USA: Otto Warmbier, Who Returned From North Korea In Coma Is Dead

US student Otto Warmbier, who was imprisoned in North Korea for 17 months before being returned home in a coma less than a week ago, has died in hospital, his family said in a statement.

Mr Warmbier returned from North Korea last week, and his father Fred Warmbier denounced the "pariah" regime that brutalised his son.

Otto Warmbier, the American student who was released from North Korea in a coma after being imprisoned for 17 months, has died in a Cincinnati hospital.

"It is our sad duty to report that our son, Otto Warmbier, has completed his journey home. Surrounded by his loving family, Otto died today at 2.20pm," the statement said.

It would be easy at a moment like this to focus on all that we lost - future time that won't be spent with a warm, engaging, brilliant young man whose curiosity and enthusiasm for life knew no bounds.

But we choose to focus on the time we were given to be with this remarkable person.

Mr Warmbier had been sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labour in North Korea, convicted of subversion after he tearfully confessed he had tried to steal a propaganda banner.

The University of Virginia student was held for more than 17 months and medically evacuated from North Korea last week. Doctors said he had returned with severe brain damage, but it wasn't clear what caused it.

He was taken by Medivac to Cincinnati, where he grew up in suburban Wyoming. He was salutatorian of his 2013 class at the highly rated high school, and was on the soccer team among other activities.

In their statement on Monday, his parents said: "You can tell from the outpouring of emotion from the communities that he touched - Wyoming, Ohio and the University of Virginia to name just two - that the love for Otto went well beyond his immediate family.

We would like to thank the wonderful professionals at the University of Cincinnati Medical Centre who did everything they could for Otto.

Unfortunately, the awful torturous mistreatment our son received at the hands of the North Koreans ensured that no other outcome was possible beyond the sad one we experienced today.

When Otto returned to Cincinnati late on June 13th he was unable to speak, unable to see and unable to react to verbal commands.

He looked very uncomfortable almost anguished. Although we would never hear his voice again, within a day the countenance of his face changed, he was at peace. He was home and we believe he could sense that.

"We thank everyone around the world who has kept him and our family in their thoughts and prayers. We are at peace and at home too."

Three Americans remain held in North Korea. The US government accuses North Korea of using such detainees as political pawns. North Korea accuses Washington and South Korea of sending spies to overthrow its government.

At the time of Mr Warmbier's release, a White House official said Joseph Yun, the US envoy on North Korea, had met North Korean foreign ministry representatives in Norway the previous month.

Such direct consultations between the two governments are rare because they don't have formal diplomatic relations.

At the meeting, North Korea agreed that Swedish diplomats could visit all four American detainees.

Mr Yun learnt about Mr Warmbier's condition in a meeting a week before the release from the North Korean ambassador at the UN in New York.

Mr Yun then went to North Korea and visited Mr Warmbier on June 12 with two doctors and demanded his release on humanitarian grounds.