Former North Korea detainee Otto Warmbier dies

[ucrdem]

36. Where did you hear this?

Not that it doesn't sound plausible but I hope it isn't true as it casts an extremely sinister light on a tragedy that's horrible enough already.


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Never mind, I found it in a June 13 Time story:

Before his trial, Warmbier had said he tried to steal a propaganda banner as a trophy for an acquaintance who wanted to hang it in her church. That would be grounds in North Korea for a subversion charge. He identified the church as Friendship United Methodist Church.
North Korea announced Warmbier's arrest in late January 2016, saying he committed an anti-state crime with "the tacit connivance of the U.S. government and under its manipulation." Warmbier had been staying at the Yanggakdo International Hotel. It is common for sections of tourist hotels to be reserved for North Korean staff and off-limits to foreigners.
In a tearful statement made before his trial, Warmbier told a gathering of reporters in Pyongyang he was offered a used car worth $10,000 if he could get a propaganda banner and was also told that if he was detained and didn't return, $200,000 would be paid to his mother in the form of a charitable donation.
Warmbier said he accepted the offer because his family was "suffering from very severe financial difficulties."

http://time.com/4816207/otto-warmbier-north-korea-release/
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Very strange.