North Korean tyrant Kim Jong Un’s insane regime is at it again.
The reclusive communist nation announced Friday the arrest of a U.S. university student for what it called a “hostile act” designed to undermine the authoritarian nation.
North Korea’s announcement comes amid a diplomatic push by Washington, Seoul and their allies to slap Pyongyang with tough sanctions for its recent nuclear test. And diplomats worry that the college student is being used as little more than a bargaining chip.
North Korea also regularly accuses Washington and Seoul of sending “spies” to overthrow its government to enable the U.S.-backed South Korean government to control the entire Korean Peninsula. Some foreigners previously arrested have read statements of guilt that they later said were coerced. In the past, North Korea has occasionally announced the arrests of foreign detainees in times of tension with the outside world in an apparent attempt to wrest concessions or diplomatic maneuvering room.
In language that mirrors past North Korean claims of outside conspiracies, Pyongyang’s state media said the University of Virginia student entered the country under the guise of a tourist and plotted to destroy North Korean unity with “the tacit connivance of the U.S. government and under its manipulation.”
The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said in a short report that the student, whom it identified as Warmbier Otto Frederick, was “arrested while perpetrating a hostile act,” but didn’t say when he was detained or explain the nature of the act. North Korea has sometimes listed English-language surnames first, in the Korean style. The University of Virginia’s online student directory lists someone named Otto Frederick Warmbier as an undergraduate commerce student.
A China-based tour company specializing in travel to North Korea, Young Pioneer Tours, confirmed that one of its customers, identified only as “Otto,” had been detained in Pyongyang, the North’s capital, but provided no other details. Social media accounts for Warmbier show interests in finance, travel and rap music; he was on the University of Virginia’s dean’s list and attended high school in the Cincinnati, Ohio, area.
A few thousand Westerners are thought to visit North Korea each year, and Pyongyang is pushing for more tourists as a way to help its dismal economy. The U.S. State Department has warned against travel to the North, however, and visitors, especially those from America, who break the country’s sometimes murky rules risk detention, arrest and possible jail sentences, although most have eventually been released.
Earlier this month, CNN reported that North Korea had detained another U.S. citizen on suspicion of spying. It said a man identified as Kim Dong Chul was being held by the North and said authorities had accused him of spying and stealing state secrets. North Korea has yet to comment on the report.
The U.S. State Department has said it could not confirm the CNN report. It declined to discuss the issue further or confirm whether the U.S. was consulting with Sweden, which handles U.S. consular issues in North Korea because Washington and Pyongyang do not have diplomatic relations.
North Korea has previously released or deported U.S. detainees after high-profile Americans visited the country. In late 2014, for instance, North Korea released two Americans after a secret mission to the North by James Clapper, the top U.S. intelligence official. Critics say such trips have provided diplomatic credibility to the North.
The Korean Peninsula remains in a technical state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. About 28,500 American troops are stationed in South Korea.
North Korea is holding at least three South Koreans and one Canadian.
Last month, North Korea’s Supreme Court sentenced a Canadian pastor to life in prison with hard labor for what it called crimes against the state. The offenses he was charged with included harming the dignity of the North’s leadership and trying to use religion to destroy the North Korean system, according to the North’s state media.
The Associated Press contributed to this article
Speaking of Hostages- what about the Sailors taken hostages by the Iranians.
Now that I think about it—Whoever wrote this is not only brilliant but upon reflection it’s the only way it could have happened.
DON’T
GIVE UP THE SHIP
The
account of two U. S. Navy vessels being seized by the Iranian navy earlier
this week seems completely implausible.
No
part of it makes any sense.
The
story is that two river patrol boats – bristling modern-day incarnations of
the Vietnam swift boats – were navigating south
from Kuwait to Bahrain. At some point, via some means, the two boats, with
their contingent of five sailors each, surrendered to the Iranians.
Two accounts have been offered as to how that happened. The first was that one
of the vessels lost its engine and that they both then drifted into Iranian waters.
The other was that the two boats had been operating fine, but inadvertently navigated into Iranian territory. Simply put, they got lost.
Neither account seems possible.
First
off, if one of the boats broke down, and the sailor aboard trained to tend
the engine couldn’t fix it, the other boat would
merely
take it in tow and they would proceed on their way. That is not a novel
maritime undertaking. The second scenario –
oops,
we got lost – is even less likely. It turns out that navigation and
navigation equipment are kind of a high priority for the
Navy.
