A Delaware college has severed ties with a professor who said a student who was held by North Korea and later died "got exactly what he deserved".

Kathy Dettwyler sparked a backlash on Facebook when she wrote Otto Warmbier was "typical of a mindset of a lot of young, white, rich, clueless males".

Mr Warmbier, 22, died a week after he was freed by North Korea, where he was serving 15 years hard labour.

He was medically evacuated earlier this month and died in a coma.

Ms Dettwyler, an anthropology professor at the University of Delaware, criticised Mr Warmbier in a post on her Facebook page, blaming his parents for what happened to him.

"These are the same kids who cry about their grades because they didn't think they'd really have to read and study the material to get a good grade," she wrote.

"His parents ultimately are to blame for his growing up thinking he could get away with whatever he wanted."

"Maybe in the US, where young, white, rich, clueless white males routinely get away with raping women," she continued.

"Not so much in North Korea. And of course, it's Otto's parents who will pay the price for the rest of their lives."