North Korea has called itself the “biggest victim” in the death of Otto Warmbier who was detained for over a than a year and died a few days after coming home in a coma.

In North Korea’s first reaction to Otto Warmbier’s death, Korean Central News Agency denies allegations that North Korea cruelly treated or tortured Otto Warmbier, accusing the United States of insulting its “humanitarian” treatment of him.

According to doctors, Warmbier suffered a severe neurological injury from an unknown cause, after being in a coma since shortly after he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.

“Although we had no reason at all to show mercy to such a criminal of the enemy state, we provided him with medical treatments and care with all sincerity on humanitarian basis until his return to the U.S, considering that his health got worse,” the agency quoted an unnamed spokesman of Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry.

The spokesman also said the American doctors who examined Warmbier before his release could refute the “groundless” speculation of torture and beatings.

The spokesman told KCNA that Washington “totally distorted this truth and dared to clamor about ‘retaliation’ and ‘pressure'” on “dignified” North Korea. “To make it clear, we are the biggest victim of this incident and there would be no more foolish judgment than to think we do not know how to calculate gains and losses,” he said.

“The smear campaign against DPRK staged in the U.S. compels us to make firm determination that humanitarianism and benevolence for the enemy are a taboo and we should further sharpen the blade of law,” the spokesman added. Three Americans remain in custody in the North.

Three Americans remain in custody in the North.

Itunuoluwa