US Student Arrested In North Korea During Vacation & Mysteriously “Brain Dead” 18 Months Later

Barabing, baraboom. Otto Warmbier and his tour group were. staying at what can only be described as. a luxury five-star hotel. The hotel is. very clearly targeted for foreigners, international travelers, tourists, rather than the locals. I guess if you force me to come up with. some sort of comparison, I would say. maybe like a resort in Vegas. It's the kind of hotel that feels like a. city. Like everything the guest could. possibly want or need is inside the. hotel. They've got amenities, they've.

got a barber shop, they've got. everything. So, there's really no reason. to leave. The rooms and the bathrooms. were nicely kept. They were clean. There. were over a thousand guest rooms in the. hotel. It is a massive structure. And outside of that, there's just. endless things to do. You've got five. different restaurants you can eat at. There's a swimming pool, a full casino, a sauna, bowling alley, karaoke bar, pool tables, ping pong table rooms. There's a suit store that you can get a. full custom suit if you need it for your.

business meeting. Wow. A hair salon, a barber shop, a massage. spa. And at the very top floor, the 47th. floor, there is a revolving restaurant. You can sit by the window, eat a nice. hearty dinner, while you get like this. panoramic view of the entire city. A lot. of people called it paradise in a hotel. It's the garden of Eden in this country, if you will. There's only two unsettling. things about this hotel. This sounds. like an urban legend. This is so true,

okay? There are over a thousand guest. rooms, and the hotel is almost always. empty. Sometimes there's music playing, but if. there is, it's always the same few songs. on a loop. Sometimes there's no music playing, and. you just walk around in silence. It's a little unsettling, but I'm sure. most people get over it. Most places do. have their slow times for tourist. But there's one other thing. People. notice this every time they step onto. the elevator. It's almost become an. urban legend, truly. Do you go into the.

elevator, you're about to click the. button for your floor. Your hand pauses at the buttons for like. a brief second. It's It's such a small. detail that we would take for granted, but when it's not there, it sparks so. much curiosity. The fifth floor is. missing. There's no button to click. It goes 1 2. 3 4 6. There's not even a star in place. of it. And there is no superstition about the. number five in this country. So, it's. not like how in certain Asian countries.

there's no fourth floor or sometimes the. 13th floor is replaced by a star. There's none of that. The fifth floor exist, but it is. absolutely forbidden for guests to enter. the fifth floor. Look, whatever this hotel has got on the. fifth floor, they don't want you. snooping around to the point that they. don't even have an elevator entrance to. the floor. It's not like a staff has to. put in a key and then it opens to the. staff floor. That makes sense, right? No, there is no button altogether. The. only way to the fifth floor is through a.

back staircase that is marked staff. only. Oh, so you have to walk there. Yes. Guests are strictly prohibited. The. entire floor is restricted. If the hotel. is the Garden of Eden, this is the. forbidden fruit. So, there's three types of people that. go to this hotel. One who notices it, thinks, you know, that's really strange, but they move on with their day. Okay? Then you got the second group of people, the ones who notice it. It bothers them, but by the time that they fall asleep.

that night, wake up the next morning, they've forgotten about it. And three, the type of people whose. curiosity would kill them if they didn't. figure out what is on that floor. And there was only one way to find out. In the early hours of January 1st, 2016, CCTV footage would show a supposed guest. trespassing on the fifth floor, taking. an artwork off the walls. So, they took. it off the walls, tried to roll it up, presumably to bring it home with them. from their vacation, like a free, stolen.

souvenir, I guess. When they realized that they weren't. able to hide it, smuggle it out the. fifth floor, they abandoned the idea. along with the artwork on the floor. They didn't hang it back up, they just. put it on the floor. It is unclear from the footage who this. guest even was. I mean, it's so pixelated, it's a dark, hooded figure in black. You don't even. see their face, you can't even make out. how tall they are. They look kind of. like a monster. They look so tall in the. hallway for some reason. Huh. Okay. But, the only thing that's certain is. someone's going to pay for this.

Because this is the Yanggakdo. International Hotel in North Korea. And in North Korea, it seems, no deed, good or bad, goes unpunished. 60 days later, an American college. student would be begging North Korea for. forgiveness at a press conference that. the whole world tuned into. He would cry out sobbing, "I beg for. your forgiveness. I beg for any. assistance to save my life. I have made. the single worst decision of my life.".

Please, I have made the worst mistake of my. life. For about a year and a half, he would be. detained in North Korea. It would be a. diplomatic nightmare. And when he was. finally returned back to the US to his. family, he was practically brain dead and in a. coma. His parents stated that there was clear. evidence of torture. So, let's get into what happened to Otto. Warmbier.

As. full show notes are available at. rottenminglepodcast.com. Otto's case happened 2016 through 2017. and is considered to be resolved as of. today, but the case is back in the news.

because recently something very, very. bizarre happened. An American soldier by. the name of Travis King was visiting the. DMZ on July 18th, 2023. So, like a month. ago. DMZ? DMZ is the demilitarized zone. This is. the border between South Korea and North. Korea. It is heavily guarded. Technically, they're still at war. I. mean, you've got North Korean soldiers. on one side, South Korean and American. troops on one side. It You can take. tours there. Yeah, there's like gift shops and. restaurants you can eat at, but you're.

basically just looking through the. border and. you know, I don't know. I've never been. My parents are like, "Please don't go.". So, you can take tours. That's all there. is. Allegedly, Travis had been facing. misconduct charges in the army. So, he's. an American soldier that was based in. South Korea, and while he was based in. South Korea, he um. did a few things that probably weren't. acceptable. Apparently, he assaulted. civilians at a bar. He damaged a police. car. He actually served a couple months. in prison for these crimes, and he was.

getting sent back to the US for military. disciplinary proceedings, potentially to. be dishonorably discharged. But instead. of boarding his scheduled flight back. home, he leaves the airport. Okay, so Travis King was escorted to the. airport. He leaves the airport, into an. airport, goes to take a tour at the DMZ. line. Wait, so Yeah. So, there's nobody. following him? I guess once they got their security, they're like, Okay, bye. So, he escaped the airport. Yeah. Okay. Went to the DMZ tour, bought.

a black t-shirt and a hat from the gift. shop before heading to the border with. his tour group, and then he broke out. into a sprint and ran into North Korea. while quote laughing hysterically. At first most of the tour group thought. that someone was filming him and this. was like a bit for Tik Tok. That he was. going to stop running when he like right. got to the border and then the clip. would look like it was he was running. into North Korea but it would cut at. that second. But then soldiers nearby started.

screaming, "Get that guy.". It wasn't enough time to respond. Tour. group witnesses said they saw him run. run run and then disappear out of sight. It was all over within seconds. He was. across the border into North Korea. The soldiers immediately rushed all the. tourists to a building and everyone had. to give their statements. Nobody could. even believe what just happened. I mean. they knew that Travis was alone in the. tour and not really engaging with the. others. You know when you're alone, you're traveling, you're in a tour. group, you try to make conversation. He. wasn't doing that but this is.

unfathomable. Who willingly crosses the. border into North Korea? What is often. known as the hermit country of the. world? The only news that comes out of North. Korea is not good news. His mom said that she can't imagine him. doing something like that while his. uncle stated that he was just he was. going through a lot. His 7-year-old. cousin had recently died from a rare. genetic condition months before. He was. potentially facing racism in South. Korea. So it was a whole lot of I guess. confusion. People just didn't know why.

he would do that. What happened? Like. what is going on? What is North Korea. even going to do with him? Regardless, his mother said, "I just. want him back home. I want him to come. back to America. I just can't see him. doing something like this.". So do we know where he is? Yeah, he has. been detained by North Korea. And we have no clue as of right now, first of all, why he willingly went into. North Korea. I mean North Korea is not. an appealing country for most of the. world but especially for American.