Boats don’t get lost. Highly technical navigation equipment on both boats
would have told crew members exactly where
they
were. And in the unlikely event that both boats lost all electronic
navigational equipment, and the compasses lost track
of
magnetic north, there is the simple fact that sailing from Kuwait to
Bahrain pretty much involves nothing more complex than
keeping
the shore on your starboard side. And should you lose sight of shore, and
can remember that the map has safety to the
west
and danger to the east, you’d think that the position of the sun in the
sky or the fact that prevailing winds in the Persian Gulf
in
the winter are northwesterly, would somehow have allowed our sailors to
find the Saudi shoreline instead of Iranian
waters.
And
all of that presumes that these two boats were operating alone in the open
seas, which they presumably were not. There is,
in
fact, a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier battle group operating in the Persian
Gulf. The USS Harry S Truman owns the Persian Gulf
these
days, and the significant American military presence in Saudi Arabia and
Kuwait – lands immediately proximate to the
waters
where our sailors were operating – makes us the biggest dog on the
block. And we’ve got radar and helicopters and
airplanes
and stuff like that. And if an American vessel breaks down at sea, or
strays from course, under those operational
conditions,
there are a lot of American assets that would both notice the problem and
be able to offer relief. Yet no one did.
We’re
supposed to believe nobody radioed a couple of inexplicably lost boats to
ask where they were going? When one of them
supposedly
broke down, a carrier battle group had no means to come to their
assistance? That makes no sense.
It’s
completely unbelievable.
So
is the apparent conduct of the sailors in the face of a supposed challenge
by the Iranian military. If one of the vessels was
disabled,
as is claimed, and hostile craft are approaching, bringing with them the
prospect of capture and captivity, don’t you
put
all 10 sailors on the able boat, sink the disabled boat, and race the bad
guys back to international waters? From the Iranian
video,
it looks like two or three bass boats and four guys in mismatched
uniforms, with a couple of AK’s, captured two far-larger
and
better-armed American boats, both of which were bristling with mounted
machine guns. Here’s a fact: When you’re kneeling
on
the deck of your own boat, with your hands clasped behind your head, and
some guy’s shouting at you in terrorist language,
things
didn’t go right.
And
yet, that’s exactly what supposedly happened here. Ten American sailors,
successors to Captain James Lawrence, are on
their
knees next to their unfired guns, in the face of a smaller and less
well-armed opponent – with little American flags snapping
in
the breeze. This is not the stuff of Commodore Perry and Admiral
Farragut. And you wonder whose call it was.
How
far up the chain of command did they have to go to find the cowardly lion
who ordered this genuflection before a bunch of
savages?
Did this get bounced all the way to the Pentagon, or the Situation Room?
Which secretary of what made the decision
not
to put a squadron of naval aviators above those two boats to keep the
camel jockeys at bay?
It
is shameful, a worldwide embarrassment for the nation and the Navy.
And it is topped off by an obsequious videotaped apology,
and
pictures of our sailors, captive in hostile hands, the female with a towel
over her head. The President can ignore this. But we
can’t.
We got pantsed. We got humiliated. We showed either weakness or
incompetence. And unfortunately either one only invites
aggression
against us.
It
is inconceivable that you could find 10 Americans willing to surrender
themselves and their equipment without a fight. It is not
plausible
that any young man or woman entering into the naval service would
willingly kneel on the deck of a combat-capable
ship.
Somebody
told them to give up.
And
that somebody, and the philosophy he represents, will be the death of
us.
Why would ANYONE in their right mind want to go to Iran or North Korea; two demonic nations ruled by tyrants.
Mystifying.
Cheers,
Tony
Yes, why would anyone travel to N Korea or the middle east? Has to be a dumbass Liberal! Let him enjoy his N Korean stay as long as they will have him! No swaps for sanctions lifts or prisoner swaps either.
I agree!
Anyone stupid enough to travel to North Korea ought to be left there so that his genes do not pollute the gene pool. He is a good nominee for the Darwin Award.
the gene pool has already been polluted. need I remind you that we are in Obama’s second term.
