The denuclearization summit with North Korea might not have happened without the death of American student Otto Warmbier[1], President Trump said Tuesday.
“I think without Otto[2], this would not have happened,” Mr. Trump said in Singapore after signing an agreement with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. “Otto[3] was someone who did not die in vain.”
Mr. Warmbier[4], 22, died from brain injury last June shortly after being released in a coma by North Korea. The Ohio student had been imprisoned in 2016 for the theft of a propaganda poster while visiting the country.
Asked Tuesday about North Korea’s human-rights abuses, Mr. Trump turned the discussion to Mr. Warmbier[5]....
“Something happened from that day,” the president said. “It was a terrible thing. It was brutal. But a lot of people started to focus on what was going on, including North Korea. I really think that Otto[6] is someone who did not die in vain. I told this to his parents. Special young man. And I have to say, special parents, special people. Otto[7] did not die in vain. He had a lot to do with this.”