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Warmbier's Parents Praise Bill Seeking Further North Korea Sanctions

Reuters

   WASHINGTON - The parents of Otto Warmbier,an American student who died
   after 17 months in a North Koreanprison, hailed on Wednesday
   newcongressional legislation passedin their son's name that calls for
   further sanctions onPyongyang.

   Flanked by four Democratic and Republican senators, Fred andCindy
   Warmbier commended a provision of the broader NationalDefense
   Authorization Act, orNDAA, for applying pressure onNorth Korea to
   change its behavior.

   Fred Warmbier told reporters the bill was "very important toour efforts
   because it gives us more tools to force the NorthKoreans to engage on
   some level."

   The event on Capitol Hill came at a time of heightenedtensions between
   Washington and Pyongyang as denuclearizationtalks begun with a summit
   last year between President DonaldTrump and North Korean leader Kim
   Jong Un have stalled.

   North Korea has conducted a series of weapons tests andresumed personal
   insults against Trump, with Pyongyang warningit could take an
   unspecified "new path" if Washington failedtosoften its stance before
   the end of the year.

   'Still traumatized'

   Otto Warmbier, 22, died on June 19, 2017, shortly after hewas flown
   home to Ohio in a coma after being held by North Koreafor 17 months.

   "I am still traumatized by what North Korea did to ourfamily and
   certainly what they did to our son," Fred Warmbiersaid.

   The NDAA, a broadmilitaryspending bill passed Tuesdayand awaiting
   Trump's signature, urges a sweeping approach by theTrump administration
   to curb North Korea's nuclear weaponsprogram.

   The Otto Warmbier North Korea Nuclear Sanctions andEnforcement Act
   calls for mandatory sanctions on North Koreanimports and exports of
   textiles and coal and other minerals, aswell as some petroleum products
   and crude oil, along withadditional sanctions on banks that deal with
   North Korea.

   "My message is to North Korea, like it always is: Peoplematter. Otto
   matters. We're never going to let you forgetourson," said Cindy
   Warmbier. She urged Trump, however, not to"make a bad deal" with North
   Korea.

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