Why Otto Warmbier Didn't Survive North Korea
fern
0:01 This is Otto Warbeer.
0:03 He's a 21-year-old American college student.
0:07 My crime is very severe and pre-planned.
0:11 I regret my actions more than anything.
0:15 2 months ago, he went on a New Year's party tour with a travel agency.
0:20 The destination was Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea.
0:25 On the early morning of January 1st, 2016,
0:29 I committed my crime aimed at harming the work
0:32 ethic and the motivation of the Korean people.
0:36 After a night of partying,
0:38 he allegedly took a poster from the hallway of his hotel.
0:42 Shortly after, he was detained for perpetrating a hostile
0:45 act against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
0:49 I understand the severity of my crime.
0:51 Now he's here trying to save his life
0:55 at the mercy of a totalitarian dictatorship.
0:58 I have been very impressed by the Korean
1:00 government's humanitarian treatment of severe criminals
1:04 like myself and of their very fair and square legal procedures in the DPR Korea.
1:11 A communist regime that nurtures a deep hate for America.
1:15 The United States administration already knows about my act
1:19 through the CIA and connived at my crime.
1:24 Soon, the case of this college kid will
1:26 escalate the already tense relationship between two nuclear powers.
1:30 North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States.
1:37 They will be met with fire and fury.
1:41 Otto Warmbeer at this point has no idea what he is about to face.
1:46 An American is being held captive in North Korea.
1:48 He was sentenced to 21 years of hard labor.
1:51 Those prisons are rough places.
1:53 If something very bad happened to him, Americans fateful trip to North Korea.
1:57 Complete failure to recognize fundamental human rights.
2:00 The dreams of a young man destroyed by dubious charges from a ruthless regime.
2:05 This very press conference might be his last chance to save his life.
2:10 I am the oldest son in my family.
2:13 My mother needs me.
2:15 My father needs me.
2:17 My younger brother and my younger sister need me.
2:21 I entirely beg you, people government of the DPR Korea for your forgiveness.
2:30 Please, I have made the worst mistake of my life.
2:35 Otto Warmir won't survive and his case will bring
2:39 the US and North Korea to the brink of war,
2:43 but the version of events many people remember might not be true.
2:52 Confirmed.
2:53 Much of our research is based on this extensive GQ article.
2:56 Find the link in the description.
3:01 New Year's Eve 2015.
3:04 This is Kim IlSung Square in Pyongyang.
3:07 Thousands of North Koreans have gathered to watch
3:09 the fireworks and greet the new year.
3:13 Among them is a group of tourists.
3:16 These are people from Europe, Canada, Australia, and the US.
3:20 They're here with a travel agency, and they booked a 5-day,
3:24 4night, [music] New Year's party tour for $1,200.
3:28 Otto Warbeer is one of them.
3:31 Now, after the fireworks, they returned to their hotel,
3:34 a 47story tower located on a small island in the Taong River.
3:39 It boasts five restaurants, a bar, a sauna,
3:43 a massage parlor, even a bowling alley.
3:46 One of the restaurants revolves.
3:48 Because of its location, people call it the Alcatraz of fun.
3:53 During the tour, they'll drink at a fancy bar and eat at fine restaurants.
3:58 And on [music] top, they get the full propaganda tour.
4:01 They've already visited the 70-foot bronze statues of Kim IlSung and Kim Jong-,
4:07 the country's first two dictators.
4:09 They're regarded as near holy figures.
4:13 State propaganda has it that when Kim Jong-
4:16 was born at the sight of a holy mountain,
4:18 a double rainbow and a glowing new star appeared in the sky.
4:23 Today, his birthday, the day of the shining star, is a public holiday.
4:28 Citizens spontaneously salute the massive statues,
4:32 but it's impossible to say whether it's real reverence or mandatory homage.
4:37 Propaganda is everywhere.
4:39 Billboards show images of missiles striking the US capital.
