http://www.cbsnews.com/news/north-korea-releases-otto-warmbier-american-uva-student/
Yay, I really felt bad for this guy. I know it was a bad judgment his part -but he certainly didn’t deserve this. Truthfully I don’t understand casual travel to North Korea.
If what the article says is true, hope he pulls through.
This is so sad! I am praying for him to have a complete recovery. What a nightmare for his family!
“I don’t understand casual travel to North Korea.”
This young man is from about an hour south of me. It’s been pretty big news around here. I too pray he recovers. There are some places that if my child told me they wanted to visit I would vociferously object and N. Korea would be at the top of my list.
He’s been in a coma for a year! I’m so happy he’s been released, and extremely concerned about his condition. His family must be frantic.
Oh no -this is said. I hope it isn’t as bad as it sounds. I know if I were his parents I would be devastated
sad not said
I pray that he recovers… and learns something from this experience. (I know. This sounds harsh). But why on earth would anyone want to travel to North Korea? I just don’t get it…
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/13/world/north-korea-otto-warmbier-rodman.html?_r=0
Praying for him and his family. The whole botulism, sleeping pill led to a coma story is absurd. I wish we had more ways to punish North Korea.
Yes it is. Terrible situation
This could be any one of our kids. Except mine know better than to go to N. Korea. I feel terrible for his parents and the story about how he entered a coma is suspicious. I believe he was probably beaten. He looked terrible when they dragged him into trial. I’m praying for a full recovery but it does not sound good.
@rockvillemom @OspreyCV22 “The whole botulism, sleeping pill led to a coma story is absurd.”
The NY Times today reported that, according to a senior American official, he may have been “repeatedly beaten” 
I don’t really understand the group he was traveling with or the purpose of the trip. Why was he there? Yes, he made a stupid mistake, but why was he even there? It is not a place to go on tour.
My kids want to go with my brother to Nepal at Christmas. The last time they went, they flew through Turkey and I’ve put my foot down and said they can’t fly through Turkey again. They aren’t going through N Korea, they aren’t going through any other countries on the State Dept list.
North Korean tourism is a big thing. There are organized trips of people coming from China, westerners. I think it’s part of a trend towards “adventure tourism” - doing things that not many have done for bragging rights.
If after reading this, a US citizen still wants to vacation in North Korea, I question their sanity.
https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/alertswarnings/north-korea-travel-warning.html
He was on his way to a study abroad in Hong Kong, based on the article - and took a new year’s eve side trip with friends. Then amid the revelling he sneaked out of the designated foreigner floor to see how 'team’s North Koreans looked like, and was caught.
Whoever beat him probably thought he’d die and be forgotten (he’d been condemned to 15 years hard labor, which means death from beatings, starvation, and hard work) or probably figured retaliation would be impossible. Westerners getting hard labor sentences typically don’t walk out free because North Korean officials don’t want witnesses to their atrocities (and the abject poverty most people live in.) He was likely only released because authorities thought he was a good bargaining chip (a valued hostage yet incapable of speaking).
As to why people go: it blows my mind too since the risks of being taken hostage are so great but some people like to see places no one else has seen, to take risks, etc.
“Then amid the revelling he sneaked out of the designated foreigner floor to see how 'team’s North Koreans looked like, and was caught.”
Reportedly, it wasn’t that innocent. He was accused of stealing a banner as a “souvenir”. Dumb (to go) and dumber (to pull a stunt like that).
I thought Otto went as part of a tour group (as I remember the original story)–and last in line of the group exiting the country when he was arrested.
Yes, he took a poster (stupid yes!) but hardly worth the treatment he received. He could have been arrested even if he had NOT taken the poster. They can arrest someone for no reason whatsoever.
I don’t think kids (anyone under 30 in my eyes these days) think anything bad can ever happen to them. You can lecture and warn all you want. My dad used to say it’s part of nature to make young people feel invincible.
It’s not until you are older and look back on your life and wonder “What in the world was I thinking?!!!” that you start to consider the now obvious rashness of some of your previous adventures.
And maybe I shouldn’t say it but Dennis Rodman disgusts me.
I am very glad for Warmbier and his family that he has been released and I sincerely wish the best for his recovery.
Having said that, the stupidity involved in going there and in doing what he did there are hard for me to comprehend. I absolutely hate the word “privilege” and all it implies. But there seems to me to be a certain amount of arrogance and privilege involved in thinking he could go to a country that is known for its authoritarian regime and commit a petty crime that the authoritarian regime construes as an insult (it was not just any banner he stole, but one bearing the likeness of the authoritarian leader himself) without being subjected to unspeakably harsh punishment and inhumane treatment. This is a well-educated kid who should have known better.
I live not far from Wambier’s family and a lot of people around here are not receptive to hearing that, if the comments on the local media stories are any indication.