago.
"We want the world to know how we and our son have been brutalized and terrorized by the pariah regime" in North Korea, they said.
"The UVa family will continue to keep the Warmbiers in our thoughts and prayers as Otto returns to the United States and his home, where he will receive the care and support of those who love him". On Tuesday, Warmbier was medically evacuated from the country, according to a statement from his parents, Fred and Cindy Warmbier.
In March 2016, Warmbier was sentenced to a 15-year prison term with hard labor for allegedly stealing a political propaganda poster on January 2, 2016, during a tour of the country.
The president of the University of Virginia said the school is "deeply concerned and saddened" to learn that their student is in a coma.
North Korean officials had accused Warmbier of subversion.
After officials paraded him in an emotional press conference, where Warmbier begged for forgiveness, he was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment in March.
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Warmbier was serving a 15-year sentence for "anti-state" activities, which amounted to little more than attempting to steal a poster from a hotel.
Republican Sen. Rob Portman says North Korea should be "universally condemned for its abhorrent behavior". Warmbier's family did not respond to calls seeking comment. "Over the last 18 months, they have had to endure more than any family should have to bear".
Warmbier was freed on the same day former National Basketball Association star Dennis Rodman landed in North Korea to visit its leader, Kim Jong Un.
Secretary of State Tillerson said the State Department is continuing to discuss three other detained Americans with North Korea. "My goal is to go over there and try to see if I can keep bringing sports to North Korea".
The State Department says former National Basketball Association star Dennis Rodman, who is visiting North Korea, had nothing to do with the release of a detained American college student.
Two of them, Kim Sang Duk and Kim Hak-song, are academics who worked at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology.
Tillerson said the USA is discussing their respective cases with the North Korean regime. The North Koreans agreed to allow consular visits to four Americans held in the North.
North Korea poses one of the greatest national security challenges for Trump as it tries to develop a nuclear-tipped missile that could strike America. When the Swedes finally got the okay to visit, the North Koreans immediately asked for a meeting with Joe Yun, the USA envoy in NY, when he was told about Otto Warmbier's condition.
It's not clear if he was forced to speak by the North Koreans.
"We're going to have to move to work with others to begin to deny North Korea basic needs like crude oil supplies, petroleum fuel supplies, things that are fairly or at least easier.to monitor whether we're getting cooperation with people or not", Tillerson said during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.
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