We should of ignored those who pretended to be an American. One was suppose to be a Marine or something and I wonder why was he even there ? Then you have a Preacher, preaching to the Muslims about Christianity. They got Seven released from our Prison for some serious crimes and we get these people that are just to stupid to know how to stay out of trouble.
the ”president” supposedly TOLD the i ran ians WHERE those boats were, because he was concerned that they were in trouble and might need a hand !!! YUP …. the greatest military in the world, and they ”might need a hand” ????? he sold them out, had it happen just before the ‘state of the union address’ … never even MENTIONED the sailors during that address while that poor lonely empty chair sat there as a reminder of all the black thugs that have been rightly killed by others for committing crimes and refusing to listen to the police when told to stop or else !!! THEN the sailors give a soul killing ‘speech’ about how sorry they are that they floated into i ran’s waters and are set free, but not before the SIM cards from there satellite phones are stolen ! !! ! ! ! anyone else see the traitor in this action ?!?!?!
Sound like Benghazi, as you stated that where was the arial support. I’d say F-18s or F-17s forty feet off the deck would keep those iraniuns at bay. As you stated what balless high ranking official made the call. The Muslim brother in the White House.
DANG, you summed it up good !! Your comments should be communicated to every American !!
Everyone knows what these country’s are like. Why do people continue to take chances with their lives and travel there? I’m sorry but find it hard to feel for them. They took a big gamble and end up behind bars. Now we are suppose to feel sorry for them…
Your correct. One person was there to learn how to speak better Iranian . I would of told him that he will have plenty of opportunity to learn, cause we will not make a trade that will hurt our Nation , cause he decided to overstay his Visa. This trade was not worth it.
Thank you James Byrne – the thoughts you have posted have been mulled in my mind since the incident occurred and nothing has made sense. A great post.
Agreed!
Do you think someone is holding contests to see how much B.S. can be dished out before even the stupids that voted O. in the 2nd time “get it”?
James Byrne, what a brilliant post! Please post it as many places as possible so your work gets maximum exposure. You raise so many points. Yes, something very fishy and awful happened, and Trump may let us know what exactly happened after he becomes President, or even during the debates. Thank you for posting.
I agree with every thing you said! Obama put them out for bait & Iran will capture them & then release them for $100Billion Dollars! A ransom for people who were taught to kill the bastards that took them! Wake Up America!!!
Poor Otto, but Deans List or not, he wasn’t using his brains to take a “Chinese Tour Group” into North Korea! Oh brother, I see another American “trade” probably costing millions, just to get him back! When will Americans learn not to travel over enemy lines? Couldn’t he find enough to do in America, his own native country? He is only a student, not a diplomat!
He must have been a first semester freshman and never had any schooling on making choices and thinking – not in his first 12 years of education and obviously none at home. Now that he has made bad choices we as a Country should let him and his parents work out any kind of deal they can put together. Sometimes bad choices provide a learning experience – in this case for the college student, his parents and hopefully for other parents that could find themselves in similar situation.
Since Korea is still officially in a state of war, Otto was visiting an enemy state in a time of war. Stupid. Any time you find yourself copying Dennis Rodman’s behavior, you should probably pause and ponder.
I’ll never know why Dennis Rodman sucked up to one of our worst enemies. All I can say is, consider the source.
And definitely not a patriot by any means; that’s why he was allowed to come and go. Anyone that mingles with the spoiled brat baby face is a traitor in my eyes.
THANK YOU OBUMMER, YOU HAVE AMERICANS UNDER A KIDNAPPING THREAT AND RANSOM THREAT AGAIN. Your evil administration has done it again without caring about Americans.
For those talking about the two Navy boats, it was an exchange not an accident. Even the U.S. Administrators explained two different things. First, it was mechanical problems and then it was misguided or lost. Come on, you kidding me….too obvious. As for this young man, pretty bad timing to travel and tour over there, but we are the only country NOT taking things serious in our own country. With the most recent shootings, findings and other things identified with a certain group of people, We are still accepting people into our country even though we know that there are flaws within our system of safety and security.
I guess that none of these lunatic regimes (of all flavors) are going to be happy until they’ve driven the entire planet into a global exchange of nuclear weapons. It doesn’t matter to them that hundreds of millions of lives (more likely BILLIONS) will be lost because of all this homicidal chicanery. What does this tell any beings form other worlds who might be observing this madness and just belly laughing at human stupidity. Why have we learned so little about getting along with each other more 200,000+ years of human existence on this planet? HMMMMM???
