The move comes in the wake of a University of Virginia student succumbing to a coma while detained by North Korean authorities. Otto Warmbier, The American student imprisoned for almost a year-and-a-half was "brutally treated for so long," his father said. The student visited Pyongyang as part of a tour with a Chinese company and was eventually jailed for allegedly stealing a propaganda poster. Warmbier was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.
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"There is no excuse for any civilized nation to have kept his condition a secret and denied him top-notch medical care for so long," parent Fred Warmbier said Thursday.
A US diplomat was dispatched to the nation on June 12 to discuss the release of Americans held by the North Korean administration, the department added.
The US delegate also rendezvoused with the three Americans that are still in detention in North Korea during the visit.
Former NBA bad boy and champion Dennis Rodman recently made the trip to North Korea where he presented officials with President Donald Trump's book "The Art of the Deal."
