Seoul Vows to Do Utmost for Return of South Koreans, Americans Held by Pyongyang

The South Korean government promised on Monday to "do its utmost" to return the country's nationals kept in jail in North Korea in the wake of the death of US student Otto Warmbier who died after being released from captivity by Pyongyang.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The government of South Korea will do the utmost to return its citizens and the US citizens held in North Korea, Park Soo-hyun, spokesman for the presidential office said Tuesday in the wake of the US student Otto Warmbier's death.

"North Korea continues to detain our people and US citizens, but it will have to quickly return them to their families, and the [Seoul] government will do its utmost to that end," Park said as quoted by Yonhap news agency.

On Monday, the student's family confirmed that Warmbier has died at his home in Ohio.

On June 13, Warmbier was returned to the United States from North Korea in a coma after being held in that country for more than a year. He spent 17 months in detention for anti-state actions because he attempted to steal a poster from his hotel.

US Special Representative to North Korea Joseph Yun met the three other Americans imprisoned by Pyonyang when he traveled there on June 12 to negotiate the release of Warmbier, according to the Department of State.