[ti:American Prisoner Released by North Korea] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.16]U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says North Korea [00:06.40]has released an American college student from prison. [00:12.12]Otto Warmbier had been sentenced to a 15-year term [00:17.88]on charges of attempted theft. [00:21.44]The North Korean government said Warmbier had tried [00:26.44]to steal a propaganda sign in January 2016. [00:32.48]He was sentenced in March of that year. [00:38.08]Tillerson said the 22-year-old Warmbier [00:42.36]will be reunited with his family in Cincinnati, Ohio June 13. [00:50.48]Warmbier is a student at the University of Virginia. [00:56.08]Tillerson said: "At the direction of the president, [01:00.80]the Department of State has secured the release of Otto Warmbier from North Korea." [01:09.52]The Washington Post newspaper reported [01:12.80]that Warmbier was in a coma when he left North Korea. [01:18.08]It said he had been in that condition for a year. [01:23.52]Warmbier's father Fred told the newspaper that he is happy his son is coming home. [01:31.95]"At the moment, we're just treating this like he's been in an accident. [01:38.40]We get to see our son Otto tonight," he told the newspaper. [01:44.72]There is a chance that the return to North Korea [01:48.64]of former National Basketball Association (NBA) player Dennis Rodman [01:54.12]could help efforts to release the three other Americans being held there. [02:01.60]Tillerson said the State Department continues to discuss [02:06.76]the issue of the three Americans with North Korea. [02:11.81]Rodman spoke to reporters at the Beijing International Airport [02:18.28]before leaving for Pyongyang. [02:21.32]He said "I'm just trying to open the door." [02:26.60]U.S. Under Secretary of State Thomas Shannon confirmed [02:31.72]that Rodman was traveling to North Korea as a private citizen. [02:37.84]Speaking in Tokyo, Shannon said "We wish him well. [02:42.72]But we have issued travel warnings to Americans [02:46.48]and suggested they not travel to North Korea for their own safety." [02:53.00]The 56-year-old former basketball star has visited North Korea at least four times. [03:01.88]He has developed a friendship with its leader Kim Jong Un, [03:07.84]who likes the NBA, especially the team Rodman played on in the 1990s. [03:15.60]Rodman has called Kim an "awesome kid." [03:20.80]Observers worry that Kim will use Rodman to try to improve his own public image. [03:29.60]Anthony Ruggiero is an expert on North Korea [03:34.92]at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington. [03:39.76]"With Dennis Rodman's celebrity I think it is bringing attention to Kim Jong Un [03:46.56]that he does not deserve and shouldn't get," he said. [03:51.44]Ruggiero believes Rodman's visit could harm international efforts [03:58.08]to strengthen sanctions on North Korea. [04:02.04]The sanctions are to punish North Korea for its continued nuclear [04:08.00]and ballistic missiles programs and human rights violations. [04:14.00]On Monday, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis [04:18.88]called North Korea's improving missile and nuclear programs [04:24.08]the "most urgent" threat to national security. [04:29.92]Rodman may have played an important part in gaining the released [04:35.24]of American missionary Kenneth Bae in 2014. [04:41.52]Bae was charged with "hostile acts against the state" [04:46.72]and was in a North Korean labor camp for two years. [04:52.40]During Rodman's last trip to North Korea in 2014, [04:58.56]he took part in a basketball game with other NBA players [05:03.56]and sang "happy birthday" to Kim, who attended the game. [05:09.60]He later wrote to Kim Jong Un asking for Bae's release. [05:14.92]In his letter, Rodman called Kim his "friend for life," [05:21.04]and said he understood that Bae carried out crimes. [05:26.69]Then, Rodman asked Kim to release the prisoner [05:31.60]to show the U.S. how loving he is. [05:35.92]In November, 2014, then-U.S. intelligence chief James Clapper visited Pyongyang [05:45.04]and negotiated the release of Bae and Matthew Miller, another American. [05:51.76]But Bae has since said Rodman was the reason he was released. [05:58.91]I'm Caty Weaver. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM