North Korea sentences U.S. student to hard labor;Washington condemns punishment

[Commander Wallace]

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

I don't currently - and may never - understand why these Liberal artsy-fartsy types feel it necessary to visit North Korea. Especially if they have poor impulse control like this kid does. I mean seriously, try to steal a political sign in a country that routinely executes people for mundane minor offenses? How stupid can you really be?

I have very little sympathy for him

do i think the punishment is harsh? of course i do

are they just trying to make an example out of a westerner? of course they are

would he have gotten into this much trouble anywhere else in the world? save for maybe Iran and one or two other places... probably not

would it have been more reasonable to imprison him for 30 or 60 days and then ban him from the country or something? certainly, yes

but still, he had to know the risks of going to NK, he surely knew that the country was a hell hole... like i said, no sympahty "bra" take your licks and leave it up to the diplomats to yank your arse out of the fire you created.

if they can

otherwise, see you in 15 years if you dont die of malnutrition before then

I don't think I can say it any better. The State Dept. has said although travel to North Korea isn't banned, They highly recommend that people of U.S citizenry do not travel there. What do people then do ? They travel to the DPRK which flies in the face of the State Dept. warnings.

https://travel.state.gov/content/pas...l-warning.html

I think the punishment is harsh but also very predictable. At some point in time, one has to be responsible for the decisions they make .