Otto Warmbier TIP

Otto Warmbier TIP

Information given to guides in regards to Otto Warmbier, 3rd year at UVA, who was arrested and detained in North Korea.

This TIP offered information to Guides on the detainment of UVA student Otto Warmbier. Warmbier, a 3rd year UVA student, traveled to North Korea over Winter Break of 2015-2016. On the final day of his trip, he was arrested in the airport on January 2, 2016 after being captured on video stealing a political banner from his hotel. In a public statement in late February, Warmbier claimed that that the United States Government, the Z Society, and Friendship United Methodist Church (in his hometown of Wyoming, OH) were involved in his decision to steal the banner. Finally, on March 16, 2016, Warmbier was brought to trial before North Korea’s supreme court and sentenced to 15 years hard labor for subversion. At the time of this tip, Warmbier was still held in detainment by North Korea. Dani Bernstein, tour guide and editor of the Cavalier Daily, gave this TIP.
Otto Warmbier died on June 19, 2017, at the age of 22, just six days after he was evacuated from North Korea.

03/19/2016