citizens. The country has a long. complicated history of absolutely. despising America. And him being an. American soldier is probably not the. great position to be in in a country. like that. We have no idea why he left, but the US. stated that he crossed willingly and. without authorization. Saying like, we didn't tell him to do. this cuz you know, he's part of the. army. So, don't get it twisted North. Korea. We didn't tell him. We don't know what's going on with. Travis. We don't know what he's being.

detained for. We don't know what's going. to happen during his detainment. We have. no idea. All we know is he's the first. American to be detained by North Korea. in the last 5 years. The only thing that people are hoping. for right now is they hope that whatever. happened to Otto Warmbier doesn't happen. to Travis. So, what happened to Otto? There is this tour company. It's still. up and running, okay? It's called Young. Pioneer Tours. Their motto is.

destinations your mother would rather. you stay away from. So, yeah. Young Pioneer Tours lets you visit. North Korea. They do tours there, which. you would never imagine because North. Korea, like I said, is one of the most. repressive, closed-off, secretive. countries in the world. Nobody really. goes in and even fewer people come out. So, you would think that their tourism. industry is sad. It's collapsed, nonexistent. But no, they see thousands of tourists. every single year. Tourists are allowed in on tightly. controlled tours. They're watched all.

the time, literally every second of all. the time. It's speculated every hotel. that foreigners are allowed to stay at, which is just a handful, they're bugged. This is a theory. We're going to get to. it later, but there have been videos. that showed old old school radios in all. the guest rooms of these hotels. And the. older radios have like 70 wires coming. out of it. And people are like, no radio needs 70. wires so that you. Coming out to what? To the wall? Yeah, coming out of the wall to the radio. So, people are like, if you have an old. school radio, you don't need 70 wires to.

play music. Those 70 wires are probably. like bugging this whole place. That is crazy. And there are reports that that radio. just like doesn't work ever. To play music at least. I'm sure it's. working on other things, but yeah. Oh my god. So uh it's actually. speculated that a floor of every single. one of these hotels are reserved for the. state to spy on the rooms and. surveillance the whole place. So level. five perhaps, but we're going to come. back to that.

Anyway, Young Pioneer Tours are one of. the top tour companies that tour North. Korea. They're based out of China and. they specialize in budget tours. So it's. kind of perfect for students or families. who aren't willing to spend a lot on. fancy resorts. And they specifically go. to not so typical tour destinations. They actually have 18 tours for the. first half of 2024 available in North. Korea. Yeah. They also do private tours of. North Korea on top of that. It It's. obviously not geared toward your typical.

traveler. Like I think it takes a very specific. type of person, an adventure if you. will, to want to go into North Korea. Otto had a thing for adventure and he. was generally a very curious person. But. it's not really what you're picturing. Like he's not some sort of crazy. adrenaline junkie that has to climb up. 70 stories in New York City to feel some. high and thrill. He just like to experience things that. weren't common. To him like the Eiffel Tower is not as. intriguing as seeing these countries.

that are less talked about. Overall, he seemed like a really. responsible person. He was an econ. student who had dreams of working on. Wall Street. He was also one of those. people that had trademarks. Okay, I. think it's so cool when someone is known. amongst their peers or their buddies for. something. And Otto was the guy that. loved Hawaiian shirts. He would actually. thrift Hawaiian shirts. And like this I. think this shows you what kind of. traveler he was. He would go into thrift. shops and he said he liked buying. second-hand clothes because it's almost. like memorabilia.

Something new has no history. These. clothes, they have history, they have. vibes, they have stains, they have. character. And he just loved the. colorfulness of Hawaiian shirts. It. would just uplift people. And he would. always throw them on on a pair of. khakis. He had this typical Justin. Bieber haircut, which was in at the. time, and his obsession was rap music. Everyone said he was so fun to be. around. He was raised in Ohio to middle-class. parents, Fred and Cindy. And I really. think that Otto was your very typical.

all-American boy. And I'm sure he loved it, but he also wanted to see like what else. is out there. I mean, surely there's. more than this small town that I grew up. in. Like the world is so big. I cannot. just be going to Target and Kroger or. Ralph's every single day of my life. So, after being admitted into the. University of Virginia with a. scholarship, he applied for a study. abroad program in Hong Kong. And once he. would be done with that, his future. plans were to move to New York City, get. a job as an investment banker. And he's. like, "You know what? This is going to.

be like my last semester abroad. Then. I'm moving to New York. My life is about. to be filled with responsibilities, rent, work, pressure, all of this. Now. is the time to do something different. Like one last time before I graduate and. I'm like a full-blown adult because when. you're an adult, you have so much. responsibilities, you can't take these. risks.". So, he decides he would make a pitstop. in North Korea before Hong Kong for his. overseas program. His parents are like, "We do not like. that idea." His parents are so against.

it. They feel anxiety, but they also. know how much learning about different. cultures means for Otto. He just wanted. to travel. He doesn't care about Fiji or. Bali. His last international destination. for travel had been Cuba. And Cuba is a. wonderful country, don't get me wrong. They're known for great music, great. food, great people, but it's not really. on a lot of Americans' travel list. because of tense economic and political. relations at play. And I think. technically, you cannot get a tourism. visa into Cuba. Mhm. So, you have to like um I think it's.

relatively easy to get a visa though. Don't quote me on that, but there's like. 12 different reasons and you just have. to apply, but it can never be for like. straight-up just tourism. But Otto was like, "I want to go see the. world.". And he did exercise increased caution. wherever he went and his parents knew. that. They're like, "He's a trustworthy. kid. He works hard, gets good grades. I. mean, he spends most of his time at. school or playing soccer. So, once in a. while when he wants to see different. cultures, how can we say no?".

How can we say no? He's not some party animal, right? Like. he's the type of kid that would write. down every single due date on his. planner. If you asked him to go pick up. your dry cleaning, he would write it. down on his planner so he wouldn't. forget it. He was so so organized. And. it would only be 5 days, you know, what. could have happened in 5 days? This was Otto's Christmas present to. himself. He put down the deposit for the 5-day, 4-night New Year's party tour to North. Korea. And he was a bit nervous. He was a bit.

excited. And finally, he gets on that. plane from Beijing to North Korea. And. side note, the plane itself was a big. surprise. So, I think North Korea only. allows certain aircrafts to fly into. North Korean air. So, and the they have to like approve. the aircrafts, I believe. They mostly. use old Soviet jets from back when the. Soviet Union had control over North. Korea. I mean, these planes are really old. Like really old. I mean, still. functional, right? But oh, yeah. I think that instantly kind of sets the.

tone for this tour. It's not going to be like your cute. little Cancun resort, okay? This is. setting the tone. Otto and the Young. Pioneer Tour Group, they land in. Pyongyang, North Korea's capital on. December 29th, 2015. North Korean police officers immediately. confiscated all their phones and. electronic devices. They went through. all of that, made sure that they weren't. bringing in prohibited content inside, probably K-dramas, certain K-pop music, like all of these banned forms of media.

Side note, I don't know if this is. selective, if they give the phones or. cameras back after a while, because I. went into this deep dive into tourism in. North Korea, and of course, there are. YouTubers who went to North Korea and. they're just like vlogging. As if they're travel correlates, it's. wild, and they're posting it. But those seem pretty monitored, right? Okay, some of them I was shocked at. it's controlled, but so naturally done. They will point out stuff that isn't. good, but it's such minuscule stuff in.

the grand scheme of things. They're. like, "Oh, this radio doesn't work.". "Oh, it's pretty dead in here.". I'm not sure if the procedure changes. frequently, or if it's only for certain. journalism or social media approved. tourist, I don't know. But either way, the trip starts off normal. Their bags. are searched, and when they're cleared, the tour group they're on their little. merry way. Just like that, every single person on. that tour had just left the free world.

