Comatose student released by North Korea arrives in Ohio, USA

A spokeswoman at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center said Warmbier would be treated there.

The family also released a statement saying that officials in North Korea told them that Otto Warmbier had become ill with botulism and had been in a coma for well over a year now.

Former NBA basketball player Dennis Rodman arrives at Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, Tuesday, June 13, 2017.

A University of Virginia student, Warmbier, 22, is due to arrive home in Cincinnati on Tuesday evening.

Police apprehended the student, identified only as 25-year-old Kim, Tuesday night for sending a homemade bomb to his professor's office at the engineering faculty building of the university in western Seoul earlier in the day.

State Department spokesman Heather Nauert, when asked whether Warmbier's release could open the way for dialogue amid high tensions between the Trump administration and North Korea, said: "It's just too soon to say".

"I have high confidence that's not the case but Dennis does know Trump and he does know Kim", Pinkston said, adding that "it's not a pre-planned thing, the White House, State Department calling him, saying "Take this envelope, say this thing". He has not been seen in public since he was sentenced in March 2016.

Warmbier's release came as former United States basketball star Dennis Rodman arrived in North Korea on Tuesday, returning to the increasingly isolated nuclear-armed country where he previously met leader Kim Jong Un.

Kim Dong-chul, who emigrated to the United States in 1972, was charged with plotting to subvert the DPRK system, slandering the country's leadership and gathering state and military secrets when he was on trial in April, 2016 and sentenced to 10 years of hard labor.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with his family as they continue to battle for Otto's life".

Warmbier hails from Cincinnati, and Ohio's two senators both welcomed his release, while condemning his captors.

In Wyoming, resident Amy Mayer said news of his release had sent waves of shock and joy through the neighborhood.

Otto Warmbier, the American college student detained in North Korea for more than 17 months, was returned Tuesday to his hometown of Cincinnati. US officials in touch with Yun and medical personnel declined to say whether Warmbier remains in a coma or to make any comment on his current medical condition.

The last time Rodman visited North Korea, he delighted the country's young ruler with a rendition of "Happy Birthday", suffered an angry meltdown on CNN while defending his trip, and spent time at a rehab facility.

The North Korean account, the family said, claimed that Warmbier then fell into a coma after being given a sleeping pill. His family says he is in a coma. Chang also talks about N. Korea's missile capabilities and the timeline for their ability to strike the USA with a nuclear weapon. The North Koreans agreed to allow consular visits to four Americans held in the North. And Yun was dispatched to North Korea and visited Warmbier with two doctors on Monday, and demanded his release. Warmbier was evacuated Tuesday.

A student at the University of Virginia, he had flown to North Korea that January as a tourist.

Otto Warmbier (WORM'-bir) was serving a 15-year prison term with hard labor for alleged anti-state acts. On this trip, he has already been roundly criticized by some for visiting during a time of high tensions between the USA and North Korea over its weapons programs and recent missile launches.

Americans have been sentenced to years in North Korean prisons for such seemingly minor offenses as stealing a political banner and likely could not expect leniency if the country's drug laws were violated.

Sen. Rob Portman confirmed the release but did not comment on Warmbier's health.

They say that Otto Warmbier is on a Medivac flight on his way home.

Warmbier's parents said in a statement to The Associated Press that they were told their son has been in a coma since March 2016, and they had learned of this only one week ago.

"We thank you for the opportunity and blessing you've given us to serve your agenda and the American people", said Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, who reports suggest may be at risk of losing his job amid internal palace squabbles.

The State Department said President Trump had been consulted.