Trump responds to 'tragic' death of Otto Warmbier, condemns North Korean brutality

Thomson ReutersOtto Frederick Warmbier, a University of Virginia student who was detained in North Korea since early January, is taken to North Korea's top court in Pyongyang, North KoreaPresident Donald Trump offered he and his wife's 'deepest condolences' to the family of Otto Warmbier, the US student medically evacuated from North Korea after slipping into a coma.

"There is nothing more tragic for a parent than to lose a child in the prime of life. Our thoughts and prayers are with Otto's family and friends, and all who loved him," read a statement from Trump on Monday.

Trump said that his administration was determined to "prevent such tragedies from befalling innocent people at the hands of regimes that do not respect the rule of law or basic human decency."

Warmbier was tried and detained for "anti-state" activities which amounted to an attempt to steal a propaganda poster from a North Korean hotel. North Korea sentenced him to 15 years of hard labor, but Warmbier went into a coma shortly after his trial.

The Trump administration had secured the release of Warmbier over a long period of diplomatic negotiations. Upon Warmbier's release, Trump called his family.

Warmbier died at 2:20 p.m. on Monday "surrounded by his loving family," according to a statement from the Warmbiers.

"The United States once again condemns the brutality of the North Korean regime as we mourn its latest victim," the Trump statement concluded.