内容摘要：U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, fourth from left, holds a meeting with North Korean defectors at the

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, fourth from left, holds a meeting with North Korean defectors at the Navy's 2nd Fleet Command in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, Friday. Also present was Fred Warmbier, third from right, the father of Otto Warmbier, a U.S. student who died shortly after being released from a North Korean prison in a coma last year. / Joint Press Corps

By Kim Bo-eun, Joint Press Corps

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence denounced the oppressive state of North Korea in a meeting with four North Korean defectors, Friday, on his visit to South Korea for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

"President Trump said the cruel dictatorship of North Korea is little more than a prison state, as people testified it is a regime that imprisons and tortures and impoverishes its citizens," he said after hearing the defectors' testimonies on the grounds of the Navy's Second Fleet in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.

Among the North Korean defectors was Ji Seong-ho, who was invited as a guest at U.S. President Donald Trump's State of the Union address in Washington last week.

The image of Ji, who lost an arm and leg in a train crash in the North before he fled to the South, holding up his crutches and receiving a standing ovation at the address, was captured by the international press.

Also present at the meeting was Fred Warmbier _ the father of American college student Otto Warmbier who died after being released in a coma from a North Korean prison last year. Warmbier has joined Pence on his visit for the Olympics.

After embracing each other, Ji greeted Warmbier saying, "Nice to see you."

Defectors want to tell Mr. Pence … 2018-02-09 09:48  |  Politics
Among the defectors was a woman who had been detained for 28 years in a facility in the North.

Another defector said she only succeeded in defecting to the South on her fourth attempt. She had been repatriated to the North after failed attempts.

The meeting took place after Pence visited memorials for South Korean sailors killed by Pyongyang's maritime attacks.

The U.S. vice president visited a memorial displaying a South Korean Navy frigate that sank due to a torpedo attack by the North in March 2010, which killed 46 South Korean sailors.

Accompanying the visit were U.S. Forces Korea commander Gen. Vincent Brooks and Gen. Kim Byeong-joo, deputy commander of the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command.

Pence, who arrived on Thursday, met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in over dinner the same day, reaffirming the maximum pressure and sanctions against Pyongyang for dialogue aimed at denuclearization.

Earlier in the day in Washington, Trump mentioned Ji at the annual National Prayer Breakfast.

Referring to Ji's attendance at his State of the Union address, Trump said "Seong-ho is free and a symbol of hope to millions of people all around the world."

"We know that millions of people in Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea and other countries suffer under repressive and brutal regimes. America stands with all people suffering oppression and religious persecution."