I’d be really interested on what you guys think of this case and whether anyone has any videos they’d recommend to watch or any podcasts. But it seems likely he was subjected to repeated water/drowning torture which suffocated his brain and put him into a persistent vegetative state. They revived him cause they didn't want a dead American but, again, it was too late. I visited North Korea in November 2016, not long before Warmbier was returned to the United States. Otto Warmbier's Father : North Korea's treatment of My Son Was 'horrible' June 15, 2017 01:52 "Unresponsive wakefulness" is a term coined in the past decade to … his parents said his bottom teeth looked like they had been pulled out and repositioned, but the coroner said there was no root damage to any of his teeth, and basically said no way they were ever pulled out. NK is the extreme case but visiting countries like Philippines, China or Russia helps the regime in the end. His parents are also Jewish, which was probably the main reason in declining the autopsy. There's a theory that he tried to kill himself and they found him too late. probably a suicide attempt. One of the BIGGEST reasons I believe this is because they refused an autopsy. Do you mind sharing why it was you got to visit? This is because that part is the staffs room that contains every equipment, server room, and tools that are used to run the hotel. Print. Of course, to any citizen reading this, touching a poster sounds like an absolutely ridiculous reason to arrest someone (and I agree) but the fact remains that touching an image of their leader’s face is a grave offense that we were repeatedly and urgently reminded never to do. There's no soft answer to that one. The cause of his horrible condition remains unknown. He was with a group of people staying in a hotel in north korea for foreigners and he went to a floor that was off limits and stole a poster so they threw him in jail. We don't need to blow anything up, we don't need to put anyone in jail, just go there, be friendly, talk to people, and you push the wedge further and further between the people and the state. ESPECIALLY when you are dealing with a closed country. I don’t believe he was tortured, there is virtually no benefit for the North Koreans to torture an American to the point of coma, as they are extremely powerful bargaining chips. the guy says he wasnt in a coma and was responsive, but clearly had major issues and seemed like he had brain damage. There were reports that he went on hunger strikes in protest which could cause cardiac arrest. Tumblr. The frustrating part about it is that it will probably remain as a mystery for as long as it gets. Of prison despite pleading attempts. That's because blindness can be due to a host of different issues with the eyes and brain and can be different degrees. It is interesting. Doctors who examined him upon his return also said there was no evidence of torture. Officially, the reason he was detained was because he tried to steal a poster. More posts from the Documentaries community, Press J to jump to the feed. Backing North Korea into a corner militarily even more than it already is will give you a nightmare with an incredible death toll. But the truth. I don't personally have a clear hypothesis but I think yours holds some weight. The child's behavior is a reflection of the parents. Came across this thread after reading today’s excellent GQ article about the case and thought you would be interested in reading it, if you haven’t already. It's very multifaceted that way, it's a good doc. Email. he and his family definitely come across that way. Kyodo / Reuters Sept. 27, 2017, 4:46 PM UTC / Updated Sept. 27, 2017, 9:34 PM UTC We use cookies on our websites for a number of purposes, including analytics and performance, functionality and advertising. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, More posts from the UnresolvedMysteries community, Continue browsing in r/UnresolvedMysteries. If you go to North Korea, which is arguably the most authoritarian country in the world, and do some stupid shit like dick around and steal a poster, what the fuck do you think is going to happen? (IMO I believe a cardiac arrest due to a hunger strike since there were reports of the latter iirc) The coroner stated that there were no physical signs of torture on the body (contradictory to what his parents have stated) so IMO while some torture likely occurred early on (to make sure he wasn't like some sort of spy) I don't believe he was constantly and brutally tortured like his parents claim. Hold that thought, I know what you're going to say and I'll address it in a second, I promise. The best they could do was see whether or not his pupils responded to light. Continued friendly engagement with them on a limited basis is basically it in terms of options that don't immediately result in an unfathomable number of people dying if you want to move the people of North Korea away from authoritarian Communism. After this event they changed EVERYTHING to escape detection. They are treated as a whole far better than their North Korean counterparts, because the govt has a vested interest in them staying alive. He had signed up for a trip to North Korea with Young Pioneer Tours travel group. It’s so interesting that you visited. the american doctor who went to pick him up in NK said the doctors there said they sedated him and he fell into a coma. Warmbier, 22, was traveling on a tour of North Korea last year when he was arrested and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for stealing a propaganda