'Warmbier shock' shadows Moon-Trump summit

By Yi Whan-woo

The first summit between President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump, slated for June 29, faces possible complications after an American college student detained in North Korea for almost 18 months was returned home in a coma.

The summit in Washington, D.C., will take place as Moon pushes to resume inter-Korean dialogue. On Thursday, he proposed to the Kim Jong-un regime to suspend nuclear and ballistic missile provocations in exchange for resumption of cross-border talks.

But on the U.S. side, pessimism appears to be prevailing against any engagement with North Korea, especially after Otto Warmbier, a University of Virginia student, was released from the repressive state early this week with extensive brain damage. He had been convicted of "hostile acts" for stealing a propaganda poster from a tourist hotel in Pyongyang in 2016.

"Strictly speaking, this is about Pyongyang-Washington relations. But Moon and Trump are expected to touch on the related issues inevitably during their summit because it is about universal values after all," said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies.

Koh You-hwan, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University, agreed, rejecting Pyongyang's claim it released Warmbier on humanitarian grounds.

"It's evident the Kim regime only released him due to concerns over his deteriorated health and its negative impact on Pyongyang-Washington ties," he said.

"Under this circumstance, anti-North Korea sentiment in the U.S. may go on for some time. It's doubtful for Moon to raise issues on resuming dialogue with the tyrannical regime in a lively atmosphere when he meets Trump."

A researcher at the Sejong Institute, who asked not to be named, said Moon should "be prudent about mentioning inter-Korean talks." The researcher cited growing concerns over possible diplomatic friction between the two allies triggered by deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in South Korea.

Despite Seoul's denial, several diplomatic sources speculate the U.S. is unpleased with the Moon administration's decision to delay THAAD deployment to conduct a full-scale environmental study.

On Thursday, Moon hinted at Seoul's role as a negotiator between Pyongyang and Washington. He said the topics for a possible discussion with the Kim regime can include a diplomatic treaty between North Korea and the U.S.

North Korea claimed Warmbier, 22, collapsed from a combination of botulism and sleeping pills during his 17-month imprisonment.

His father Fred dismissed this explanation and claimed the "pariah" regime "brutalized and terrorized" his son.

The father said there is "anger that he was so brutally treated for so long."

The Wall Street Journal called on the U.S. to ban travel to North Korea, while Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) accused North Korea?s actions as "despicable."