North Korea insisted US pay US$2 million hospital bill for comatose student Otto Warmbier before letting him go home
- Warmbier fell into a coma after being sentenced to 15 years in jail for pulling down propaganda sign in Pyongyang hotel; he died six days after returning to US
- It is unclear whether Trump administration paid invoice or whether it came up during preparations for summits with Kim Jong-un
North Korea issued a US$2 million bill for the hospital care of comatose American Otto Warmbier, insisting that a US official sign a pledge to pay it before being allowed to fly the University of Virginia student from Pyongyang in 2017.
The presentation of the invoice – not previously disclosed by US or North Korean officials – was extraordinarily brazen even for a regime known for its aggressive tactics.
But the main US envoy sent to retrieve Warmbier signed an agreement to pay the medical bill on instructions passed down from President Donald Trump, according to two people familiar with the situation. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the matter publicly.
The bill went to the Treasury Department, where it remained – unpaid – throughout 2017, the people said. However, it is unclear whether the Trump administration later paid the bill, or whether it came up during preparations for Trump’s two summits with Kim Jong-un.
The White House declined to comment. “We do not comment on hostage negotiations, which is why they have been so successful during this administration,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders wrote in an email.