Washington: North Korea has released Otto Warmbier, a US university student who has been held captive there since January 2016, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.

Warmbier, a University of Virginia student from suburban Cincinnati, was on his way back to the United States after being released while serving a 15-year prison sentence with hard labor for alleged anti-state acts, the AP said, citing Tillerson.