In 2016, an Ohio student embarked on a trip to North Korea. What followed was a harrowing ordeal that ended in heartbreak

While North Korea has almost completely isolated itself from the rest of the world, there is, rather surprisingly, a small tourist program that allows visitors from other countries to embark on heavily surveillanced tours of the country. It was on one such tour that American student, Otto Warmbier, 21, was travelling the country when he was apprehended by North Korean authorities.

Warmbier arrived in North Korea for the guided trip on the 29th of December 2015, blissfully unaware of what the coming days and months would bring. On January 2nd 2016, when he and his group were set to depart the country, Warmbier was apprehended by authorities at Pyongyang International Airport.

According to North Korean authorities at the time, the reason for his arrest was that he was suspected of trying to steal a propaganda poster from one of the walls in his hotel. CCTV footage that was released showed an individual tampering with the poster, but it was dark and grainy, there was no way to know who the individual was. Regardless, it seemed to be enough for the authorities.

Otto Warmbier’s long and tragic ordeal

News of Warmbier’s arrest quickly made headlines around the globe due to the fact that North Korea was essentially holding an American in prison for an act that a.) couldn’t be directly proven was him that committed it, and b.) was arguably not an act that’s worthy of prison time let alone the 15 years that Warmbier was looking at.

The odds were stacked against Warmbier from the start. On February 29th, a press conference was held where he made a statement confessing to the crime. Many believe that the confession was forced out of him, his odd demeanour certainly suggests he’s saying the words against his will.

Much of what happened to the young man behind closed doors but there was a great deal of concern for his wellbeing. Across the ocean, in America, certain politicians were doing what they could to negotiate Warmbier’s return but with relations between the two countries being pretty much non-existent it was a difficult task.

On March 16th the Ohio student was put on trial and found guilty of subversion in what was labeled a “kangaroo court” by the Human Rights Watch. Otto Warmbier was sentenced to 15 years hard labor.

An unhappy end

In June 2017 it was announced that Warmbier had been released by North Korea but the country’s officials revealed that he had supposedly contracted food-borne botulism shortly after his sentencing and had been in a vegetative state ever since. Warmbier was transported to a hospital in Ohio where doctors tried to determine the cause and whether he could be saved. One specialist claimed there was no evidence of the supposed botulism.

Ultimately, Warmbier’s parents made the heartbreaking decision to take their son off of life support on June 19th. A funeral was held three days later with more than 2,500 mourners attending the ceremony.