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A lot of people around the globe consider the death penalty in the United States to be abnormal.
A lot of people around the globe would consider the United States' drug laws and lengthy prison sentences for possession or small time sales to be cruel and barbaric.
The bottom line in this case is that an entitled American visited a foreign country known for having harsh laws and a sketchy justice system and chose to break the law anyway. The punishment may have been harsh by US standards but the kid should have known that breaking the law in NK was not something to do lightly.
I also notice that many times when Americans break the laws of other sovereign nations, many people automatically leap to their defense and claim that they were victims of a corrupt system, the punishment was too harsh and demand that our government intervene in securing their release. Warmbier is a good example along with the idiots that drive into Mexico with guns and ammo in their vehicles.
How would Americans feel if the rest of the world thought they were exempt from our criminal laws or believed that the punishment should be doled out according to whatever their local standards were for a similar act?
Yeah but lets be careful about just labeling this under "different law/different country". The guy didn't sell drugs, didn't smuggle guns, didn't even spit on the sidewalk. The difference here is the act of "stealing a poster" was considered a political crime.
Selling drugs can get you anything from the death penalty (in Singapore) to a slap on the wrist (in the US depending on state)...or it could be legal, depending on the crime. Spitting on the sidewalk get's you the lash in Singapore. But those are still within the realm of criminal offenses against it's citizens, not the leaders or political system in place. No one complains that death penalties for drug offenses in Singapore are barbaric, they simply don't smuggle in drugs. A US teenager got the lash for defacing cars there years ago, rather than saying it was barabaric, many US citizens cheered.
There are two bottom lines - the kid was an idiot and should know better. But this is a sign of a tyrannical government to have such control that they see a person stealing a poster of the supreme leader as a capital offense. The second bottom line is that this is a government system that is unacceptable in the 21st century.
And among many burning, unanswerable questions I've had on this topic, the burning question I have now is: How did he get into a coma?? I wish details were available. but hey, we're dealing with N Korea here
Shouldn't have been there to begin with, and definitely shouldn't have committed a crime there.
This.
There was already something wrong with him in making the choice to go there.
I don't see the point in going to North Korea, the middle east or even Mexico these days. Why would I want to go to a country with dictatorships or unstable countries run by terrorist/criminal/militia where they all hate Americans and the entire Western world? I can't think of any benefits
How would Americans feel if the rest of the world thought they were exempt from our criminal laws or believed that the punishment should be doled out according to whatever their local standards were for a similar act?
Actually Americans have been putting up with people who think they are exempt from our laws for many years. Those folks are illegal immigrants, and lately they've been having fits when they are being subject to our laws.
I think this young man made a very foolish choice.
Nevertheless, this kid seems to have further tried to do something stupid and paid quite a price for it. Some places cut out your tongue for lying, some places cut off your hands for stealing, and some places sentence you to hard labor for being a government threat.
And to add to that, many of those places can be pretty creative in how they define "lying", "theft" or "threat". In this case, "threat" was evidently defined as pocketing a political banner as a souvenier.
And to add to that, many of those places can be pretty creative in how they define "lying", "theft" or "threat". In this case, "threat" was evidently defined as pocketing a political banner as a souvenier.
the banner looked to be more like a 10 foot long wall plaque, not sure it would have fit into his pocket or down his pants even if this bs story were true
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