4:43 Other posters sport slogans like,
4:45 "Let's arm ourselves strongly with Kim Jong-'s patriotism." Disrespecting
4:50 the Communist Dynasty can get you in big trouble.
4:54 According to GQ, the database center for North
4:56 Korean Human Rights confirmed a case of a factory
5:00 janitor being prosecuted for bumping such a picture
5:03 off the wall so that it fell and broke.
5:06 Otto and the other tour members need to be careful.
5:09 One wrong move and they could face harsh punishment.
5:14 Otto was raised in a suburb outside Cincinnati, Ohio.
5:19 The oldest of three siblings.
5:21 In high school, he was popular, athletic, and smart.
5:25 At both prom and homecoming, he was crowned king.
5:29 Speaking at his high school graduation, he quoted Andy Bernard from The Office.
5:34 I wish there was a way to know that you're
5:35 in the good old days before you've actually left them.
5:39 Now he's majoring in finance.
5:41 Halfway through his junior year,
5:42 he decides to do a winter break adventure to North Korea.
5:48 It makes sense.
5:49 He'll be studying abroad in Hong Kong in the spring.
5:53 In 2015, the State Department's travel advisory for North Korea is clear.
5:58 It recommends against Americans traveling there at all.
6:02 On the other hand, the website of Young Pioneer Tours,
6:06 Otto Wararmbe's travel agency,
6:08 said that traveling to North Korea was quote extremely safe.
6:12 The tour operator specializes in taking you to destinations
6:16 your mother would rather you stay away from.
6:19 His parents had their concerns, but as Cindy Warbeer later said,
6:23 why would you say no to a kid like this?
6:29 Early in the tour, the group is visiting this ship, the USS PBLO.
6:34 The North Korean military captured it in 1968.
6:37 The North Koreans claimed it had entered their territorial waters.
6:42 Now, it's a tourist attraction.
6:44 When the North Korean tour guide explains
6:46 that the ship was seized from the United States,
6:48 he doesn't say the United States, he says the Imperial Enemy.
6:55 Between 1950 and 1953,
6:58 the US dropped an estimated 635,000 tons of bombs on the country,
7:04 plus some 32,000 tons of Napal.
7:09 Major cities were obliterated.
7:11 75% of Pyongyang was destroyed.
7:15 During the war, as many as a million civilians perished.
7:20 In 1953, a ceasefire ended combat in the Korean War.
7:24 But a peace agreement was never signed.
7:28 Technically, the North is still at war with the South and with its ally, the US.
7:34 Most Americans are unaware of this war.
7:37 So much so that the Korean War is often referred to as the Forgotten War.
7:42 Not so in North Korea.
7:46 The North Korean tour guide explains what happened back then
7:49 to the 82 American sailors that were captured along with the ship.
7:53 They were beaten, starved, and only released after 11 months.
7:59 Otto Warbeer is not visiting just any country.
8:02 He's in enemy territory.
8:05 Danny Graten, his roommate during the tour,
8:08 will later recount that Otto seemed a little bit shocked.
8:12 To lighten the mood,
8:13 he and the other tour members give Otto a nickname, Imperial Enemy.
8:20 The rest of the tour goes smoothly.
8:22 sightseeing during the day, restaurants and bars at night.
8:27 They even engage with the local kids by having a friendly snowball fight.
8:32 One of the reasons people travel is to understand the world a little better.
8:36 Brilliant does that for learning.
8:38 It helps you engage with ideas in a hands-on
8:41 way so you can unlock the intuition you already have.
8:44 Concepts that once felt slippery start to click and once they do,
8:48 you begin to see patterns everywhere.
8:51 Instead of just watching explanations, you're actively working through problems,
8:55 testing ideas, and building real knowledge.
8:58 We particularly like Brilliant's probability and chance course.
9:01 It helps you reason through uncertainty from expected value to conditional
9:05 probability and makes you more confident in the decisions you make.
9:09 If leveling up your math, data,
9:11 or computer science skills is on your list this year,
9:14 Brilliance courses adapt to you.
