US student Otto Warmbier, who was freed from a DPRK jail this week, has been in a coma for a year, his parents have said.
Speaking to the Washington Post, Warmbier's parents said they had been told that their son has been in the condition since March 2016, soon after his trial. He was given a sleeping pill and never woke.
US media reported earlier that he was on a Medivac flight on his way home, and was expected to arrive in Cincinnati late Tuesday for urgent medical treatment.
US student Otto Warmbier speaking at a press conference in Pyongyang. /KCNA Photo
AP on Tuesday cited US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson as reporting that the DPRK had released jailed US university student Warmbier.
Tillerson said that Warmbier was on his way to the US, and that the US State Department was continuing to discuss the situations of three other detained US citizens with the DPRK.
The 22-year-old Warmbier was detained in January last year, and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor by a DPRK court for attempting to steal a propaganda banner.
It is reported that the college student arrived at an airport in Ohio on Tuesday night local time.
Last month, the DPRK's KCNA news agency reported that the country had detained another US citizen named Kim Hak Song, who worked for Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. He was reportedly accused of "hostile criminal acts with an aim to subvert the country."
Otto Warmbier at the Supreme Court in Pyongyang. /KCNA Photo
According to South Korean news agency Yonhap, over 10 US citizens have been detained in the DPRK since 2009.
It was reported earlier on Tuesday that US basketball star Dennis Rodman was once again returning to Pyongyang for a visit, telling reporters he was “just trying to open the door.” In 2013, ahead of a visit to the DPRK, Rodman, who is on friendly terms with leader Kim Jong Un, called for the release of US citizen Kenneth Bae, who had been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor by a DPRK court.
Bae was later released in 2014, and told CNN that he thanked Rodman for “being a catalyst” in his release.
Updated at 10:45 GMT+8
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DPRK detains another US citizen, reports KCNA
Third US citizen detained by DPRK at Pyongyang Airport - Yonhap