They check into their hotel. Otto's roommate for the trip was a. 40-something year old man from the UK. named Danny. And the two of them were. the only single men on the trip, so they. were de facto roommates. They actually. got along really well, despite the age. difference. Danny said, "You know, from. the second I met him, we just hit it. off. He's very bright, very intelligent, likable, very mature for his age.". And the tour is operating smoothly. They. followed their itinerary. The first stop. was to see huge bronze statues of Kim. Jong Il and Kim Jong Un.

It's winter, December, so the statues. are covered in snow. There's piles and. piles of fresh flowers all over the. statues, all around the statues. They took photos in front of it. Here's. a weird rule. If you take a photo with. any statue, picture, or anything about. Kim Jong-un, you cannot cut off his head. Like imagine I'm posing next to a. statue, and the picture is me. I'm the. main character of the picture, and the. statue's head is cut off like this in. the picture, oh, you don't want to know what happens.

Really? That's a law? Yeah, if there's a like a newspaper with. Kim Jong-un's face, you cannot fold it. on his face. Really? So, they were told this or what? know if this group was told this, but I. saw on YouTube videos they were like, "Oh, this is what we were told when we. got here.". Wow. Yeah. Okay. Very interesting. Okay, so keep. these rules in mind. They had this snowball fight, and some. of the neighborhood kids joined in. And. side note about these neighborhood kids,

these tourists were in one of the many. No, not many. One of the very few. tourist-approved areas in the entire. country. There is a strong possibility. and speculation, a dangerous speculation. on my end, if you will, but there's a. possibility that these aren't just. random kids. They might have been given. the job of making foreigners see that. North Korean children are happy and. healthy and are engaging in childlike. activities like snowball fights with. foreigners. But you have to remember. that is very odd. I don't remember the. last time I went traveling somewhere and.

I like had a snowball fight and kids. just joined in. Well, actually I was. pushed off a slide, kind of. You were. pushed off a slide in Switzerland, so. maybe, but it's just Everything about it. feels a little. Yeah. little interesting, okay? That's. just a speculation. Now, the group's. next major stop was one of North Korea's. biggest tourist attractions. It's an old. US Navy spy ship. The USS Pueblo was. captured by North Korea back in 1968, and now North Korea had turned it into.

an American horror museum of sorts. Hm. So, side note about the spy ship. The US was just minding their business. in international waters when a North. Korean ship sneaks up on them, captures. the entire crew, and the ship was kept. by North Korea and converted into like a. like a trophy. Yeah. So, they're guided through the boat by. an English-speaking North Korean who. told them how North Korea had captured. this ship from the imperial enemy. and how they captured, starved, and beat.

the crew for 11 months. Many of the crew. died. But, that's all right because. North Korea didn't just kidnap and. torture random international soldiers. No, no, no, no, no. They were. eliminating the evil and powerful. enemies that were dangerous. Basically, they did their national duty. to keep innocent good Korean citizens. safe. And North Korea has some really. intense propaganda. From the minute a. North Korean is born, they are spoon-fed. propaganda and hateful messages towards. America and South Korea.

America is public enemy number one. Americans are typically not good people. in the eyes of many North Koreans. Not. just the government, but Americans. There are entire museums dedicated to. all the horrible things that American. soldiers did and probably didn't do to. the Korean citizens back during the war. So, you think they feel some type of way. when they have American tourists? Yeah. So, um typically these tours, from what. I could tell online, a lot of them are.

like even Young Pioneer Tours. I see a. lot of Europeans. I see a lot of. Russians, a lot of Chinese tourists. It doesn't seem like a lot of Americans. go. Mhm. Yes. Yeah, okay. And, um. children are taken to this museum every. single year for their school field trip. since kindergarten. And a lot of the. museum are just graphic, sometimes. edited photos of American soldiers. brutalizing Korean soldiers or Korean. civilians, North Korean civilians. Like. really graphic depictions of American. soldiers tying up Asian women and.

chopping off their private parts, decapitating them. Like it's a lot. So, I can't even blame the anti-American. hatred on the North Korean citizens. themselves. Because, you know, you we. think we're all smarter than that, but. like if you're born into a country like. that, that's what you only know since. the day you're born. America is the boogeyman stir then. I saw this Vice piece where they spoke. with North Koreans at a labor camp in. Russia. And they admitted that the. Okay, you look confused. So, basically. North Korea had some deals with Russia.

where they would send in a bunch of. civilians that are watched non-stop and. they made like their own little North. Korea camp in Russia in like the woods. of Russia. And then they're they're. they're logging. So, they're providing. like cheap free labor basically and. Russia pays North Korea for it. Really? And these citizens, they get paid. nothing. Huh. Yeah. So, they just bring in North. Koreans to Russia. So, a bunch of Vice journalists tried to. infiltrate that camp in Russia cuz they. can't go into North Korea, but they can.

go into Russia, right? Or at least at. the time they could. And. you know, these civilians that were. working, they said, "Yeah, our standard. of living in North Korea is not great. Our country is struggling, but it's. because America is working overtime to. sabotage us.". So, they believe all their hardship is. due to America. Not because of their leaders. So, this is an extreme example of it, but most countries do have some sort of. propaganda, okay? Having a common enemy, aka another country amongst your people. to hate, gives people a sense of unity.

It also it's a way for governments to be. like, "Look, citizens, it's bad here, but is it really that bad? Look over. there. It's worse over there.". So, the ship tour unsurprisingly made. Auto very uncomfortable. I believe there. was one other American on this tour. group, so they were probably super. awkward during the entire segment. I. mean, the rest of the tour group, they. picked up on it. They tried to make. jokes to alleviate some of that tension. So, they would joke around, "Hey, Imperial enemy number one, pass the. salt." "Hey, Imperial enemy, do you know.

where the bathroom is?" So, this would. kind of lighten the mood a bit, and. everyone just try to shake it off as. just okay, this is just some ridiculous. government propaganda, right? Besides, the ship that they took, that's from 50. years ago. Times have changed, things. have changed. Side note, I don't know how much things. have changed, at least in North Korea. According to other members of the tour, they saw multiple posters that depicted. North Korea B O M B bombing the White. House. Anyway, the rest of the trip goes.

by very smoothly, and on December 31st, they only have like 2 days left of this. trip, right? The tour group goes to this. fancy bar in Pyongyang. They drink, they're not getting super drunk, keep. this in mind. I don't think anyone in. this tour group is trying to get wasted. in North Korea to the point where they. can't control what they do or what they. say. They're just having a couple of. wines, a couple of beers, maybe a. cocktail here and there. This is. important. They were not that drunk. After the bar, the group goes together.

to the Kim Il Sung Square, the main. square in the capital city. And there. are hundreds of people there waiting for. fireworks, for other celebrations to. start, and it genuinely feels like a. good time, at least to the tour group. I. think it's one of those moments where if. you don't think too much into it, maybe. you're like, "Oh, you know what? Maybe. this is a nice place." Cuz they're. having street food from vendors, they're. having beers, there there's civilians or. people nearby, right? But again, they're not getting. belligerently drunk. They weren't even. considered rowdy or tipsy. They're just.

kind of slightly pink in the cheeks and. happy. The beer is keeping their bodies. warm. They're behaving themselves, keeping their heads on their shoulders. After the fireworks, they go back to the. hotel. And on their way back, they're. concocting this little plan. They're. like, "Okay, we're going to all go back. to our rooms, put our things down, change, cuz we're a little smelly, and. then uh who wants to go bowling. tonight?" So, half the group are like, I. want to go bowling. And the other half. are like, nah, I want to just maybe. drink a little more and chill out at the. bar. So, the other half are like, okay,

we'll meet at the bar, you guys go. bowling. Otto's in the car and he's like, mhm, feel like I don't really want to do. either. Just so tired. Like my head hurts, the. beer is kind of ringing. I just want to. call it a night. So, the rest of the. tour group, including Danny, his. roommate, went out without him. Danny. said that he remembered seeing Otto. laying down in the hotel room bed, just. laying there. When Danny got back from. the bar 2 hours later, Otto was still in. the room knocked out in the same. position that he had been when he left. Nothing was strange, nothing was out of. place, nothing was missing, nothing was.

new in the room. Otto was just passed. out. But technically, for those 2 hours, Otto. was unaccounted for. Just about everyone believes that he was. in his hotel room during the full 2. hours knocked out. So, the tour group, they don't feel. anything is weird, they don't feel like. anything is off. They don't suspect a. thing. They believed it was a great. night, and they're going to finish the. rest of their small amount of days left. on the trip, and go back home. They're ready to go back home. They didn't know that things were. changing inside this hotel.

