American Otto Warmbier was sentenced to 15 years hard labor in North Korea for the “crime” of ripping down a North Korean propaganda poster while in a hotel there.
After only just over a year, in June 2017, Warmbier was returned to the U.S. on his deathbed. His body jerked with uncontrollable spasms, had no awareness of his surroundings, and showed signs of trauma his parents say can only be explained by torture.
A new report from GQ on ‘The Untold Story of Otto Warmbier” disputes the claims that Warmbier suffered torture while imprisoned in North Korea, which should at least provide some consolation to his parents, however minor it may be. According to those familiar with the matter, physical torture is reserved for North Korean dissidents, while non-citizens tend to undergo more psychological torture in the form of intense interrogations. Warmbier’s body didn’t show any signs of fractured bones, and his skin was in good condition when doctors at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center analyzed his body (though his parents didn’t permit a full autopsy).
But that’s not the main revelation of the GQ piece – that has to do with how America retrieved Warmbier’s body. As we learned, the retrieval has nothing to do with North Korea, and everything to do with Trump taking initiative. In early June (of 2017), Trump’s special representative for North Korea policy Joseph Yun learned that Warmbier was unconscious.
Then, according to that GQ report, “When Trump learned of Otto’s condition, he doubled down on the order for Yun to rush to Pyongyang and bring Otto home. The North Koreans were unilaterally informed that an American plane would soon land in Pyongyang and that United States diplomats and doctors would get off.” Trump didn’t request permission to retrieve Warmbier’s body – he showed up, and informed them that they’d be returning his body.
An anonymous State Department official quoted in the report said Trump sounded like a “dad” when learning of the news. The anonymous official added that they were “very scared” of the risks. “Though the North Koreans eventually said the plane would be able to land, no one knew what kind of welcome the Americans would receive on the ground.”
Per this excellent GQ story on Otto Warmbier, after Trump learned of his condition he ordered an American plane to land in Pyongyang w/o asking for North Korean permission to get Otto out ASAP https://t.co/n5KRHrAvJb pic.twitter.com/C5yuu1z1fn
— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) July 24, 2018
The Americans were met by a “busload of soldiers” after landing in Pyongyang, and Yun then engaged in rounds of negotiations with North Korean officials, trying to win Otto’s freedom.
Negotiations for his release continued into the night, eventually concluding with Yun “telling the North Koreans we would leave with or without Otto. I felt there was no point in dragging on. I was 90 percent sure they would release him, and that this call would bring an action forcing them to do so.”
Finally, they agreed to his release. (RELATED: After President Trump Rescued Fred Warmbier’s Son, He Blasted Barack Obama).
While Obama refused to do as much as consider speaking to North Korea’s leadership, Trump sent his diplomats uninvited to take back what I’d consider a hostage, and it worked. Just a year later, the regime would be engaging in talks to denuclearize. (RELATED: North Korea Dismantles Key Launching Facilities).
That reflects a massive divergence from the erratic and insane behavior we’ve seen from North Korea ever since they became a dictatorship. All we needed was a (political) madman of our own to keep them in line.
