North Korea releases video it says shows crime that led American student to be sentenced 15 years

Business Insider ^ | 03/18/2016 | Neil Connor, Telegraph

[SeekAndFind]

North Korea has released a grainy video that it claims shows American student Otto Warmbier attempting to steal a propaganda banner from a hotel — an accusation for which he received 15 years of hard labor.

The short clip at the Yanggakdo International Hotel in Pyongyang shows an unidentifiable figure removing a sign from a wall before placing it on the floor.

The banner in the hotel apparently says: "Let's arm ourselves strongly with Kim Jong Il patriotism," referring to the isolated state's leader who died in 2011.

The short security-camera footage could not be verified, and the clip shows a brightly lit corridor in the hotel supposedly in the early hours of January 1, when Warmbier was accused of taking the sign.

North Korea regularly blacks out many buildings because of resource shortages in the country.

Warmbier was arrested as he attempted to leave the country in January and later made a televised "confession" saying he had taken the sign to bring back as a "trophy."

The 21-year-old student, who had visited the isolated state as a tourist, had said during his confession that he had tried to steal the banner for an acquaintance who wanted to hang it in her church.

The North Korean state news agency KCNA earlier said that the University of Virginia student's offense was "pursuant to the US government's hostile policy" and that he was convicted under an article of the criminal code dealing with subversion.

Foreigners are often detained in North Korea, where they are used by Pyongyang to exert diplomatic pressure.

But the rogue state has often imposed stiff sentences before releasing prisoners, and many of those who have confessed later say they were forced to do so.

[Talisker]

Who’s gullible? The only way anyone has heard anything is through North Korea!

[SgtHooper]

Any fool who chooses to travel to NoKo is just that, a fool! No tears here. Darwin Award winner.

[kneedragger111]

All I can say is I don’t see any tears given all the crying. Same for a bunch of TV shows I watch. Just saying....

[Vermont Lt]

Who the hell vacations in DPRK. Thats like going to bible camp in Raqqa

[trisham]

Poor little snowflake.

[proust]

No safe space in NK.

[Hot Tabasco]

This moron is now a political pawn of the NKs.......Wonder what or who the NKs want for this kid's release?

As a side note, his voice in his tearful testimony set off my gaydar and now reinforced by this picture.........

[TangoLimaSierra]

Bad career move kid. You’ll be fortunate to eat nothing but kimchi and rice for the next 15 years.

I don't think he'll be eating that well.

[Hot Tabasco]

There may be more to the story than what we're hearing

More often that not, the obvious is just that.......A dumbass kid doing a dumbass trick and now paying the political price for it.

It isn't about him anymore, it's the bargaining chips he just provided to the NKs...........

They're not going to mistreat him other than scare the hell out of him and eventually they will release him after they have made an example out of him to their own population.

After he's released, he'll make a fortune in television appearances............

Once he gets back to the US, at the very least, the govt. should revoke his passport and forever prohibit him from leaving this country........

[Hot Tabasco]

Here's the rest of that picture......I find it odd that the first one I posted was cropped......Now I know why....LOL!

[apocalypto]

Weird.

After reading Escape from Camp 14, I would never visit NK.

[TBall]

Reading about the work camp is awful and I feel bad for the guy. I doubt he will make it a month under those conditions. He just looks too big physically and weak emotionally to adjust to the conditions. Definitely stupid in his decisions, but he probably has a high IQ if he got into UVA.