They were still being watched, yes, but. with a whole different purpose. Someone from their group wouldn't be. getting on that plane. But nobody would know until the very. last minute. This is the hotel that's really fancy. Yeah. Instead, they continued on not knowing. the magnitude of what was about to. happen. I have a lot of friends and family. recently that have been starting small. businesses, and it's really. enlightening. I mean, some of them have. been doing this for a while, and it's. just so cool to sit down with them over.

dinner and just talk about all the. things that they've encountered in their. businesses, like even what motivated. them to get started. And literally not a. single business owner sat there and was. like, you know what, Stephanie, what a. splendid question. If I'm being honest. with you, I just wanted to be the next. e-commerce expert. Like not a single. one. But it's so funny because it feels. like with this day and age, in order to. run your passion project or your. passionate business, you have to try and. become an e-commerce expert, whether you. like it or not. An online business needs. to be maintained and proved constantly.

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airport, and they're about to board a. plane back to China. They both had their passports out, their. documents out, and they hand them to the. men that are flipping through their. documents, and they're just doing it so. slowly. So, it's kind of weird, but fine. I. mean, it's not like the like the airport. is packed or anything. And then everything starts happening so. fast. The men flipping through their. passports called over other officers, and they start rapidly talking in. Korean. Two North Korean airport. security employees then approaches Otto. from behind, taps him on his shoulder, and motions for him to follow them. They.

didn't even say a word to him. Danny's confused, Otto's confused, but. they both kind of just like shrug at. each other. Maybe it's like one of those. random searches at airports. An extra. security check or something. Congratulations, you're the 10th flyer. We're going to give you a full body. search. And even though there's this lingering. ominous tension, I'm sure Danny and the. others are trying to reason with. themselves that everything's going to be. fine. It had been fine our entire trip. Danny even tried to make a joke to cut.

the tension. He looked at Otto one last. time as he's being led away, and he. joked, "Well, that's the last time we'll. ever see you.". Otto half laughed. And the officers did not laugh. He would never see Otto again. Instead, he joined the rest of the group. and explained, "Otto was taken for some. security check.". Everyone glanced around, but again, they're like, "Okay, it's probably like. a new procedure that they're doing, like. one of those random checks.".

But the longer they waited, the more. restless they're starting to feel. Takeoff time is getting closer and. closer, and it's not like other airports. or airlines where you can just miss your. flight and get scheduled on the next one. while you wait at a Starbucks in the. airport. They're like, he's got to make this. flight, otherwise he's being abandoned. in North Korea. They waited for hours, until finally, they had 15 minutes left before the. plane was scheduled to take off. This. was quite literally one of the worst. countries in the world for an American. to be abandoned in. He had to make this.

flight. But the 15 minutes passed by, and. instead of Auto coming down the airplane. alleyway, a North Korean official walks. in on full uniform. Otto Warmbier is very sick and has been. taken to the hospital. Without even waiting for a response, he. turns on his heel and leaves the. airplane. He didn't even answer any questions. He. didn't give any more details. He's just. gone. So, one of the tour guides from the. Young Pioneer Tours is like, okay, well, I'm going to stay with Otto and figure. out what's going on. So, he leaves the.

plane. He refuses to leave Otto there. alone. Wow. The rest of the tour group, they have no. choice. The airplane door clicks shut, and they're in the air without Otto. I don't think anyone on that plane knew. what was going to happen next. I feel. like if they had, maybe they wouldn't. even have taken this tour, to be honest. Maybe they really just thought that Otto. was sick. The one tour employee that stayed behind. to look for Otto, he wasn't allowed to. see Otto. He said that he just stayed. around in that hotel for a few days.

trying to talk to anyone that could get. in contact with Otto and tell him what's. going on with Otto. What Oh, can I see. him? Can I talk to him for a second? What am I going to tell his family? They. didn't give him any answers. They banned. him from seeing Otto, and he was sent. back home. Another tour guide that landed in. Beijing immediately called some of the. connections that they had in North. Korea. And the answer that they got was, oh, Otto had a headache in the middle of. the security check, and he asked if we. could take him to the hospital. It wasn't matching up with Danny's.

story, and it didn't make sense. Why. would Otto be like, "Oh, yeah, let me go. to the hospital here instead of in. Beijing?". But what could they do? Meanwhile, Otto's parents got word that. he was left behind in North Korea, and. the tour company called to update them, but nobody had any information. And the. parents, they're trying to get in. contact with anyone that they could, but. it's not like you have a friend of a. friend who knows someone in North Korea. Like, how do you even get connected to. the right people? The next person to hear from Otto, or.

rather about Otto, was a man named. Robert King. Robert was expecting this. to be another normal Friday at his desk. job. He sits down, opens up his email, and there's one marked urgent. He's thinking, "Please let it not be.". And he clicks on it. So, Robert King. works at the US Department of State as. their special envoy for North Korea. He's like the North Korean expert. He's. not a diplomat because. we don't really have like a embassy in. North Korea, you know?

But he's like a special envoy. Basically, his job was to be a pseudo. diplomat for any issues that could arise. between North Korea and the US, which, you know, there's a lot of issues. Where is he? In the US. Oh. So, the. email just reads, "Captive. Last seen. January 2nd, 2016.". Robert got the gist of the situation. Otto had gone on a tour group, nothing. new. He's a college student from. America. North Korea had arrested him. for trying to take down the North Korean. regime. Overtake the government.

Woah. An American college student. Robert highly doubted that a random. college student would overtake the North. Korean regime, but you know, never say. never. But he knew one thing. In North. Korea, it doesn't matter if you did or. didn't do something. All that matters. was they said you did it. If they think you committed a crime, you. committed a crime. Robert knew that Otto would have. confessed to just about anything. That's. what they do. They put you under immense. physical derice, torture, mental and. emotional manipulation until you.

confess. And then, they sentence you. based off that confession. North Korea is tricky territory because. they're not in the habit of sending. Americans they deem to be criminals back. home to America, their number one enemy. So, for Robert, getting an American out. of North Korea is time-consuming, difficult, increasingly impossible with. these rising tensions. That's why the US. has North Korea, or they did, have North. Korea under the highest possible travel. advisory level, level four, do not. travel. Travel is strongly discouraged.

