The comments published by the official Korean Central News Agency were North Korea's first reaction to Otto Warmbier's death in a USA hospital on Monday after it released him for what it called humanitarian reasons.
Warmbier was detained in North Korea for over a year and died shortly after returning home in a coma.
Some American officials declared that North Korea "murdered" him, and proposed that the US take action against Pyongyang, through travel restrictions and tougher economic sanctions.
Warmbier died Monday at University of Cincinnati Hospital Medical Center, less than a week after returning to Cincinnati in a coma from North Korea last week after spending 15 months in state custody.
22-year-old American Otto Warmbier died less than a week after his return to the U.S. after almost a year and a half in North Korean detention.
The agency said: "Our related institutions are treating criminals who committed crimes against (our) republic strictly based on domestic law and worldwide standards, and Warmbier was no different", the KCNA said.
Warmbier was accused of trying to steal a propaganda banner while visiting North Korea in 2015 and was later convicted of subversion. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said that China shared the same goal of eliminating nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula, while State Councilor Yang Jiechi told Trump that China was willing to coordinate with the U.S.in dealing with North Korea.
How may relations between the United States and North Korea be affected?
Mourners carry the coffin of Otto Warmbier after his funeral Thursday.
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According to CNN, Warmbier's doctors said the 22-year-old student was in a condition they called "unresponsive wakefulness" or "persistent vegetative state".
Portman said sanctions against North Korea should be tightened, WVXU reports.
The spokesman also blamed the Obama administration for failing to act sooner to help Warmbier, saying the 22-year-old University of Virginia undergrad was "a victim of policy of 'strategic patience.'" The Obama administration, the spokesman said, never asked for his release.
The North Korean spokesman quoted by Reuters suggested the student had returned to the U.S. "in his normal state of health".
The circumstances of Otto Warmbier's coma and death are yet not clear.
Ria Westergaard Pedersen, 33, who was with Warmbier in North Korea, told the Danish broadcaster TV2 that he had been nervous when taking pictures of soldiers, and said she doubted North Korea's explanation for his arrest.
There are three more Americans held in North Korea.
North Korea issued a statement last July threatening to shut down its NY channel of communication with the United States, while refusing to talk with diplomats about the detainees.
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