poster. It's harder to be scared of something or someone that you have personal, direct experience with. Majority of tourists get away with it by acting clueless. Maybe this is a dumb question, but how would they be able to tell he was deaf if he was returned in what was basically a vegetative state? The average North Korean isn't a mindless authoritarian Communist robot. He Is a Junior at the University of Virginia Studying Commerce & Economics. A subreddit dedicated to the unresolved mysteries of the world. Mt. If it was me I probably would have wanted one but who knows when you’re in that position and just lost your son. I 100% believe a botched suicide attempt, too. It was only when Otto was on the way to board his plane back to America that he was arrested for this crime. Archived. People who interact with tourists may be screened and deliberately handpicked WPK loyalists but they're not drones. Physically blinding someone would leave very visible damage to their eyes and has no point as a torture method - better to restrict their vision with darkness or a blindfold, there are much less damaging and more painful torture methods - and there is no reason for NK to have engaged in extended torture. I don't blame anyone for his death because we don't have all the facts...and do you know why we don't have all the facts? IMO Otto was a party boy (which his parents knew) and he made poor choices in NK which led to his arrest. Once he was released back to America in 2017 his medical team confirmed that he had suffered brain damage due to excessive loss of brain tissue, usually from been deprived of oxygen. Entitled kid and family. I’m interested in what conclusions this will draw, but I couldn’t take watching this. Replies analysing and speculating over the mystery and possible explanations are encouraged. Even if you are from a country that doesn't explicitly ban travel to it, don't go to North Korea. His brain just went too long without oxygen it caused permanent damage. Because his parents never allowed it to be explored. The smudged poster you mentioned makes more sense to me now, thanks for bringing it up. The student was hailed by Donald Trump as a catalyst for his summit with Kim Jong-un. While torture was the immediate assumption by a lot of people, his doctors from the US agreed that Otto's condition couldn't have been caused by any form of physical torture as there were no signs on his body that could've proved it. Warmbier was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Dec. 12, 1994, to Fred and Cindy Warmbier. Hopefully some of you will be familiar with this case if not; An American boy Otto Warmbier travelled to North Korea on a college trip, very few Americans get access to go here, they were limited to what they saw, a lot of things were restricted and some if not most of it staged. I’d rule out brain injury from blunt force trauma because it would show on any CT scan they did if one was done when he got back to the states. the coroner said he had (I dont remember exactly what its called but) hypoxic encephalopathy, brain damage from lack of oxygen, that would be consistent with about 4 minutes without oxygen. I just really wish that one day we’d actually find out what happened to him. "But your money is going to support terrorism and authoritarian repression!". I don’t know how religious they were, and it’s worth noting they do make exceptions in cases of foul play/suspicious death, but the Jewish religion as a whole is pretty against autopsies. And his family just refuses to consider that option. I do believe that they only returned him back to America was because they didn’t want an American to die in their country. After just 17 MONTHS in prison in North Korea, Otto was in a comatose state. Edit: I'll add that the only person I feel bad for is his younger sibling. The explanation our North Korean guides gave us differed slightly from the official response. Otto Frederick Warmbier (December 12, 1994 – June 19, 2017) was an American college student who was imprisoned in North Korea in 2016 on a charge of subversion. 2 years ago. There’s so much information we don’t know. North Korea treated Otto fairly, in fact, Otto was the first prisoner in NK in history to be treated humanely. ^ Correct, the parents did not want an autopsy saying they thought their son had been through enough. Posted by. *= If you play your cards right, you can meet some "off tour" locals. That's the gist of it. Many politicians believe the only reason they got him back was because North Korea didn’t want him to die on North Korea soil. And he was deaf and blind. Otto Warmbier begging for mercy as he was on trial for allegedly stealing a propaganda poster in North Korea. It also looks at how politics affected the reporting of the Weinbier case and the family: e.g The president was quite vocal in how Obama's adminiation did nothing when this was far from the case and the Weinbier family was used as political pawns before being betrayed when the President raised Kim Jon Un. This is at odds with the white house statement but nor did the Whitehouse present any facts or details he was tortured. Given that NK is notorious for their strict regime, Otto was sentenced to 16 years Technicolor Historique Action, Album Bob Marley, King Of Kong Rotten Tomatoes, Intégrer Les Hells Angels France, Angoisse Jambes En Coton, Carte Sentiers Parc National Des Calanques, Portrait Vestimentaire D'un Clown, 2 Semaines De Grossesse Et Mal Au Ventre, On Fire Chanson, L'aile Ou La Cuisse Amazon Prime Video, Fernsehsender Alte Filme, Vans National Geographic Collab,