Death of 22 year old student detained in North Korea

[ktheodos]

Another sad story ....

[potluck6]

They are tormentors. He got 15 years hard labor for stealing a poster. It makes me angry.  They look at that Kim Jungung as a God makes me  furious.

[Yukichan77]

Such a tragic story I cannot believe this happened. I hope he rests in peace.

[mgint]

sorry for his family

[nannycoe1]

Such a tragedy.

[Nancy5]

I can't believe this, there are no words to express our sadness for his family and our anger at North Korea.  I bet he was beaten so badly he fell into a coma, and I don't believe he was in a coma since his sentence.  There is no way they would have kept him alive under medical care for 17 months.  I think he was beaten recently and fell into a coma.  My heart goes out to his family.  The only good thing to come out of this is his family has his body back and he can be buried on American soil.

[yikes77]

It's just a sad story to hear but at the same time I had to wonder, why was he stealing the poster to begin with, in that country of all places?

[UGetPaid]

^ yikes, that my my exact thought. That was not a smart thing to do in the first place.  It ABSOLUTELY did not warrant the punishment that he got and our entire nation should be outraged at North Korean government, but why the heck would you even think about doing that given the craziness of that regime?


It is done and cannot be changed and N. Korea should face some serious repercussions for this.  God bless this young man and his family who certainly did not deserve this punishment (or to be punished at all).

[adriarobi]

What a nightmare. I lost a youngish adult son. Very sudden. Catastrophe.

My heart cries for that family. 

 

[countrygirl12]

They are tormentors. He got 15 years hard labor for stealing a poster. It makes me angry.  They look at that Kim Jungung as a God makes me  furious.

Well first off he should not have stolen something.  People know what these other countries are before they enter them.  What makes me angry is these countries dole out these harsh punishments for things Americans do in their country and some by accident that is against a rule in their stupid country.  But their people come to our country ILLEGALLY and they get free health care, free food stamps, free checks, free housing, free every thing!
And if they break the law even something like rape or murder we just slap them on the wrist and let it go.

People who travel to these countries are foolish and deserve whatever happens to them.  You know what you are getting in to before you go.

[debidoo]

It is sad and senseless young people go to these other countries and think that things are handled anything like here and it isn't.  First of all why would you even go somewhere like that when it is well known that he is a maniacal tyrant.  Such a waste of a young life - I have two sons and I can't imagine losing either one of them like this.

[davidh121]

Terrible tragedy. I'm not sure what's so compelling to go to North Korea after all the horror stories people here about there. I worry and wonder what will come out of this really. A further step towards war?

[timvolley]

i wasnt surprised since he was already in a coma for such a long time

[plennis]

It's just a sad story to hear but at the same time I had to wonder, why was he stealing the poster to begin with, in that country of all places?

I thought the same thing.  It is all very sad, but in lots of other countries they just treat you way differently than in the US.   

[pmagalei]

How did they know that he stole a picture from a hotel? It must be an expensive piece otherwise they would have let him pay and release him on bail. They need to send in someone back then to investigate why didn't the U.S. intervene back then? I guess Obama was in office at the time.