9:16 They start at the right level with personalized practice you can
9:19 actually use so you hit the learning goals that matter to you.
9:23 To get started, go to brilliant.org/fern or scan the QR code.
9:28 Brilliant is offering 20% off an annual premium subscription,
9:32 giving you unlimited access to everything on the platform.
9:38 Back to January 1st after the fireworks.
9:41 When the tour group returns to the Young GTO hotel, they split up.
9:46 Some go to the bar.
9:47 Danny Graten heads to the bowling alley.
9:50 They lose track of Otto.
9:52 When Danny gets to his room around 4:30 a.m., Otto is in bed, sound asleep.
10:02 Then, a day and a half later, the group is ready to get on the plane.
10:06 It's time to go home.
10:09 As the last members of the group, Dany's and Otto's passports are checked.
10:14 The officers take an unusually long time to scan their documents.
10:20 Then Otto feels a sudden tap on his shoulder.
10:23 There are two North Korean soldiers behind him.
10:26 [music] They lead him away.
10:28 Danny doesn't think much of it and jokes, "Well,
10:32 that's the last we'll ever see of you." 2 and 1/2 months later,
10:39 Otto is standing trial in North Korea's Supreme Court.
10:43 He's accused of violating article 60
10:45 of the DPRK criminal code, state subversion.
10:49 The central piece of evidence is this CCTV footage.
10:53 It's timestamped.
10:55 The early hours of New Year's Day 2016.
10:58 It shows a staffonly area in the Yangakto Hotel.
11:02 A shadowy figure removes a poster from the wall
11:05 and appears to set it on the ground.
11:08 The poster looked like this, a propaganda poster,
11:11 and it contained the Supreme Leader's name.
11:14 Let's arm ourselves strongly with Kim Jong-'s patriotism.
11:18 To remove it from the wall, is a serious crime.
11:21 A bid to impair the unity of North Korea's people.
11:25 And that shadowy figure, according to the prosecutors, that is Otto Wormbbeer.
11:34 The trial only lasts an hour.
11:37 The Young Pioneers North Korean tour guide testifies against Otto.
11:42 A second witness takes the stand,
11:44 an employee who says they noticed the poster had been taken from the wall.
11:48 Otto's belongings are presented as evidence and fingerprints
11:52 are shown on a flat screen TV.
11:54 But most of the supposed evidence came from Otto's confession 2 weeks earlier.
11:59 Here he goes into the details.
12:02 On January 1st, 2016, New Year's Day,
12:08 I committed severe crimes against both the people
12:12 and the government of the DPR Korea.
12:14 [music] The task was given by the Friendship United Methodist Church.
12:20 At the encouragement of the Z Society
12:23 and the connance of the United States administration,
12:28 I came to commit this crime task.
12:30 The full story goes like this.
12:33 His friend's mother, a deaconess at the Friendship Methodist
12:36 Church in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio,
12:39 instructed him to deal a blow to North Korea by stealing
12:43 an important political slogan to be hung in her church as a trophy.
12:49 As a reward, he'd receive a used car worth $10,000.
12:54 Were he to be detained, the church would pay his family $200,000.
12:59 The aim of this crime was to harm
13:02 the work ethic and motivation of the Korean people.
13:06 He told his mother about his plans.
13:09 She cried and said not to do anything dangerous.
13:13 I considered less, not wanting to hurt my mother.
13:17 But since then, I received several alluring
13:21 pressures from the Friendship United Methodist Church,
13:25 leading me to finally decide on my crime attempt.
13:29 He then shared his plans with a member of the Ziz Society,
13:33 a secret society at the University of Virginia that Otto wanted to join.
13:37 He'd heard all of its members go on to get highpaying jobs.
13:41 He promised if I was successful,
13:43 he would help me gain membership in the Z Society.
13:48 Finally, he decided to do it.
