UPDATE - Otto Warmbier's parents break with Trump, blame Kim

ADDS TRUMP TWEET IN GRAF 10-11

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The parents of an American student who died of injuries sustained in North Korean captivity publicly broke with President Donald Trump on Friday, blaming North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for their son's death.

"We have been respectful during this summit process. Now we must speak out," Fred and Cindy Warmbier said in a statement following Trump's second summit with Kim.

"Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuses or lavish praise can change that," they added.

Their son, Otto Warmbier, was imprisoned in North Korea for more than a year before his release. He was sent back to the U.S. in a coma-like state, dying six days after his return in June 2017.

He was sentenced to 15 years hard labor on charges tied to the theft of a propaganda poster.

Trump said in Hanoi, Vietnam, where he was meeting with Kim, that he believed the North Korean leader's denials of responsibility for Warmbier's death.

"He felt badly about it. I did speak to him. He felt very badly," Trump said as the nuclear talks collapsed without progress. "I will take him at his word."

Trump's comments drew a swift backlash from Republicans and Democrats.

"We know what happened to Otto. We know what this country has done. I support the president's effort to denuclearize them, but I do not have a misbelief of who this leader is," Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters.

The president took to Twitter to push back against the criticism.

"I never like being misinterpreted, but especially when it comes to Otto Warmbier and his great family," he said.

Trump, however, continued to stop short of blaming Kim for Warmbier's detention and death, blaming North Korea instead while insisting "Otto Warmbier will not have died in vain."