US Student Breaks Down After North Korea Court Sentence Of 15 Years

North Korea sentences U.S. student to hard labor; Washington condemns punishment North Korea's supreme court sentenced American student Otto Warmbier, who was arrested while visiting the country, to 15 years of hard labor on Wednesday for crimes against the state, a punishment Washington condemned as politically motivated. The U.S. State Department called the sentence "unduly harsh" and White House spokesman Josh Earnest said it was "increasingly clear" that North Korea sought to use U.S. citizens as pawns to pursue a political agenda. Warmbier, a 21-year-old University of Virginia student, was detained in January for trying to steal an item bearing a propaganda slogan from his hotel in Pyongyang, North Korean media said previously. "The accused confessed to the serious offense against the DPRK he had committed, pursuant to the U.S. government's hostile policy toward it, in a bid to impair the unity of its people after entering it as a tourist," the state-controlled KCNA news agency reported, using the acronym for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Japan's Kyodo news agency published a picture of Warmbier being led from the courtroom by two guards, with his head bowed, but visibly distressed. State Department spokesman Mark Toner called on North Korea to pardon Warmbier, a student from Wyoming, Ohio, and release him immediately on humanitarian grounds. Speaking at a regular news briefing in Washington, Toner said the case underscored the risks associated with travel to North Korea, and added: "The Department of State strongly recommends against all travel by U.S. citizens to North Korea." Toner said a representative of the Swedish embassy, which looks after U.S. affairs in North Korea, had visited Warmbier in prison and was present at the sentencing. "We're going to remain in very close coordination with the Swedes on this matter. It's my understanding that he was in reasonable health," Toner said. The United States has no diplomatic relations with North Korea, a country with which it remains technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty. Human Rights Watch also condemned the sentence. "North Korea's sentencing of Otto Warmbier to 15 years hard labor for a college-style prank is outrageous and shocking, and should not be permitted to stand," Phil Robertson, deputy director of HRW's Asia division, said in an emailed statement. Warmbier's defense attorney said the gravity of his crime was such that he would not be able to pay even with his death but proposed to the court a sentence reduced from the prosecution's request of a life sentence, KCNA said. Last month, Warmbier told a media conference in Pyongyang that his crime was "very severe and pre-planned." Warmbier's parents could not immediately be reached. A spokesman for the University of Virginia said the school was in touch with Warmbier's family, but declined further comment. Warmbier majors in economics with a minor in global sustainability, according to his social media profiles.