U.S. student detained in North Korea apologizes

Luke Skywalker · Feb 29, 2016

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[h=4]U.S. student detained in North Korea apologizes[/h]An American student who was arrested in North Korea apologized Monday, begging the Korean people and government for forgiveness for his "crime."

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An American university student who has been detained in North Korea apologized Monday for having committed what Pyongyang calls an anti-state hostile act. University of Virginia student Otto Warmbier begged for forgiveness. (Feb. 29) AP

American student Otto Warmbier speaks during a press conference on Monday, Feb. 29, 2016, in Pyongyang, North Korea.(Photo: Kim Kwang Hyon, AP)

An American student who was arrested in North Korea apologized Monday, begging the Korean people and government for forgiveness for his "crime."
North Korea said it arrested Otto Warmbier, a 21-year-old University of Virginia undergraduate student, last month*for allegedly "perpetrating a hostile act"*against the regime.
Warmbier was presented to the media in Pyongyang on Monday, where he apologized for trying to steal a political banner he said he wanted as a trophy for a church member*in his hometown of Wyoming, Ohio, who was the mother of a friend. It wasn't clear if he made the admission voluntarily.
Warmbier told reporters he arrived in Pyongyang via*Beijing on Dec. 29.
“On the early morning of Jan. 1, 2016, I committed my crime, of taking out the important political slogan from the staff-only area of the Yanggakdo International Hotel, which aimed at harming the work ethic and the motivation of the Korean people,” he told reporters.
USA TODAY
U.S. student arrested in North Korea for 'hostile act'

Warmbier, who was staying at the hotel, said he was detained at Pyongyang International Airport the following day.
He said the church*member*offered him*a used car worth $10,000 if he brought back an important political slogan*to be hung in*the Friendship United Methodist Church*as a "trophy," the official Korean Central News Agency reported.
"She continued to say that by taking this slogan, we would harm the unity and motivation of the North Korean people and show this country an insult from the West," he added, according to the news agency.
“I have been very impressed by the Korean government’s humanitarian treatment of severe criminals like myself, and of their very fair and square legal procedures in the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea),” he added.

A picture released by the Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the ruling North Korean Workers Party, on Sept. 8, 2015, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center front, and Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, second from right, a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and first vice-president of the Council of State, watching an art performance by the Moranbong Band and the State Merited Chorus in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Sept. 7, 2015. Bermudez led a Cuban delegation to North Korea to mark the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between North Korea and Cuba. * Rodong Sinmun, European Pressphoto Agency

Men and women pump their fists in the air and chant "defend!" as they carry propaganda slogans calling for reunification of their country during the "Pyongyang Mass Rally on the Day of the Struggle Against the U.S.," attended by approximately 100,000 North Koreans to mark the 65th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War at the Kim Il Sung stadium, Thursday, June 25, 2015, in Pyongyang, North Korea. The month of June in North Korea is known as the "Struggle Against U.S. Imperialism Month" and it's a time for North Koreans to swarm to war museums, mobilize for gatherings denouncing the evils of the United States and join in a general, nationwide whipping up of the anti-American sentiment.* Wong Maye-E, AP

North Koreans gather in front of a portrait of their late leader Kim Il Sung, left, and Kim Jong Il, right, paying respects to their late leader Kim Jong Il, to mark the third anniversary of his death, Wednesday Dec. 17 at Pyong Chon District in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korea marked the end of a three-year mourning period for the late leader Kim Jong Il on Wednesday, opening the way for his son, Kim Jong Un, to put a more personal stamp on the way the country is run. * Kim Kwang Hyon, AP

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“I understand the severity of my crime and I have no idea what sort of penalty I may face, but I am begging to the Korean people and government for my forgiveness, and I am praying to the heavens so that I may be returned home to my family.”
Warmbier was arrested while visiting the country with Young Pioneer Tours, an agency specializing in travel to*North Korea. The State Department warns against travel to the North.
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North Korea said he traveled to the country*as a tourist but with the real aim of destroying*the unity of North Korea with*"the tacit connivance of the*U.S. government." It said Warmbier was acting under "the U.S. government's acquiescence and control,"*South Korea's*Yonhap news agency reported.
The State Department said it was aware of the reports that a U.S. citizen was detained in North Korea.
While campaigning in New Hampshire as a Republican presidential candidate, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, called Warmbier’s arrest “inexcusable.” He urged President Obama to “make every effort to secure Mr. Warmbier’s immediate release and keep (his) family constantly apprised.”
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U.S. student detained in North Korea apologizes

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