The parents of Otto Warmbier, a young American student who died after being held captive in North Korea for more than a year, are hopeful President Trump’s meeting with Kim Jong Un will be a success after Trump credited their son with being the impetus behind the summit in Singapore.
“We appreciate President Trump’s recent comments about our family. We are proud of Otto and miss him. Hopefully something positive can come from this,” Fred and Cindy Warmbier said in statement on Wednesday.
Statement from Fred and Cindy Warmbier, the parents of Otto Warmbier: “We appreciate President Trump’s recent comments about our family. We are proud of Otto and miss him. Hopefully something positive can come from this.”
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) June 12, 2018
During a solo press conference on Tuesday held shortly after the heads of state met in person for the first time, Trump said the gathering at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa Island “would not have happened” without Otto Warmbier’s tragic death.
“Something happened from that day — it was a terrible thing, it was brutal,” Trump told reporters. “But a lot of people started to focus on what was going on, including North Korea.
“I really think that Otto is someone who did not die in vain. I told this to his parents,” Trump continued. “Otto did not die in vain. He had a lot to do with us being here today.”
Otto Warmbier was a 22-year-old University of Virginia student when he was detained in North Korea in January 2016 for attempting to steal a banner hanging in his hotel and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.
He was returned to his family in the U.S. in a comatose state last June and died a week later.
