US university student released by DPRK returns home

WASHINGTON - The plane carrying American college student Otto Warmbier who had been held in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) touched down in Cincinnati, Ohio, local media reported Tuesday night.

The DPRK has released jailed US university student Otto Warmbier, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on the same day.

"Mr. Warmbier is en route to the United States, where he will be reunited with his family," Tillerson said earlier in a statement.

The US State Department continues to have discussions with the DPRK regarding three other US citizens reported detained, Tillerson said.

Warmbier's parents told US media that he was medically evacuated from the DPRK in a coma.

Warmbier, a student at the University of Virginia, had been charged with subversion by the DPRK and was sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor in 2016.