13:50 After I planned in detail to accomplish my plan,
13:54 I arrived in Pyongyang on December 29th, 2015 through Beijing.
14:01 On the early morning of January 1st, 2016, I committed my crime of taking out
14:09 the important political slogan from the staffonly area
14:13 of the Angakto International Hotel aimed at harming
14:17 the work ethic and the motivation of the Korean people.
14:22 And he explains the plot goes all the way to the top.
14:26 The United States administration already knows about my act through the CIA,
14:33 which is closely linked to the Z Society and connived at my crime.
14:39 The church, too, is linked to the government.
14:42 The Friendship United Methodist Church is not a typical church.
14:46 It is very wealthy with $42 million.
14:51 That is why the United States administration
14:54 has very close ties with this church.
14:58 He was manipulated.
14:59 Plain and simple.
15:01 I was clearly given the task by the Friendship United Methodist Church.
15:06 I was encouraged by the Z Society.
15:09 My crime is very severe and pre-planned.
15:13 I regret my actions more than anything.
15:17 I beg for forgiveness and I beg for help in any way possible to save my life.
15:35 Experts agree that Otto Warbeer's confession
15:38 seemed quite obviously coerced and staged.
15:42 North Korea has a history of chorusing confessions and the US
15:46 accused North Korea of broadcasting this one for propaganda purposes.
15:51 A member of the Ziz Society said Otto had
15:54 never approached them and denied any affiliation with the CIA
15:58 and the senior pastor at Friendship United Methodist Church
16:01 said he didn't know of the deaconess mentioned by Otto.
16:06 But this is later after it's too late.
16:09 Now standing before the Supreme Court, all Otto can do is beg.
16:15 I was used and manipulated.
16:21 [snorts] Please stay with me.
16:27 Please save my life.
16:33 But his pleas fall on deaf ears.
16:36 He's handcuffed and led from the room.
16:39 He's been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.
16:45 2 days later on March 18,
16:48 the Korean Central News Agency released the CCTV footage to the public.
16:52 Western news outlets treat the footage with suspicion.
16:56 That figure could be anyone.
16:58 One story notes that the corridor is well lit,
17:01 something that in a country where electricity is
17:04 scarce is far from the norm for staff-only spaces.
17:07 Some of his tour mates give interviews.
17:10 One of them, Sarah McLaclin,
17:12 says there was an issue with the time shown in the video.
17:15 Your group had been out at a New Year's Eve party in the hours before that.
17:18 Were you even back at the hotel then?
17:22 No, the time didn't match up at all.
17:24 According to her, the Young Pioneers didn't
17:27 return to the hotel until around 3:00 a.m.,
17:30 more than an hour after the footage was allegedly captured.
17:33 Another tourm mate says in an interview with the BBC
17:37 that Otto was careful to observe the rules.
17:40 They'd been told not to take pictures of military staff or installations
17:44 and he'd been nervous when taking
17:45 a photo with military personnel in the background.
17:56 His [music] roommate Danny Graten also doubts that it was Otto.
18:10 We never mentioned anything remotely like that.
18:13 He'd already but we'd already bought some souvenirs.
18:16 In my heart of hearts,
18:17 the guy I knew for three or 4 days was not that type of guy.
18:21 Everything about the whole story was fabricated in my opinion.
18:24 [music] Otto's parents, Fred and Cindy,
18:30 turned to the Obama administration for help,
18:32 but the Warbeers later said they were advised to keep quiet.
18:36 According to GQ, Robert King,
18:38 the special envoy for North Korean human rights issues,
18:42 warned that drawing media attention to the ordeal might anger the regime.
18:46 What makes it even more complicated is that the United
18:49 States has never had a formal diplomatic relationship with North Korea.
18:54 There is no US embassy in Pyongyang.
18:56 The Swedish ambassador serves as the liaison for Americans,
19:00 but the Swedes calls and emails are met with silence.
19:04 The days turn to weeks turn to months.
19:07 Efforts at back channel diplomacy are stymied.
