North Korea Sentences U.S. Student to 15 Years Hard Labor
bloomberg.com
bloomberg.com
What North Korea is going to do to this kid is going to be inhuman and totally disproportionate to what he did, which was, at worst, fairly stupid.
I'm sorry, but travelers to a foreign country need to be at least cognizant of local customs (read the section in a travel book before going), and if they break the rules, expect to face consequences.
My take is NK will make sure he kept in a good conditions, possibly exposed to some made-up farmers views playing "hard labor prisoners" to make sure he will eventually report that no atrocities are taking place and with eventual return already planned for him on a horizon.
Not to say that actual NK citizen's lifetime for equal "offense" will likely be drastically shorter.
Letting US citizen to die in NK is not going to have a healthy consequences for "the leader" and he realizes this pretty well.
As well as how awkwardly he walked in and bowed. Perhaps that's how people of the DPRK bow, but I've never seen that before.
Both instigate the victim to make a "confession" under duress due to the threat of "less beatings should they comply".
It might even be argued that outright torture could simply be considered a more extreme version of a plea bargain.
If only there were some kind of open forum, or even a closed forum where the records of same are made public, where the government could present evidence in favor of this assertion, and the accused could defend themselves against it in kind. We could even mandate that they be set free, should they prove themselves innocent, or that they be required to serve a defined prison term, should they not.
What a more just world we might live in, where such privileges were granted to everyone, regardless of how grievous the crimes they were accused of might be. Oh well.
Or is it a problem that this article in particular dares to mention this person's imprisonment without also mentioning Gitmo?
You could have fun or lose your life. Make a call.
If adult cannot make a judgement call simple enough he becomes a learning statistics for others.
On the other side i think NK will keep him in reasonable conditions to leverage the situation eventually returning him back.
Still, the US shouldn't allow NK to have extra leverage because of this.
It's actually funny you mention campaign posters specifically - because yes, you can get in very serious legal trouble for taking down campaign signs in certain states.
Source: I know people who took down opposing campaign signs for the opposing candidate. Fun times were not had, except perhaps by the lawyers.
I think the real concern is the disproportionate response to the crime. Which, may in part be; 1. both a deterrent for others, 2. a show of force against the US, 3. something which forces the US to reduce some of its embargos.
So, pity the fool and hope that something diplomatic can be done.
"On February 29, 2016 he confessed to stealing a piece of North Korean propaganda from his hotel's staff-only section to take back to the United States as a "trophy" for someone willing to recompense him with a $10,000 reward."
And that's assuming he really did what North Korea says he did. It's not the first time they've made up charges, or trumped up benign accidents into intentionally malicious acts coordinated by the US Gov.
On the other hand, a society with omnipresent cameras that catches people almost 100% of the time can penalize proportionally.
I think its even worst.
"took down a propaganda sign in Pyongyang so he could exchange it for money outside the country"
According to the article he did to sell it on ebay.
We probably can't know what he actually did, or why he did it. The incident could even be made from whole cloth.
You didn't need permission from the US per se to go to Cuba. You needed permission to contribute to the Cuban economy. If you were in a boat, entered Cuban waters, sailed around Havana harbor, and left without paying any sort of fees, then I don't think there was need for permission.
It's possible to get a travel exemption that allows per diem expenditures. The details depend on the type of exemption. See http://www.usacubatravel.com/restriction.htm . One of them is "Specific licenses for religious organizations", which is almost certainly what that church applied for in order for its members to travel to Cuba.
These restrictions are changing this week, I believe. I don't know the latest status.
Obama? Not sure he can be a softy or not depending
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Americans_detained_by_...
Although, Obama's administration did secure the release of journalists in 2009:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_imprisonment_of_American_...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consular_assistance
This guy is a total fuck-up, no doubt. Many Americans are, though, and I don't think that merits 15 years at hard labor. Especially since part of the reason the North Koreans are doing this is likely because of international politics.