Why would a stupid college student from USA want to visit North Korea? He’s either a leftist Liberal Democrat or a spy for the CIA. Why take # weeks to announce the arrest? Did they have to Brain Wash him first? When or what will the ransom be? Why didn’t the Tour Group notify someone. Or are they collaberating with N.Korea? John Kerry is in Switzerland so send him to N. Korea in exchange for the prisoner. Then we can Bomb N. Korea out of existance. We won’t miss Kerry eh don’t do nothing usefull anyway.
You have my name and website. What the FUCK else do you need?
This is only the beginning, now that the US is paying (bailing out) hostages, the list is going to grow. This A Hole president has destroyed this country.
Ditto.
I find it hard to believe that an apparently bright university student would just go to North Korea on a lark.
Very simple – bad choices and no guidance. Now that he is there he may start a long overdue education. The only involvement of the Government should be to offer assistance to the parents in working out the problem that they and their son is in. It was his choice and undoubtedly with the parents approval. North Korea DOES NOT have a hostage that is viable for extortion.
Gosh! Do you think he might be C.I.A.?
Ditto.
I wouldn’t want to go to North Korea. The country’s track record is bad. I’m not sure why this guy wanted to go to North Korea. Sometimes good judgment appear to be in short supply.
He shouldn’t have been there in the first place! Serves him right!
Travel Academy 101 –
Travel alert, if you go to a unfriendly country where they don’t like Americans, you could end up in harms way, so, as much of a surprise as this may be to you, DONT GO!
I’m sorry, but please tell me WHY an American student was in North Korea.
College kids go to other countries to study, and have so much free time to travel all over Europe.
I’m not surprised that something like this could happen. I have a grandson in the UK studying Biology to help him in his goal of becoming a doctor. He has traveled in several European countries. My granddaughter last year went to France to study and become more fluent in French.
She also traveled to several European countries. Universities need to start rethinking what these kids could get caught in.
Well, every time we read stories about the North Koreans, we can pause and reflect that it was a democrat in charge (Truman), when the truce was called. Gen. Douglas MacArthur wanted to settle it there and take on China as well.
It would have been easier to do back in the 1950’s. So intense was their disagreement on the matter that Truman removed MacArthur from command. A democrat is a menace to freedom.
You are correct but weaker knees prevailed. There were several things involved and they are Turmans fault one was the president desire after the japanese surrender to so rapidly downsize the US military so that we could stop the money hemorage the other was done under Roosevelt when he did not heed General Stillwell and force Chang Kai Shek to reform the Nationalists. That led to Maos victory Basically during WW2 Mao stayed in the interior and let the nationalists fight the brunt of the Japanese onslaught. After the war the corrupt Nationalists were no match for Mao’s dedicated cadres which were supplied with Soviet weapons. In 48 the Soviet tried to force us out of Berlin and In 50 they started the Korean war If we had had troops we could have used our atomic supremacy to force the Russians out of Eastern Europe.
But that’s water under the bridge the fact is that we should put a nuclear force off the NK coast and call the Bluff of the Russians and the Chinese.
However on your remark that a democrat per se is a menace to freedom. No It was Roosevelt who helped save Europe with lend lease when the Republicans were mostly isolationists and Kennedy was undoubtedly the Best President we had since Lincoln. Get your facts straight
You are correct but weaker knees prevailed. There were several things involved and they are Turmans fault one was the president desire after the japanese surrender to so rapidly downsize the US military so that we could stop the money hemorage the other was done under Roosevelt when he did not heed General Stillwell and force Chang Kai Shek to reform the Nationalists. That led to Mao’s victory Basically during WW2 Mao stayed in the interior and let the nationalists fight the brunt of the Japanese onslaught. After the war the corrupt Nationalists were no match for Mao’s dedicated cadres which were supplied with Soviet weapons. In 48 the Soviet tried to force us out of Berlin and In 50 they started the Korean war If we had had troops we could have used our atomic supremacy to force the Russians out of Eastern Europe.
But that’s water under the bridge the fact is that we should put a nuclear force off the NK coast and call the Bluff of the Russians and the Chinese. Let the North Koreans know that the first time they fire on us we will annihilate their military
However on your remark that a democrat per se is a menace to freedom. No It was Roosevelt who helped save Europe with lend lease when the Republicans were mostly isolationists and Kennedy was undoubtedly the Best President we had since Lincoln. Get your facts straight