19:10 The issue is passed from one administration to the next.
19:14 No one knows where Otto is, what he's doing, or how he's being treated.
19:20 Then in early June 2017,
19:23 some 17 months after his detention, the news finally arrives.
19:28 Otto is unconscious.
19:32 An extraction team of doctors and diplomats is put together.
19:36 And finally, let
19:38 me start by saying that I'm glad Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and I along
19:44 with a very talented team were able to get Otto Warm back with his parents.
19:52 Otto Warbeer is returned to US soil on June 13.
19:57 We're thrilled that our son is on American soil and I'm able to talk to you
20:03 on Otto's behalf and I'm able to wear
20:07 the jacket that he wore when he gave his confession.
20:12 Otto, I love you and I'm so crazy about you.
20:19 Last night being able to see Otto for the first time in gosh,
20:24 I bet it's 18 months.
20:25 It was it was fantastic.
20:27 Otto's not in great shape right now and he's been through a real tough time
20:32 and it's great to have him with us and [music] I'm very proud of him.
20:38 Otto is home, but he's changed tremendously.
20:43 When Cindy and Fred met Otto at the airport, they were shocked.
20:47 We walked over to the plane.
20:48 We heard this howling, involuntary, [music] inhuman sound.
20:54 Otto was on the stretcher across in the plane
20:59 and he was jerking violently making these inhuman sounds.
21:06 Otto had a shaved head.
21:07 He had a feeding tube coming out of his nose.
21:10 He was blind.
21:12 He was deaf.
21:16 He was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical C Center's
21:19 neuroscience intensive care unit where extensive
21:22 imaging and diagnostic tests immediately began.
21:25 His vital signs were stable upon arrival and have remained so.
21:30 He doesn't need help breathing,
21:32 no signs of infection, no dysfunction of non-neurological organs.
21:37 His neurological condition, though, is described as unresponsive wakefulness.
21:42 what used to be called a vegetative state.
21:46 He blinks.
21:47 Sometimes his eyes open,
21:49 but he isn't aware of his surroundings and doesn't respond to verbal commands.
21:54 He doesn't speak.
21:56 Sometimes he moves, but his motions aren't intentional.
21:59 His arms and legs are extremely weak.
22:03 Well, we thought he was in a coma, but uh you couldn't call it a coma.
22:08 The warm beers remain at his bedside as the tests are conducted.
22:12 Our image of Otto, as you know,
22:15 was of someone just wonderful, beautiful inside and out.
22:21 And to see how he came home was too much for us.
22:26 But, uh, I almost passed out, but I got it together and I rode in the ambulance
22:31 with him cuz I did not want him to be alone anymore.
22:35 He'd been alone for way too long.
22:39 He's surrounded by his loved ones, but his condition soon worsens.
22:44 He develops a high fever, 40° C.
22:48 Fred and Cindy Warbeer are told [music] that he'll never wake up,
22:52 and they ask to have his feeding tube removed.
22:56 6 days after his release, Otto is dead.
23:02 The news travels across the world.
23:04 The family of Otto Warbeer has said goodbye.
23:07 That's not [music] [music] the American student who fell
23:23 into a coma while in North Korean custody and has died.
23:28 On June 22 in Wyoming, Ohio, more than 2,500 people attend his funeral.
23:34 The condition in which Otto Warbeer came back
23:36 to the US and his subsequent death are discussed nationwide.
23:41 He left the United States in good health.
23:44 He returned [music] on the brink of death.
23:48 Do you know what happened to him in North Korea?
23:51 I I don't.
23:56 Content note.
23:57 The following chapter discusses suicide.
24:00 Viewer discretion is advised.
24:03 Upon his release, North Korea gave an explanation for Otto's state.
24:07 They said he contracted bachulism, a rare and severe kind of food poisoning,
24:12 after eating a meal of spinach and pork.
24:15 After he fell ill, they gave him a sleeping pill to which he had
24:18 some sort of unexpected reaction which sent
24:21 him into a state of unresponsive wakefulness.
