Otto Warmbier’s parents: North Korea is not a victim, ‘they’re terrorists’

The father of Otto Warmbier, the American student who died in the U.S. after being imprisoned in North Korea for more than a year, is calling for the country to be listed as a state sponsor of terrorism. 

“We see North Korea claiming to be a victim and that the world is picking on them. And we’re here to tell you North Korea is not a victim, they’re terrorists,” Fred Warmbier said during an interview with host Ainsley Earhardt on “Fox & Friends.”

“They kidnapped Otto. They tortured him. They intentionally injured him. They are not victims. They are terrorists,” he continued, adding that the U.S. owes “it to the world to list North Korea as a state sponsor of terror.”

{mosads}Warmbier and his wife, Cindy Warmbier, described the painful experience of first meeting their son on the plane after he was held prisoner in North Korea for 17 months. Otto Warmbier returned to the U.S. in June in a coma and with severe brain damage. 

“We climbed to the top of the steps, and we looked in and Otto was on the stretcher across in the plane and he was jerking violently, making these inhuman sounds. Cindy and Greta ran off the plane. Austin and I walked over to Otto. Otto had a shaved head. He had a feeding tube coming out of his nose. He had — he was staring blankly into space, jerking violently. He was blind. He was deaf,” Fred Warmbier said.

“As we looked at him and tried to comfort him, it looked like someone had taken a pair of pliers and rearranged his bottom teeth. Within two days of Otto being home, his fever spiked to 104 degrees. He had a large scar on his right foot. North Korea is not a victim. They’re terrorists. They purposely and intentionally injured Otto,” he continued. 

North Korea arrested the University of Virginia student for allegedly trying to steal a propaganda banner. He was convicted of subversion and sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor. 

Warmbier was in a coma for most of his time in North Korea, which Pyongyang has claimed was a result of botulism.