It's no longer that? You literally. cannot go anymore. Oh, oh. Yeah. US passport holders are banned. from entering North Korea. If you are a. dual citizen, you can use your other. passport that is not the US passport, but Americans are banned. You cannot even get a visa. Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. So, how did Otto try to overthrow. the regime? It all starts. on level five of the hotel. The forbidden level. Level five is where. the staff of the hotel live. They have. their rooms there. The security staff.

along with some storage is on level. five, or at least that's what they. report. They're like, "It's nothing but. hotel staff rooms.". Many people speculate that level five. was reserved for hotel staff to. surveillance the guests. There are some. YouTube videos of level five that of the. hotel. Yeah, YouTubers are crazy, okay? It's insane. One person snuck in there. in the middle of the night, recorded it, posted it to YouTube. I mean, was it. even worth it? I don't know. From what I can see in the video, level. five looks like some something out of a. horror movie. There's large waxy tiled.

floors like the ones you would imagine. in creepy backroom photos. They've got, you know, that office building ceilings, the ones that are plaster feeling blocks. that you can push up. Mhm. The ceiling. tiles are white. The plastic part are. like this thick dark color. And the only. decoration on the entire floor are these. giant propaganda posters on the walls, and they say things like, "Work hard to. support our great country. The great. leader will reward your hard work. Okay, to us these posters might not seem. like much.

Just random posters. They're not even. framed. It doesn't even look like super. expensive. They look like print, right? You go You would see posters like that. in a dental office. Okay, not the exact. ones, but you get what I'm saying. They're not framed. They're not pieces. of art. They're just posters. But in North Korea they were the. difference between life and death. A few years beforehand, there was a case. of a janitor who was mopping the floor. of a factory. He accidentally bumped. into one of these posters that happened. to be framed. It fell off the wall. He. dropped his mop trying to catch this.

poster in time, but it fell. He missed. it. Glass shattered everywhere. The. poster was scratched. The whole thing. was caught on camera, and the poor. janitor was arrested for destroying. something with the image of the great. leader on it, and he was allegedly never. seen again. Apparently, even if someone thinks that. you're glaring at a poster. they can report you, and you could be. sentenced to a hard labor prison. Side note, like a week ago, a tropical.

storm was hitting North Korea, and Kim. Jong-un told his people to protect his. portraits and posters at all costs. AKA, he'll probably end you if you don't. protect his portraits because I don't. know, you were like fighting for your. life in the storm. This is like last week. North Korea stated that on the very last. night of the tour, while half the group. went bowling, the other half went to the. bar. Otto lights everyone saying that he. felt a bit sick. He wanted to stay and. sleep in his hotel room. There were 2. hours that were unaccounted for for. Otto. North Korea was alleging he snuck.

into the fifth floor after the group was. busy. They said that there is CCTV. footage. Let me tell you, this CCTV. footage looks like it's been filmed with. a kiwi. I'm exaggerating, obviously, but. only by a little bit. Like we don't have. the entire footage, either. We just have. a tiny portion of it. It's like what. appears to be a hooded figure wearing. all black walking up to a poster on. level five, taking it off the wall. It. seems like maybe they try to roll it up, maybe they don't. They place it on the. ground. That's it. That's all we have in. the clip. We don't have Auto coming out. of his hotel room, which I'm just saying.

like you're talking about the. surveillance state. They don't have hallway CCTVs on other. floors? I doubt it. We don't have him entering back into his. room. We don't have any of that. We just. have like this random figure. We don't. even see their face. And you're saying this is Auto. Is there. time on there or no? Yes, it does happen. to be around that time. Okay. So they. claim. But again, you know. Now, in North Korea this is considered a. horrible crime. This is basically. disrespecting the great leader, which is.

disrespecting the entire country. And. since the posters are categorized as. motivational content, the person is then. trying to demotivate the entire. population. If you demotivate the entire. population, you decrease the country's. economic output and then you destroy the. country. You overthrow the regime. Have you guys read the book If You Give. a Mouse a Cookie? No. It's like if you give a mouse a. cookie, they're going to ask for a cup. of milk to go with it. Then they're. going to ask for this. This is like the. same logic. It's just a poster and now.

you're saying he's trying to overthrow. the regime. Yeah. What? Side note, we can't even be sure that. this is Auto. But North Korea argues. this is Auto and the footage was saved. and we didn't say anything that night. They let the tour go on as normal, which. like what is that? And right at that. last moment, he was detained by North. Korea. And for almost three weeks, it was radio. silence. After the initial oh, he had a headache. and asked to be hospitalized. After. that, there was nothing for almost three.

weeks. Nobody had a single clue what was. going on. And then they released the CCTV footage. They released the reason for his arrest, saying this is why we arrested him. He. did this to the poster. Robert, the North Korean expert, said he. took one look at that footage and. thought, "This is going to be rough.". He had 7 years of experience negotiating. the release of more than a dozen. Americans from North Korea, and this was. bad. So, firstly, Robert had to sit down with. Otto's parents and explain to them the. process that he was unfortunately way.

too familiar with. He was saying things. like, you know, North Korea is going to. make him confess to undermining the. regime. Then they're going to use that. as domestic propaganda to further. convince North Korean citizens that. Americans are out there to destroy them. Then Otto will be sent to jail, and they. will use his freedom as a bargaining. chip in some sort of negotiations with. the United States, probably something to. do with weapons. And for 6 weeks, nothing happened. North. Korea didn't say, "Hey guys, did you. guys see the news? So, um this is what. we want.".

They didn't say that. Nothing. And Otto's family, they're living with. this constant anxiety of wondering, "Is. our son okay? Is he What is he doing?". They haven't heard from him personally, is he even alive? And then on February 29th, 2016, everything changed. North Korea held a. press conference for Otto, and the conference was televised. Recordings were sent to the United. States, as well as international major. media networks, and the video starts. with officers guiding Otto by his. elbows, one on each side of his body,

into the conference room. His head is hung low with his eyes on. the floor. His arms are limp and. handcuffed at the wrists, and he's. walking along with the guards. He looks just so dejected, without any. energy, but there are no visible bruises. or injuries. He's wearing a cream-colored suit that. he packed for his um luggage for the. trip. And when he gets to the podium, he's sitting underneath two huge frames. of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, and he.

takes a huge bow. And he confesses. Again, I can't even imagine the panic, terror, and just disorienting feeling. that his parents must have felt watching. their son in this video. Like, I'm not a. parent, but I always hear the scariest. thing for parents is the idea that their. baby is in trouble one day and they are. powerless to help them. That is like a terrifying, gut-wrenching. feeling, and this press conference is a. really hard watch. Otto is looking down. at the podium the whole time, and it.

just makes people feel like he's reading. a script. He's very emotional. He's not screaming or wailing, but he's. crying, and his grief is so obvious. He. just looks so desperate. On the early. morning of January 1st, 2016, I committed my crime of taking out the. important political slogan from the. staff-only area of the Yanggakdo. International Hotel. aimed at harming the work ethic and the. motivation of the Korean people.

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. I have been very impressed by. the Korean government's humanitarian. treatment of severe criminals like. myself. He said that he attempted to steal a.

poster from the restricted floor of the. hotel. The poster said, "Let's arm. ourselves strongly with Kim Jong-un's. patriotism." Said he was wearing his. quietest boots, best for sneaking. He said he tried to steal it on behalf. of the local Methodist Church. Side. note, North Koreans hate religious. people because, you know, it goes. against their. methodology, I guess, that Kim Jong-un. is. And, um, he said he tried to steal it. also for the Z Society, which is a. secret society, a secret fraternity at. the University of Virginia that is.

connected to the CIA. He's confessing. that he did this under orders of the. CIA. Wait, so he's saying he's trying to. steal a poster to show it to CIA. Yeah, because the CIA told him to. I. mean, there's so many things wrong with. that. Okay. It's not a top secret. These posters are. everywhere. Everyone on tour sees these. types of posters. It just doesn't make. sense. He says, "I deeply thank the North. Korean government for the opportunity to. apologize for my crime, to beg for.

forgiveness, and to beg for any. assistance to save my life. I have made. the single worst decision of my life, but I am only human.". And that was the confession. A couple of. things here that don't make sense. Beyond the fact that most people highly, highly doubt that Otto was recruited by. the CIA. Again, never say never. Who. knows what the CIA is doing. Who knows. how they're recruiting people. But the. facts are, I don't think the CIA sent. Otto on a super secret spy mission to go. steal a poster that had no further.

insight into North Korea. Everyone had. already seen these types of posters all. over town. It's not groundbreaking. information. It's not a sacred object. Surely, the CIA wouldn't risk someone's. life for a poster like that. It wasn't. even stolen. It was laid on the floor. How would the CIA be undermining North. Korea's regime with that? But beyond that, Otto doesn't even. belong to a Methodist church. He's. Jewish. Woah. Also, his family said that the words. coming out of Otto's mouth during the. confession just don't match the way that.

he normally talks. They said it was. obvious that this was a script. I'm not saying that he didn't try and. take that poster. There is a possibility. that he maybe did try and take that. poster. Maybe he wanted to bring it as like a. "Hey guys, look what I got" or some sort. of souvenir or something, right? But. that doesn't negate the fact that a. young college student is trapped in. North Korea. And he's being charged with. the very serious crime of working as a. spy for the United States CIA to harm. the North Korean people and overthrow. the government.

