. >> reporter: otto warmbier, a student at the university of virginia was arrested for allegedly stealing a political sign during his tour of pang yang in 2016, it was widely seen as a show trial. he went. >> i am a incident scapegoat. >> reporter: he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. a year later, diplomats asked for a meeting and told them the young american was in a coma. warmbier was quickly evacuated and died a couple days after returning home. trump initially attacked kim and his regime for the death. >> we need only look at the depraved character of the north korean regime. >> he embraced warmbier's parents, inviting them to the state of the union address. >> you are powerful witnesses to a menace that threatens our world and your strength truly inspires us all. >> reporter: analysts said that seemed to be a far cry from his friends e comments th his comments this week. the president took to twitter saying he had been misinterpreted on thursday. quote, of course i hold north korea responsible for otto's mistreatment and death. most important, otto warmbier will not have died in vain. i love otto and think of him of