North Korea accuses U.S. of exploiting student's death
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea accused the Trump administration on Thursday of exploiting the death of an Ohio student who died soon after being released from detention in the Asian nation.
The state-run Korean Central News Agency quoted a foreign ministry spokesman as criticizing the White House for using the death of Otto Warmbier for propaganda purposes against North Korea.
"The fact that the U.S. is employing even a dead person for the conspiracy campaign to fuel the international atmosphere of putting pressure on (North Korea) shows how vile and inveterate the hostility of the U.S. policy-makers towards (North Korea) is," the unidentified spokesman said in a statement.
Warmbier, who was vacationing in North Korea, was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in March 2016 for allegedly stealing a propaganda poster two months earlier. North Korea has said Warmbier fell into a coma that resulted from botulism and a sleeping pill.
The spokesman reiterated North Korea's denial that it tortured the American student, who was detained for more than year and died soon after his release to the U.S. while still in a coma.
"We provided him with sincere medical care on humanitarian grounds in consideration of his failing health until he returned to the U.S.," he said.
The statement expressed particular indignation that U.S. President Donald Trump had criticized North Korea's top leader. "The fact that the old lunatic Trump and his riff-raff slandered the sacred dignity of our supreme leadership, using bogus data full of falsehood and fabrications, only serves to redouble the surging hatred of our army and people towards the U.S.," it said.
Trump referenced Warmbier's death in comments critical of North Korea during his debut speech to the U.N. General Assembly last week. Warmbier's parents told a Fox News TV show on Tuesday that North Korea tortured and "destroyed" him.
Trump tweeted afterward: "Otto was tortured beyond belief by North Korea."
The tweet added to a series of recent accusations and heated exchanges between his administration and North Korean officials. An Ohio coroner on Wednesday said her office was unable to determine what caused the brain damage that led to Warmbier's death, other than it stemmed from oxygen deprivation more than a year before his death.
"Could that have been torture at the time? We don't know," Dr. Lakshmi Sammarco said.
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I wanted to seed this article for one reason - note the dichotomy between these two statements from this totalitarian regime.
Warmbier, who was vacationing in North Korea, was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in March 2016 for allegedly stealing a propaganda poster two months earlier.
"We provided him with sincere medical care on humanitarian grounds in consideration of his failing health until he returned to the U.S.,"
For once, I am fine with Donald Trump's exploitation. The best thing that could happen to NK would be for the earth to open up and swallow it whole.
There was a news report yesterday that said that he died form lack of oxygen to the brain while being held by NK.
Nice to see something besides the norm on the front page, thanks Hal. The North Koreans don't seem to have a grasp on reality (not that this is anything new). He was healthy going into their custody and came out in a coma. His death is on their hands, plain and simple, no matter how much they try to blame everyone else-which is what they seem to do, all the time.
What worries me the most, their tenuous grasp on reality and possessing nuclear weapons at the same time. That is truly scary. Especially when they make all these no9ises but don't seem to want anything. Seems they are spoiling for a fight.
When it comes to the reality, there are no winners where nuclear weapons are involved.
They aren't stupid enough to use nukes, but they are stupid enough to pretend that they are stupid enough to use nukes. My fear is that there will be an accidental incident that starts a downward spiral.
That's actually the scenario that the Pentagon uses for training. It starts with a downed aircraft, or disabled vessel (usually in international waters, but close to them). And things escalate from there. We did an excersize in the Pacific with just such a scenario. Think about the last dogfight sequence in Top Gun. Disabled vessel drifting close to territorial waters.
IN this case, I think you're right Hal. The little shit will probably authorize a shoot down close to NK, and claim it strayed over their airspace. Things will go downhill from there.
It would be nice to know what his endgame is. Making a good life for his citizens? World recognition? Food for the entire country that is starving (well, except for the lucky few in power, like his chubbiness). He has to want something.......but has he voiced it? I haven't heard anything but belligerence and threats.
Not sure if he thinks the U.S. wants his country or something......what resources do they have? Coal? We have coal. Not a lot else there.
Did you all read the article yesterday from this young man's parents? They said he was not in a coma, but jerking, howling and making animal sounds. It, also, appeared that his lower teeth had been rearranged with pliers and there was a huge scar on the bottom of his foot.
What they did to him can't be described.