The family of Otto Warmbier has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against North Korea after he died with severe brain damage after spending 17 months in captivity. The suit came hours before North and South Korea meet.
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The parents of American college student Otto Warmbier filed a wrongful death lawsuit against North Korea in federal court on Thursday.
Warmbier arrived home last June in a coma after spending 17 months in a North Korean prison, dying days later at the age of 22 with severe brain damage. The University of Virginia student, who was on tour in Pyongyang, was detained and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor by North Korea's supreme court for allegedly attempting to steal a propaganda poster.
The 22-page complaint, filed in the US District Court in Washington, DC, accuses North Korea of "hostage taking, illegal detention, torture and killing" of Warmbier. The lawsuit by Fred and Cindy Warmbier seeks unspecified damages for personal injury.
North Korea has dismissed torture claims, blaming Warmbier's coma on botulism — a rare, serious illness caused by contaminated food or a dirty wound — and a sleeping pill. The lawsuit aims to hold the regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un legally accountable for their son's death.
"Otto was taken hostage, kept as a prisoner for political purposes, used as a pawn and singled out for exceptionally harsh and brutal treatment by Kim Jong Un," Fred Warmbier said in a statement.
"Kim and his regime have portrayed themselves as innocent while they intentionally destroyed our son's life. This lawsuit is another step in holding North Korea accountable for its barbaric treatment of Otto and our family."
The two meetings are expected to focus on denuclearization, developing a peace regime and normalizing relations between the two countries.
Trump has raised Warmbier's death repeatedly in public statements as part of his administration's "maximum pressure" approach to North Korea.
According to American newspaper The Washington Post, the White House is supportive of the lawsuit but did not have a role in drafting it.
"Although this is a private legal action to which the United States government is not a party, Americans remain committed to honoring Otto's memory, and we will not forget the suffering of his parents, Fred and Cindy Warmbier," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement on Thursday.
The Warmbier family is being represented by McGuire Woods, and a lead attorney on the case, Richard Cullen, also represents US Vice President Mike Pence.
North Korea's history of taking US prisoners
The parents of US tourist Otto Warmbier, who died after being imprisoned in North Korea, say he was tortured. His case is an extreme example when compared to other US citizens who have been held captive by Pyongyang.
Image: picture-alliance/Photoshot
'Crimes against the state'
In 2016, US student Otto Warmbier was arrested for allegedly stealing a propaganda poster as a "trophy." He was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for "crimes against the state." In June 2017, he was returned by North Korea to the US in a coma and died a week later. What happened to him in captivity is a mystery. His death prompted a ban on US citizens traveling to North Korea.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/MAXPPP
'Subversion and espionage'
Kim Dong Chul, a South Korea-born US citizen, was sentenced in 2015 to 10 years hard labor for "subversion and espionage" after North Korean officials said he received a USB stick containing nuclear-linked and military secrets from a South Korean source in North Korea. Chul was arrested while visiting the special economic zone of Rason. He remains imprisoned and his condition is unknown.
Image: Reuters/KCNA
'Trying to overthrow the regime'
In 2013, North Korea sentenced US citizen Kenneth Bae to 15 years hard labor for "crimes against the state." He was arrested while on a tour group in the port city of Rason. A North Korean court described Bae as a militant Christian evangelist. He was allowed to talk to the media once, and said he was forced to work eight hours a day and was in poor health. Bae was released in November 2014.
Image: Reuters/KCNA
'Rash behavior' and 'hostile acts'
In 2013, US citizen Matthew Miller was arrested when he arrived in Pyongyang and reportedly tore up his US passport, demanding asylum in North Korea. He was later sentenced to six years of hard labor on charges of espionage. The court said Miller had a "wild ambition" to experience prison life so that he could secretly investigate North Korea's human rights situation. He was released in 2014.
Image: Reuters/KCNA
'Criminal involved in killing civilians'
In 2013, Merrill Newman an 85-year-old Korean War US Army veteran, was detained for one month in North Korea. Arrested as he was departing, he was accused of "masterminding espionage and subversive activities." He was freed after he expressed "sincere repentance" and read a statement that said he was "guilty of a long list of indelible crimes against the DPRK government and Korean people."
Image: Reuters
Freed by a diplomatic gesture
US journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling were captured in 2009 after briefly entering North Korea to report on refugees. After a month in confinement, they were sentenced to 12 years hard labor for "illegal entry and "hostile acts." Two months later, after former US President Bill Clinton met with former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang, the two women were pardoned and freed.
