President Donald Trump signed off on a plan to pay North Korea $2 million for the release of American student Otto Warmbier, according to a former State Department official.
Joseph Yun, the former State Department Special Representative for North Korea, told CNN in an interview on Monday that he signed an agreement to pay North Korea in 2017, and that he did so with the understanding that he had Trump’s approval.
"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. He added that Tillerson "got back to me very quickly thereafter to say yes, go ahead and sign."
Although Yun did not ask Tillerson if Trump had approved the plan himself, he said: "that was my understanding. I never asked him, but that was my understanding."
Trump has insisted that the U.S. did not pay North Korea to release Warmbier, who died shortly after his return and was in a comatose state when he was released, but White House national security adviser John Bolton confirmed that Yun did sign a document agreeing to pay.