Otto Warmbier, a USA tourist, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor by the North Korea Government on March 16, 2016.
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It is unknown whether North Korea officials coerced Warmbier’s confession, during which he appeared to read from a statement: “I never, never should have allowed myself to be lured by the United States administration to commit a crime in this country”, CNN reported.
The 21-year-old was allegedly being offered a auto worth US$10,000 (€9,187) if he successfully returned to the U.S. with the political slogan. He was arrested on January 2 at Pyongyang’s global airport following a five-day trip, the travel agency that arranged his travel told the Washington Post. The clip from the Associated Press sees the young man tearfully explaining his action, calling it the “worst mistake” of his life.
The sentencing of Warmbier is the latest penalty that North Korea has meted out to American tourists in recent years for anti-state crimes like illegal entry and leaving a Bible behind in a hotel.
Pyongyang has also been angered by the US and South Korea carrying out their annual military drills, which this year involve some 315,000 personnel.
The New York Times says Mr. Kasich had urged former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson to get involved, due to his prior experience dealing with North Korea.
It was not clear whether the confession was made of his own volition or coerced.
The U.S. State Department responded to the sentencing Wednesday saying the punishment doesn’t fit the alleged crime. North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles just last week. In words most likely written by a North Korean government official (they certainly don’t sound authentic to native English speakers), he confessed to stealing a propaganda banner. The US took a leading role in securing the resulting sanctions that the United Nations Security Council imposed on the North earlier this month.
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In November 2014, USA spy chief James Clapper went to Pyongyang to bring home Matthew Miller, who had ripped up his visa when entering the country, and Korean-American missionary Kenneth Bae, who had been incarcerated since November 2012.
