UPDATE | Family says US college student released by NKorea is in coma

WASHINGTON (AP) — Otto Warmbier, an American college student serving a 15-year prison term in North Korea for alleged anti-state acts, was released and medically evacuated from the reclusive country today and has been in a coma for months, his parents said.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he State Department had secured Warmbier's release at the direction of the president. He said Warmbier, 22, of Cincinnati, was en route to the U.S., where he will be reunited with his family. Tillerson said the department would have no further comment on Warmbier and his condition, citing privacy concerns.

Fred and Cindy Warmbier said in a statement to The Associated Press their son is in a coma and flying home. They said they have been told their son has been in a coma since March 2016 – when he was last seen in public, at his trial when he was sentenced to hard labor – and they had learned of this only one week ago.

"We want the world to know how we and our son have been brutalized and terrorized by the pariah regime" in North Korea, they said. "We are so grateful that he will finally be with people who love him."