Otto's parents did everything to get. every politician they could to help with. their son's case. They got in contact. with Ohio governor who put them in. contact with New Mexico's governor who. had worked with the UN prior. He had. strong connections with North Korean. representatives. They're not official ambassadors. because, you know, like I said, the US. does not have a North Korean embassy, but they work as representatives and. they're basically the unofficial. communications channel. But it's not a great communication. channel. It's like a giant game of telephone, or. at least it was back in 2016-2017.

I think things have gotten better, but. um that's not till way later. So, messages from the US would go to the. ambassador of Sweden. It's always. Sweden, interesting not Switzerland, cuz. they also have a North Korean embassy, but always Sweden. The country is. neutral between the US and North Korea. Then the Swedish ambassadors will pass. the message along to their North Korean. ambassadors, and then those ambassadors. pass it on to the North Korean. government officials, and then it's just. It's a very long, lengthy process, and. if just one party in the middle of it.

decides they have better things to do, that message is not getting sent. quickly. Robert and Otto's family, they're just. left to twiddle their thumbs. But things. are moving fast in North Korea. Otto's. trial is underway, if you can even call. it a trial. Basically, they gave him a. trial where Otto said, "I never should. have allowed myself to be lured by the. United States administration to commit a. crime in this country. I wish that the. United States administration would never. manipulate people like myself to commit. crimes against foreign countries in the. future. I entirely beg you, the people.

and government of the Democratic. People's Republic of Korea, for your. forgiveness. Please, I have made the. worst mistake of my life.". I entirely. beg you, the people and government. of the DPR Korea, for your forgiveness. Please, And made the worst mistake of my life. Please, ask them to save me. Please.

Think of my family. On March 16th, 2016, Otto was sentenced. to 15 years. 15 years in a hard labor prison in North. Korea. 15 years of hard labor for. allegedly taking a propaganda poster off. a wall and putting it on the floor. National Human Rights Watch said that. the sentence was outrageous and. shocking. Even for North Korea, this. sentence was insane. Foreigners usually. get lighter sentences than their own.

citizens since they belong to other. countries that could get angry and do. something about it, but it was just out. the window with Otto. Robert, the expert in North Korea for. the US government, said he was just so. shocked. He was almost certain North. Korea would have reached out for a. negotiation or some sort of trade for. Otto, but they didn't. So, Robert believes there is a strong. political motive behind why Otto is now. be going into prison. Otto's parents, rightfully, they don't. give a fork about politics. This is. their son and they want him home. They.

spent every waking moment trying to. reach out to anyone that they could get. in contact with. Finally, they're able. to get in contact with someone from the. Obama administration. This is during his. presidency. And they were told by the. administration that this is a marathon. and not a sprint. The process would take patience, which. you know, patience is a very hard thing. to come by when your son has been. unjustly imprisoned in a labor camp for. 15 years in a country that hates. Americans. Robert, the government official, got the. Obama administration to organize a visit. to Pyongyang. He sent a senior official.

of the US State Department went to North. Korea September of 2016. So, this is what? Like A year later. Yeah. Wait, September? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Almost a year later. His visit was. supposed to last 4 days. So, who went? Robert went or a different. person? Robert's second-hand man. Um they. thought it would be too aggressive to. send in the US's known expert on North. Korea. It'd be too much of like a statement. Got it. So, they sent in um someone that. worked for Robert or under Robert, and.

he was supposed to be there for 4 days. The first 3 days, North Korean. representatives and officials refused to. talk to him about anything. Instead, they took him all around the touristy. spots in North Korea, all the places. that Otto had just visited. It's like. everyone was treating him as if he was. on vacation and not here for business. Not to talk about the literal lives at. stake. The last day he was able to sit down. with someone finally, and they refused. to talk about Otto. He wasn't even. allowed to see Otto. He was disappointed, of course, but.

everyone went home and was like, "Okay, wait. Let's think about it. It's. September 2016.". Let me paint the scene. Obama is about. to leave office. He cannot serve another. term as president, and it seems like. North Korea had asked of something in. return for Otto. Again, we don't know if. this is true. We don't know if they. asked for something, and if they did, what it was, but it didn't look like the. Obama administration was playing ball. with them. The next presidential election was going. to be held in 2 months. Maybe North. Korea felt like they could get more for. their cards with Trump or Clinton.

They're like, "Okay, Obama doesn't want. to play, but he's going to be out of. office in a few months. So, let's just wait and see if we can. get anything from the new president.". When Trump won, Robert, we have no idea. of his political affiliation, he was. happy purely for the fact that he felt. like, "Okay, this is a sign North. Korea's going to start negotiating cuz. we've got a new president in office.". Robert keeps trying to reach out to. Trump to get his approval for some of. the plans to talk to North Korea, but he. keeps getting ignored. And Fred, Otto's. dad, is not having it. Now, again,

regardless of your political. affiliation, Fred is smart. He's smart. He thought, "How do I get Donald Trump's. attention when the whole world is. flipping out over his presidency right. now. There's so much chatter online. Breaking news everyday. How do I How do I not only get his. attention? How do I motivate him to want. to help us? He went on Fox 4 News and he complained. that the State Department wasn't doing. enough for his son and that his son was. a good all-American boy. He was a.

Republican college student that was. pursuing the American dream. He was a. soccer player, football player. He was. an American through and through. He. could have been your son. And he was trapped by the enemy. territory. Fred also threw Obama under. the bus and stated the previous. administration made no movements to help. his son. Then he addressed Trump. directly and stated, "President Trump, I. ask you to bring my son home. You can. make a difference here.". Political affiliation aside, if you. think about it, it's genius. He got on. Trump's alleged favorite news channel.

He talked about how his son was the. epitome of the children of most of the. people who voted for Trump, the basic. Midwest American boy. Then he talked. about how Obama had done nothing for his. son, for the son of the nation, which would. then make Trump feel like if he helped. Otto, he would be better than his. predecessor. He would get a positive public image and. if he didn't help, then it would look. like he didn't care about the nation's. children and he was just like Obama. Fred is playing chess and politicians. are playing checkers, okay? It worked.

Trump personally raised the case to the. top of his agenda and mind you, this is. like months into his presidency. It's. not even like a year or two. Robert retired soon and the case was. transferred over to a new guy, an expert. in North Korea, Joseph Yun. And things are looking up. North Korean. diplomats were arranged to meet in the. US to talk about Otto's potential. release. The meeting was set for. February 2017. North Korean officials. were going to fly into the US. It had. been over a year since Otto had been. detained.