24:24 But US medical experts are quick to dispute this story.
24:28 Three doctors, experts in neurology, ran tests on Otto while he was still alive.
24:33 At the request of the family,
24:35 they hold a press conference to give their opinions.
24:38 Those tests did not reveal any evidence of active or chronic denervation,
24:42 nor any uh repetitive stimulation that would
24:45 suggest active botulism at this time.
24:47 The North Koreans, it seems, are lying.
24:50 [music] And the Warbeers have a different story.
24:53 They tortured him.
24:54 They intentionally injured him.
24:56 It looked like someone had taken a pair
24:58 of pliers and rearranged his bottom teeth.
25:02 He had a large scar on his right foot.
25:06 They destroyed him.
25:07 They They purposely and [music] intentionally injured Otto.
25:12 On September 25, 2017,
25:15 Fred and Cindy Warbeer gave an interview on Fox and Friends.
25:19 Trump apparently watched.
25:21 This becomes the narrative.
25:23 Physical torture.
25:24 and as a consequence brain damage.
25:28 But soon serious doubts emerge.
25:31 Let's go through his injuries one by one.
25:34 First there was a noticeable scar on Otto's right foot.
25:38 This is Dr.
25:39 Lakshmi Kota Samarco.
25:41 The coroner selected to conduct an external autopsy.
25:44 Fred Warbeer had noticed the scar.
25:47 But had Dr.
25:47 Samarco physically as far as wounds [music] there
25:52 were a few small scars that we documented.
25:54 There was one that we really couldn't explain for medical instrumentation,
25:58 which some of the other scars we could,
26:00 but there wasn't anything on the external examination to indicate um
26:05 other than that one scar that we couldn't explain to indicate torture.
26:08 The Warbeers opted against a complete autopsy,
26:11 offering no reason for this decision.
26:14 But Dr.
26:14 Samarco did perform an external inspection.
26:17 Later, in a lawsuit against North Korea,
26:20 [music] an expert witness cited the scar on Otto's
26:23 foot as potential evidence that he was subjected to torture,
26:26 possibly electric shock.
26:28 But does this injury prove Otto was tortured?
26:32 No.
26:33 Then there are his teeth.
26:35 Fred Warbeer said it looked as though Otto's bottom teeth had been rearranged.
26:40 Dr.
26:40 Samarco couldn't confirm this.
26:43 We also consulted our forensic dentist, Dr.
26:46 right?
26:46 And I had him take a look at the imaging
26:50 specifically dealing with the lower teeth and mandible.
26:54 He agreed with us that there is no evidence of trauma to the lower teeth or man.
26:59 In the lawsuit, this finding was disputed.
27:01 Two of Otto's private dentists testified that his post-mortem dental X-rays,
27:06 when compared to previous X-rays,
27:08 indicated that some of his lower teeth had been bent backward,
27:11 movement consistent with an impact injury.
27:13 The New York Times had reported that Otto had been repeatedly beaten.
27:17 That's not impossible.
27:19 An ex-N North Korean spy who was familiar
27:21 with, though not directly involved in Otto's case,
27:24 said he'd heard Otto was roughed up by prison guards.
27:29 [music] He also continues to say that there might have been water boarding.
27:39 To him, that's standard practice, what he'd call battery rather than torture.
27:44 It's difficult to say whether this ex spy is credible, though.
27:48 And even if Otto's teeth were bent backward,
27:50 it's impossible to know for certain what caused that.
27:54 Finally, the biggest injury of all, his brain injury.
27:59 The most important diagnostic test thus far was
28:02 a magnetic resonance imaging scan of the brain.
28:05 This study showed extensive loss of brain tissue in all regions of the brain.
28:13 In other words, the damage is universal and scans show it occurred all at once.
28:19 There's a technical term for this, an [music] enoxic encphylopathy.
28:23 It means an injury caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain.
