Otto Warmbier was an American student who visited North Korea in January 2016 as part of a guided tour. However, he was arrested at the airport just before he was scheduled to leave the country and was accused of stealing a propaganda poster from his hotel. He was subsequently sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.
Warmbier was held captive in North Korea for 17 months, during which time he reportedly suffered severe physical and mental abuse. He was eventually released in a comatose state and returned to the United States in June 2017. He died less than a week later at the age of 22.
The exact circumstances surrounding Warmbier’s death remain unclear, but it is believed that he suffered extensive brain damage while in captivity. His family has accused North Korea of torturing and murdering him, while the North Korean government claims that he fell into a coma after contracting botulism and taking a sleeping pill.
The case of Otto Warmbier has been a source of international controversy and has contributed to strained relations between North Korea and the United States. Klaus Scherer, a veteran foreign correspondent, sets out to discover the truth of Warmbier’s captivity. He interviews those with knowledge of the case and traces the court process that includes the findings of a Cincinnati coroner.