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The bill was handed over to Joseph Yun, the former special representative of the State Department for North Korea, who went to Pyongyang in June 2017 to bring Warmbier home, said these sources to CNN.
Yun, who had been ordered by President Donald Trump to bring back Warmbier, signed the bill after informing then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Tillerson then informed Trump of the bill, according to the source.
The Trump administration has not paid this bill, CNN Thursday told a third source close to the file, adding that North Korea had not raised the issue as it tried to ease tensions with the United States in 2018, nor when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had negotiated the release of three Americans the same year, said the source.
"We have made it clear that they will never get anything" when negotiating for the release of the 3 Americans, the source added.
Earlier this month, at an event attended by the family of Otto Warmbier, Pompeo dismissed the idea that the United States is paying a ransom for hostages.
"Please remember that any money intended for a terrorist or terrorist regime gives it so that it can seize more people among us," he said. "We can not accept this risk, you would not ask us that."
Although North Koreans did not raise the bill at Trump's summits with Kim Jong Un in Singapore and Vietnam, the source said the wait for this payment could be raised again.
This is all the more true as the North Korean Foreign Ministry gains influence at the negotiating table and it is they who handed the bill to Yun, said the source.
Questioned Thursday by CNN, Yun said he could not confirm the report because of the sensitive nature of the discussions.
"I can not confirm that," Yun said. "These are exchanges and diplomatic negotiations that I do not confirm."
"We do not comment on the hostage negotiations, which explains their success in this administration," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a written response to CNN.
The State Department declined to comment and referred to Sanders' response.
Warmbier was arrested by North Korean officials in January 2016 while he was trying to return to the United States after a tour of the country. He was returned to his family "severely damaged in the brain and in a state that no longer reacted" on June 13, 2017, and died six days later.
Fred Warmbier, Otto's father, told the Washington Post that he had no prior knowledge of the bill, but that he called it a "ransom" for his dead son.
"He tells me that he's not aware of it and that I'm going to take it at his word," Trump told a press conference, also claiming that Kim "felt very badly. But he knew the case very well, but he knew it later …. "
These comments provoked a harsh reprimand from the Warmbier family.
"We have been respectful during this process.Now we have to talk.Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto.Kim and his evil regime are responsible for cruelty and d & # 39; unimaginable inhumanity, no excuse or eulogy, "Otto's parents Fred and Cindy Warmbier said in a statement to CNN.
Trump then addressed the issue on Twitter arguing that he was "misinterpreted" after he managed to get Warmbier out of North Korea and pretend to hold the country responsible for Warmbier's death – although he did not mention Kim's role.
"I never like to be misinterpreted, but especially regarding Otto Warmbier and his big family," said the president at the time. "Remember, I took Otto out with three others, the previous administration did nothing, and he was taken under their supervision."
Devin Cole, Abby Phillip and Jennifer Hansler of CNN contributed to this report.
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