28:27 So, either blood ceased to flow to Otto's brain,
28:30 which would result in a lack of oxygen, or Otto stopped breathing.
28:35 This pattern of brain injury, however,
28:38 is usually seen as a result of cardopulmonary
28:42 arrest where the blood supply to the brain
28:45 is inadequate for a period of time resulting in the death of brain tissue.
28:51 In general terms, one of the more likely causes of a cardiopulmonary
28:54 arrest in a young person would have been a respiratory arrest.
28:57 In all likelihood, Otto stopped breathing.
29:00 Any number of events could have caused this.
29:03 an allergic reaction, choking, near drowning,
29:07 anything that might prevent oxygen from reaching his brain.
29:10 But which of these events was the cause?
29:14 There's no way to know.
29:16 We have no certain or verifiable knowledge
29:20 of the cause or circumstances of his neurological injury.
29:26 A cause that could almost certainly be ruled out was repeated beatings.
29:30 Repeated beings to the head would have caused asymmetrical
29:33 damage with some regions being affected more than others.
29:36 Also, scans revealed no fractures of the skull.
29:40 Despite all this uncertainty, the warmbeers insist on torture.
29:45 And the question of whether Otto was tortured or not is not a medical side note.
29:50 By now, it has the potential to escalate
29:52 a simmering conflict between two nuclear powers.
29:58 A year and a half before, mere days after Otto's detention,
30:01 North Korea had carried out its fourth
30:04 nuclear test in defiance of international sanctions.
30:08 It also launched a longrange missile.
30:11 In September 2016, it performed another nuclear test.
30:16 By 2017, the year of return,
30:19 the confrontation between the US and North Korea was near the boiling point.
30:24 North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States.
30:30 They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.
30:38 It was the beginning of the 2017 2018 North Korea crisis.
30:43 Meanwhile, Otto Warbeer's case took on increased political weight.
30:47 Trump had adopted the torture hypothesis as fact.
30:51 Senator John McCain said Otto had been tortured and murdered.
30:55 Senators Adam Schiff and Marco Rubio also used the word murder.
31:00 Fred Warbeer's analysis was that his son served as a sort of human shield.
31:05 North Korea doesn't do anything by mistake.
31:08 It was their fourth nuclear weapons test and they
31:11 had a lot of things they wanted to cover
31:13 and they felt like Otto was going to provide them
31:15 the security they needed to get away with these things.
31:21 Then in 2018, Michael Flukinger,
31:25 the doctor that helped bring Otto back to the US,
31:27 revealed a new piece of information to GQ.
31:30 The staff at the North Korean hospital where Otto stayed,
31:34 told Flukinger that they received him the day after his trial,
31:37 and he was already unresponsive.
31:40 They had to resuscitate him, then give him oxygen and put him on a ventilator,
31:44 or he would die, Flukinger told GQ.
31:47 Also, there's a brain scan dated April 2016.
31:51 We received copies of brain MRI images
31:55 from the medical personnel in North Korea.
31:58 The earliest images are dated April 2016.
32:03 Based upon our analysis of those images,
32:06 the brain injury likely occurred in the preceding weeks.
32:11 Of course, the North Korean story might be a lie.
32:15 It might not be true that he was hospitalized the morning after his trial,
32:18 but there is strong medical evidence that he sustained
32:21 his brain injury in the days or weeks after March 16.
32:27 In any case, Otto Warbeer was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor,
32:32 but it's very unlikely that he was actually sent
32:35 to one of the notoriously horrific North Korean labor camps.
32:38 [music] American detainees are treated differently.
32:41 According to GQ, Otto Wararmbeer most likely stayed
32:44 in a used guest house in downtown Pyongyang during his detention.
32:48 The hard labor he was sentenced to [music]
32:51 would likely have been planting soybeans and making bricks.
32:54 Grueling, backbreaking work, but nothing compared to coal mining,
32:58 which is typical for North Koreans.
