North Korea on Friday called itself the "biggest victim" in the death of an American student who was detained for more than a year and died days after being released in a coma.
According to Rodman and his agent, Chris Volo, the duo personally lobbied the Pyongyang government to send Warmbier home.
Meanwhile, Rodman and his agent feel they are partially responsible for the North Korea's release of American college student Otto Warmbier, who died last Monday, just days after being medically evacuated from a North Korean prison on the day the former National Basketball Association star arrived.
He told Strahan, "I was just so happy to see the kid released".
"The fact that Warmbier died suddenly in less than a week just after his return to the USA in his normal state of health indicators is a mystery to us as well", the North Korean official said of the death of the 22-year-old student, which took place on Monday at a Cincinnati hospital. "Some good things came out of this trip".
He said: 'The fact that Warmbier died suddenly in less than a week just after his return to the U.S. in his normal state of health indicators is a mystery to us as well'.
"Warmbier was a victim of the policy of strategic patience maintained by Obama, who rejected dialogue because of his extreme hostility and antipathy for us", the spokesperson said.
Warmbier had been on a tourist trip to North Korea when he was detained and sentenced to hard labour early a year ago for allegedly stealing a political poster from a North Korean hotel.
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Military-to-military exchanges should also be upgraded and mechanisms of notification established in order to cut the risks of "judgment errors" between the Chinese and U.S. militaries, the statement also said.
"The fact that Warmbier died suddenly in less than a week after his return to the U.S.in his normal state of health indicators is a mystery to us as well", a spokesman, quoted by North Korean state-run media, said. Now, the official Korean Central News Agency has spoken out, via the Washington Post, to say this tragedy is a total mystery to them. Officials at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he was treated after his return, declined to provide details.
And of course, Pyongyang says that Otto's early release was an act of humanitarianism.
He said his controversial trips to North Korea have been worthwhile despite the backlash.
The tour group, which was founded by British expat Gareth Johnson, also tried to reassure other travelers by explaining that these tours to North Korea are not just created to be rebellious.
He added, "They're so happy now, because it's more like ... it's civilized again".
China and the United States reached an important consensus on the development of bilateral relations and security issues at a high-level dialogue held Wednesday in the USA capital of Washington D.C.
"I know being there had something to do with it", Volo said. "I never met Otto Warmbier but I have tremendous respect for him and the life that he led as a young man".
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