US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says that North Korea has released Otto Warmbier, an American serving a 15-year prison term with hard labour for alleged anti-state acts. Tillerson said that Warmbier is on his way back to the U.S. to be re-united with his family. He said in a statement that the State Department secured Warmbier's release at the direction of President Donald Trump. The State Department continues discussing three other detained Americans with North Korea.<br/><br/>The announcement comes as former US basketball player Dennis Rodman is paying a return visit to North Korea.<br/><br/>Warmbier is a University of Virginia student from suburban Cincinnati. He was sentenced in March after a televised tearful public confession to trying to steal a propaganda banner.<br/>'''