But the US doesn’t set policy for foreign governments. If the N Koreans say the punishment for taking a poster off a wall, or even for just being on the wrong floor of the hotel (even if it is a mistake) is 15 years of hard labor, that’s what the punishment is. We can all disagree, we can write to our state department, we can make documentaries and show the world that N Korea is evil, but we can’t change their laws. Otto chose to go to Korea. He agreed to their laws when he went there.
If France decides the penalty for spitting off the Eiffel Tower is 10 years, that’s what it is. The US can put France on the ‘do not travel’ advisory, it can cut relations, it can go to the UN and ask for help, but it can’t change French law. We can argue that that’s not the penalty for spitting off the Statue of Liberty, but that’s all we can do.
I’m actually surprised N Korea released Otto. I’m surprised they allow anyone into N. Korea but more surprised that anyone wants to go.
I second and third Zoosermom’s comments. I cannot imagine anyone thinking that travelling to North Korea is a goo d idea. I am sorry there are some places you just don’t go to… what a tragedy for him and his family.
^They released him because the basic idea of hostage-taking is to use the person as a bargaining chip. Therefore, if the person dies, they’re no longer “useful”. (And they were worried he’d die - medical facilities in Korea are notoriously subpar. No one knows when he got into a coma and how - could have been from a beating a few days ago to pills slipped to him to…anything, from cause to date. NOTHING out of the North Korean government can be taken at face value. The words mean something, just not what you’d think they do. BTW, the poster story itself could be made up. Or it could be true.)
In addition, North Korea can’t afford to kill an American citizen - even if he’s crazy, the great leader knows that there’d be hell to pay. The reason American citizens abroad tend to be a bit luckier than some other citizens when authorities decide on a crackdown for whatever reason is that all foreign governments know that touching an American citizen is not worth the trouble. An American hostage can, however, be a good bargaining chip if restituted alive and in good health. What KJU wants right now is a mystery, but that probably led to the decision to release him, a decision that was accelerated due to the boy’s health.
Before you hate on Dennis Rodman, consider that his trip may have been a condition to Otto’s release.
It is a very odd story. A big problem is that no party that may have access to actual information has the slightest interest in telling the truth about what really happened. Not the two governments, nor the souvenir hunter himself, nor his family.
I see no particular reason to believe North Korea’s version of the story about the poster, either. I would not be surprised to learn that he was somehow entrapped into taking it down, for example. All the “confessions” recited by prisoners of North Korea are obviously coerced and not credible. I hope he comes out of the coma so he can tell his own version of what happened.
I will agree, though, that going to North Korea in the first place was not prudent.
I am having a hard time imagining that it even comes up as an option. Are these American companies that take tourists to North Korea?
It’s done now -I just feel terrible for him and his family.
This company, Young Pioneer Tours, is out of Xian, China.
“Young Pioneer Tours is an adventure travel company formed in 2008 and based in mainland China. Specialising in North Korea tours, we provide “budget travel to destinations your mother would rather you stayed away from”.”
“Aside from the DPRK, we travel to a number of other destinations such as Afghanistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Chernobyl, Cuba, Antarctica, Eritrea and more! All our tours are founded on the YPT ethos of fun, thrill seeking and adventure at a great price. All ages welcomed!”
There is video of him removing the poster from the wall. That part is true and I’m sure Otto was very regretful in his confession due to the harsh punishment that was coming. I remember hearing that an American man back home offered to trade him a used car for the souvenir.
Also, in the clip of him being carried off the plane, he doesn’t look as “wasted” (as in muscle wasting) as he would if he had been in a coma for a year. When you don’t move your muscles at all, as would be the case if you were in a coma, the muscles become significantly smaller and start to contract.
There’s a news conference from the hospital at 3:00 PM ET today.
So If I am interpreting the press conference correctly -he coded (cardio pulmonary arrest ) at some point and now he has brain damage. The docs are saying his MRI is not consistent with trauma but more likely arrest.
Chernobyl is definitely a popular tourist attraction. You don’t have to go all the way to China to partake. One of my extended family members has been. The photos are creepy. Not for me.
There’s a really bad horror flick called Chernobyl Diaries which is about a group of tourists visiting there.
Veruca-- The theory is either pulmonary arrest (which leads to cardiac arrest) or cardiac arrest. But both of these would be very rare in a person so young. The doctors did not speculate on the cause.
They don’t know when any of this happened. The dates on records are back of April last year but that means nothing since it can be changed. No sign of botulism at all.