33:01 North Korea needed him as a bargaining chip.
33:04 And bargaining chips don't have much value if they aren't in good condition.
33:08 And in a sense he was we believe that for somebody who's been bedridden for more
33:16 than a year that his body was in excellent condition.
33:20 His skin was in excellent condition and we didn't
33:22 see any evidence of decubit eye or bed sores.
33:25 In its article GQ proposes a different theory than torture.
33:30 During the two months between his detention and his confession,
33:33 Otto was likely subjected to relentless interrogation
33:36 for as long as 15 hours per day.
33:39 The only respit from the interrogation
33:41 would have been North Korean propaganda films.
33:44 Previous prisoners were told their government had forgotten them.
33:48 Some fell into debilitating depressions, even attempting suicide.
33:53 at trial.
33:54 So, hours, weeks, or days before he supposedly fell into a coma,
33:59 he was visibly desperate.
34:01 Please think of my family.
34:05 Give me the oldest son in my family.
34:09 GQ speculates that in the hopeless hours after his sentencing,
34:13 Otto may have attempted to take his own life.
34:16 The lack of oxygen to his brain could have caused his injury.
34:19 Of course, this theory is just one of many.
34:23 An allergic reaction to a sleeping pill,
34:25 an excessive administration of drugs, a suicide attempt,
34:29 a heart attack, a form of torture that left no obvious lasting marks.
34:34 It could have been any of these things.
34:37 Without Otto here to tell the tale, we may never know the truth.
34:43 [music] In May 2018, something weird happened.
34:48 Trump tweeted that he was going to meet
34:50 Kim Jong-un in person and everything changed.
34:54 Getting a good picture, everybody.
34:56 So, he look nice and handsome and thin.
34:59 After the Singapore summit, Otto's name all but disappeared from Trump's lips,
35:04 replaced by the name of Kim Jong-un.
35:06 And then we fell in love.
35:08 Okay.
35:09 No, really.
35:10 He wrote me beautiful letters, and they're great letters.
35:13 We fell in love.
35:15 [snorts] The previous year, Trump tweeted that he tried so hard to be
35:19 Kim's friend and referred to their relationship as
35:22 it's a very special relationship.
35:25 In 2019, when asked whether he thought Kim knew about Otto's case,
35:29 his reply was startling.
35:31 I don't believe he knew about it.
35:33 The Warbeers were outraged.
35:35 Trump had helped them bring Otto home and relisted
35:39 Kim Jong-un's country as a state sponsor of terrorism.
35:42 Now he seems to admire him.
35:45 Well, he is very talented.
35:46 Anybody that takes over a situation like he did at 26 years
35:50 of age and is able to run it and run it tough.
35:55 Very few people at that age you can
35:57 take one out of 10,000 probably couldn't do it.
36:02 Otto Warmbeer [music] was many things.
36:04 An all-American boy, an unlucky tourist, a loving son.
36:08 But on the international stage, he was a pawn and a symbol.
36:13 Pyongyang deployed Otto on the chessboard of politics,
36:16 using him domestically as a mouthpiece to spread
36:19 anti-American propaganda and internationally as a bargaining chip,
36:23 a hostage to be traded for the easing of sanctions or other US concessions.
36:28 For the Trump administration, Otto Warbeer was useful as a symbol,
36:32 driving the narrative that he was tortured by a barbarous regime and possibly
36:36 using his death as a means
36:38 of psychologically preparing the American public for war.
36:41 The threat of which Trump hoped would make Kim back down.
36:46 Otto was sentenced to 15 years hard labor for an alleged crime
36:49 that in most countries would be considered
36:51 at worst vandalism based on a sham trial.
36:56 No matter what happened to him, that in itself is damning enough.
37:00 And even if he likely never had to go to one of North Korea's prison camps,
37:04 they are hell on earth.
37:06 Uncertainty about his cause of death shouldn't distract
37:10 from the exceptional brutality and cruelty of Kim Jong-un's regime.