But then something else happened in. February, something we talked about. Kim Jong-nam was murdered. Kim Jong Un's half-brother was murdered. in broad daylight in a busy airport by. two girls who claimed they thought they. were pranking a random stranger for a. YouTube video, and they poisoned him. Allegedly, the assassination was. orchestrated by his half-brother Kim. Jong Un. The meeting was canceled. because of this. The family did not lose hope, though. It. seemed like at least now things were. kind of inching towards a resolution.

Side note, there are as many as 120,000. North Koreans in prison right now, probably more, but. people can be sent to prison in North. Korea for the smallest things. In. prison, they survive on starvation. rations, endure routine torture, beatings, dangerous forced labor like. coal mining, and the very unlucky they. are tortured to death. One prisoner in North Korea who escaped. to South Korea said, "North Korean. prisons are actually hell. Actually, they would beat us. We were so.

hungry that we would catch mice in our. cell to eat.". raw. She said every day in her small prison, at least six to eight of her fellow. prisoners died. Every single day. But foreign prisoners get much better. treatment. It's most likely that Otto. was detained at what they call the, quote, guest house. At least five other. American prisoners of North Korea were. held in a two-story building with a. green tiled roof. It's called the guest. house, and it's pretty luxurious by. North Korean standards. There's a. bedroom, a bathroom. It's kind of like a.

hotel, but no matter how nice it is, it's still a prison. Otto was probably. interrogated constantly and for long. periods at a time. Another American. captive, Kenneth Bae, who was also. arrested for trying to overthrow the. government, he said he was questioned. for 15 hours a day. He said he was never. physically beat, but 15 hours a day. Yeah. Is he out? He's out. Then, another guy, Jeffrey. Fowle, a guy from Ohio who was detained. 2 years before Otto, said that the North.

Koreans never physically harmed him. They just would constantly threaten him. If you don't start cooperating, things. are going to get a lot less pleasant. Another American prisoner said that she. was subjected to the very same thing. She said there was a lot of emotional. manipulation. They would keep bothering. you, keep torturing you. They would sit. you down and say, "Literally, nobody. loves you. Your Your country doesn't. care about you. Your family has. forgotten about you. You're stuck here. for the rest of your life, so get used. to it." They would sit in a room where.

there was only three channels available. on the TV. They'd literally be sat in. front of the TV watching propaganda. movies and videos all day long. So, Robert and Joseph Yun, the new. expert that was hired, he's pretty much. trying to comfort Otto's family in a. sense saying he's probably never going. to get physically harmed. I mean, his. mental health is a completely different. story. But, they usually don't leave any. physical scars. They go with mental torture.

Um some of the detainees that were. released from North Korea eventually. took their own lives back in the US. cuz um a lot of them stated the PTSD and. although they were never physically. harmed, just the non-stop interrogations, the. brainwashing, the non-stop propaganda, it just made them feel so utterly. hopeless. A lot of them even tried to end things. while they were in North Korea. They felt like there was no light at the. end of the tunnel.

And then, a year and a half into it, news came out. North Korea alerted Joseph Yun, an. employee of the State Department, that. Otto was in critical condition. They. stated Otto had eaten a meal of spinach. and pork and contracted a food-borne. illness like botulism. He was having. trouble sleeping because of it and then, being great hostage takers, they gave. him sedatives. He had an allergic. reaction to the sedatives and coupled. with the illness his body was already. fighting off, he fell into a coma. The US now demanded Otto's return on.

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Michael, he's used to fixing horrifying. situations. He'd been working as a. trauma care doctor for the past 31. years. He's probably thinking, "The last. 31 years, I've been dealing with gunshot. wounds, vicious dog bites, mysterious. viruses and illnesses, all sorts of. high-pressure, life-threatening. situations.". So, he's like, "Maybe I can do something. a little bit more chill.". He starts working as a medical director. for an elite air ambulance service. It's a service that turns private jets.

into flying emergency rooms, and they go. all over the world. Typically, they are. government contractors. They go all over. the world rescuing patients and. delivering life-saving care in the sky. before landing at a major hospital back. in the US. Wow. I didn't even know that existed. Wow. So, Michael is dealing with even more in. his new position. Like, he would go and. rescue hikers from rural mountains. He. flew Ebola-infected tourists out of. Africa back into the US. He worked on. planes that were contracted by the. Department of Defense to pick up injured. or sick government employees across.

international lines. So, he's like, "Okay, now I truly I've. seen it all.". But, he was wrong. He'd never seen this before. He had. never seen North Korea. And he just stepped off his plane into a. country that considered the US and most. Americans their number one enemy. He was there to rescue Otto Warmbier and. bring him back home. Or at least, that's. the plan. But, nothing was going according to the. plan. At first, when Michael was told of his.

next job, he's like, "Okay, team, let's. pack it up. We're going to fly to Japan, and then from Japan, when we get the. A-OK, we're flying into North Korea.". So, the whole medical team, including. Joseph Yun, the US expert on North. Korea, and another political diplomat, and probably their teams, they all fly. from the US to Japan, and they're. waiting for the A-OK. And North Korea is. like, "Sure. Sure thing. Let's give you. the A-OK, but we only want three people. We want a doctor and you can bring the. diplomat and Joseph Yun. That's it.". So, they're saying it's good that.

they're allowing them to pick up Otto. Otto now because his health is in. critical condition. Mhm. Huh. So, they fly and it's said that. they didn't even have like um. like digital air travel guidelines or. restrictions or anything like that. They. just had a paper map. And North Korea. was like, "Okay, now you're going to go. northwest for 20 miles.". They're like, "Oh, okay." They're. literally flying from Japan to North. Korea with vague instructions. Thankfully, they make it safely. They.

land the aircraft and when the aircraft. door opens, there are just a bunch of. North Korean soldiers waiting for them. The three of them, Michael, Joseph, so. Dr. Michael, Joseph the expert, and the. diplomat, they're rushed onto a bus and. taken not to a hospital like they. imagined, but what was like a plush. cabin in the middle of nowhere in North. Korea. They met with North Korean diplomats and. it just went in circles. They're like, "Literally, why did you even bring us. here if we can't see Otto? If we can't. bring Otto home?" And they would sit. down and they'd say, "Okay, Joseph Yun,

Otto Warmbier is an American citizen. that broke the law here.". And Joseph is like, "Okay. Yes, the US will punish him according to. the conviction that your country has. handed out, but let us take him home for. further medical treatment." "No, but he. committed a crime. Why should he escape. his punishment?". "He's not escaping his punishment. We're. going to punish him after we give him. medical treatment.". "But he defiled a motivational poster of. our supreme leader with the intention of. attempting to overthrow our state.

He's working for the CIA. He should be. punished.". "Like I said, he will be punished, but. just let us take him home, give him the. medical care first, and then we'll. punish him.". It was like this for hours and hours and. hours until finally they agreed to take. them to see Otto. They were taken to the hospital. ironically named Friendship Hospital. From there, Dr. Michael was allowed to. see his charts and check his condition. Otto was kept alone in a private. hospital room. He was pale, skinny,

unconscious. He had a feeding tube in. his nose. Dr. Michael tried to clap once on the. right side of his head. No response. On the left. No response. I mean, this didn't come as a surprise. Michael knew that Otto was in a coma, but when he asked for the medical. charts, they handed him brain scans. A few things about the brain scans. Sure. enough, it showed very low activity in. both parts of his brain, meaning it was. determined that most likely he wasn't in. a coma because of a blow to his head or.

some sort of blunt force trauma to his. head. More likely he was in a coma. because he suffered from a lack of. oxygen for too long. Could be. from drugs, could be from poison, could. be from strangulation, could be from. anything. Just no oxygen to the brain. We don't know exactly how or what caused. that. Could be from a heart attack or. breathing problems. Interesting, but then Dr. Michael's eyes. see the date on the scans, March 2016.

