South Korea's Foreign Ministry says it believes a U.S. government official’s recent visit to North Korea was purely a humanitarian act to secure the release of an American student.

A ministry official explained on Wednesday that Seoul and Washington have been in close consultations over the issue of American citizens detained in the North, adding the ministry has no further comment on the matter outside of the U.S.’ announcement on the release of Otto Warmbier.

After 17 months of detention in North Korea, the 22-year-old University of Virginia student was released on Tuesday through diplomatic back channels.

State Department Special Representative Joseph Yun met with North Korean officials in New York and Oslo, Norway before visiting Pyongyang on Monday to bring Warmbier back to the U.S.

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