Former US-North Korea envoy says Trump approved plan to pay $2 million to free American student

[Eugene]

Source: CNN

Former US-North Korea envoy says Trump approved plan to pay $2 million to free American student

By Zachary Cohen, CNN
Updated 1717 GMT (0117 HKT) April 29, 2019

Washington (CNN) — Joseph Yun, the former State Department Special Representative for North Korea, confirmed Monday that he signed an agreement to pay North Korea $2 million for the release of American student Otto Warmbier in 2017.

In an interview with CNN's Jim Sciutto, Yun said that he did so with the approval of then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and that it was his understanding President Donald Trump had also signed off on the decision.

"As soon as North Korea side told me that this bill for $2 million would have to be paid ... I contacted my boss then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson," Yun said, noting that Tillerson "got back to me very quickly thereafter to say yes, go ahead and sign."

The former US Special Representative added that it was his understanding the decision had been approved by Trump himself.

-snip-

Read more: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/29/politics/joseph-yun-warmbier-north-korea/index.html

[Karadeniz]

1. Well, this was handled professionally, wasn't it? We don't apparently know that the poor man is

Mostly dead. Kim surprises us with a bill. Trump rolls over. I have a feeling this might have been dealt with a tad better. But imagine how incompetent things might have gone if the rest of the world didn't respect us now. Whew!