It is now July 2017. That meant Otto had been in a coma for. over a year. Oh my gosh. He entered into a coma just after. receiving his prison sentence. So, Dr. Michael is handed a sheet of paper to. sign that stated that Otto has been well. cared for. Obviously, Dr. Michael was. like, "Yeah, I would have totally lied. and signed the papers if it meant. getting Otto out of there." But, he did. notice that Otto was sufficiently taken. care of at least from a superficial. standpoint. So, Otto had been in a coma for over a.

year. He had no bed sores. His nails were trimmed, his hair was. neat and brushed. There wasn't a single. bed sore on his body, which is really. hard. So, even in some of the best care. hospitals in the US, they have a hard. time preventing zero bedsores from their. immobile patients. Just the sheer amount. of time and effort that level of care. requires, it's very difficult. So, Dr. Michael signs the papers and. they're going home. A North Korean judge commutes Otto's. sentence to time served and Otto is now. free. So, this is the moment that they'd all. been waiting for for over a year now.

But, it's not the way they imagined. Otto has been in a coma for over a year. Fred and Cindy hadn't spoken to him in. over a year and a half and the last time. they saw him was a heartbreaking video. of him at his sentencing. It had been living hell for the family, but they were patriots, okay? So, they're sitting there and they just. learned Otto had been in a coma, not. recently, but for the past year and they. thought, "That's okay. With the great US. healthcare system, with some love,

patience, and being together with. family, Otto's going to be Otto again. We're going to save Otto.". They were just happy that he was alive. Fred and Cindy rushed to the Cincinnati. airport and they were allowed to wait. near um like on the tarmac for the. private jet to land. There was a. chain-link fence separating the tarmac. and the public roads. The community. showed up with signs of support for the. whole family. As well as journalists. So, they're. waiting. and the plane lands June 13th, 2017. Fred and Cindy went up to the steps of.

the plane and. it was bad. Otto's long wavy hair had. been buzzed off. He had a feeding tube. He was completely unresponsive. Just seeing their son in that state hit. them really hard. Now, this is where things get a little. contradictory. The story starts. snowballing into kind of a mess. So, there were reports from Otto's parents. that Otto had been blinded and he was. now deaf after returning. They stated. that his arms and legs were at odd. angles as if they were totally deformed.

I don't know if this is hinting at. medical neglect, like saying that his. muscles had atrophied because he had. been in a coma for so long, or if it was. hinting at the fact that maybe his bones. were broken or something had happened to. his limbs. They stated that he had a scar on his. foot and his bottom teeth looked really. strange. Otto's dad stated, "It looked. like someone had taken a pair of pliers. and rearranged his bottom teeth.". What? When Otto's little sister saw him, she. screamed. Her brother was. unrecognizable.

So, this kind of contradicts Dr. Michael, the doctor stating that other. than the coma, Otto was in good physical. condition. Either way, Otto is carried down the. airplane steps into an ambulance waiting. on the tarmac and he was rushed to the. hospital. Otto's dad made it a point to wear. Otto's cream-colored suit that he had. worn in North Korea during his press. conference when he begged for. forgiveness and he did a press. conference. He said, "There is no excuse. for any civilized nation to have kept. his condition a secret and denied him. top-notch medical care for so long.".

"Otto is a fighter. My wife and I firmly. believe that he fought to stay alive. through the worst that the North Koreans. could have put him through in order to. return to the family and community that. he loves. Even if you believe North Korea for. their explanation about the food-borne. illness and a sleeping pill causing the. coma, and we don't, but if you did, there is no excuse for any civilized. nation to have kept his condition a. secret and denied him this care.". And then a journalist asked, "If you. could speak directly to the North Korean. regime and the North Korean people, what.

would you say to them?". "I would say that I'm proud of my son. Otto, who has been in a pariah regime. for the last 18 months brutalized and. terrorized and now he's home with his. family and I am tremendously proud.". So, Otto stayed in this coma and his. brain scans were not looking good. The. loss of brain tissue was extensive and. that kind of loss would be consistent. with leaving the brain without oxygen. for anywhere between 4 to 20 minutes. Which is kind of scary if you think. about. 20 minutes isn't even that long,

really. Eventually, he got sick and his fever. had risen to 104°. It stayed that way for 48 hours and his. doctors told his family that yes, his. body is alive, but his brain will never. come back. When was this? This was like a week after landing. What? His brain was no longer functional at a. level compatible with life. The Otto that they knew was gone. So, they have two decisions. Keep him on.

life support or let him rest. June 19th, 2017, Otto died in the hospital at 22 years. old. But, this is where the case spirals into. conspiracy land or even some would say. propaganda land. Otto's death is a. complete mystery. He was in perfect. health when he was arrested. He came. back home in a coma. His brain was. severely damaged, but the doctors said. his skin and body were very well taken. care of. But, then his family turned. around and said that his teeth looked. like they had been rearranged with. pliers and his arms and legs looked. distorted. Fred and Cindy were convinced.

that their son had been physically, mentally tortured by the evil North. Korean dictatorship. They said this. multiple times during media interviews. Trump also pushed this narrative. Fred. and Cindy went on Fox and Friends and. they called the North Koreans terrorists. who intentionally injured their son. They demanded that the US take action. against North Korea. Trump retweeted. this clip and said great interview. Yes, Otto was tortured beyond belief by North. Korea. Now again, regardless of your political.

affiliations, presidents of countries, especially of the United States, cannot. just say things like this and not expect. to go down. So, the US military. actually started preparing for possible. conflict because of this situation. The US government enforced banking. regulations against North Korea. forbidding US banks to do any business. with the country. Trump also named North. Korea a state sponsor of terrorism. He went to the South Korean National. Assembly and told the president of South. Korea, our common enemy has tortured. Otto Warmbier, eventually leading to.

that fine young man's death. So, it's a lot, okay? It's also kind of. putting South Korea in a very precarious. situation because out of all the. detainees, um, statistically wise, American detainees from North Korea are. eventually released. South Korean. detainees are almost never released. from North Korea. It's a lot. These are like fighting words, okay? Uh, and I'm not saying a man's life isn't. worth action from the US, but I'm just.

saying it doesn't feel like it was a. very calculated, thought-out move from. the US, foreign policy-wise. Different. political parties were blaming each. other. Some media outlets blamed Trump. for his nonchalant words that could. start a war. Other media outlets blamed. Obama for not getting involved and. having Trump clean up the mess. Both parties were using it to their. advantage. Side note, a spokesperson for the Obama. administration denied accusations that. were put on them by Otto's parents. The. accusation was the Warmbiers stated. Obama's administration told them to just. lay low, aka don't go to the press about.

it, we'll handle it. But, Obama's administration was like, we. never said that. Like, they could have. easily gone to the press if they wanted. to. We would never dissuade them from. that. Other media outlets didn't go the. political route. They just started. blaming tour groups for promoting. drinking culture in such a nation. Young. Pioneer Tours went radio silent and they. stayed out of everything that had to do. with Otto. Some media outlets got bored and they. straight-up just started blaming Otto. for going to North Korea in the first. place, saying that North Korea is on. US's do not travel list. Some people.

even brought up white male privilege, saying that Americans are way too. confident and feel that they are. untouchable in other people's countries. So, this is a lot of like non-Americans, I guess, in different countries saying. like, we've experienced this with. American tourists. Thankfully, a lot of these comments were. widely dismissed as just victim blaming. I mean, at the end of the day, this is. the death of a bright young college. student, and everyone's turning it into. a blame game. In the end, a lot of things came from.

this case. Fred and Cindy sued North. Korea for the torture and murder of. their son. They sued the entire country, okay? This technically is not allowed. Like a random citizen, it like I can't. just go and sue the country of, I don't. know, list random country here. But since North Korea was named a state. sponsor of terrorism, the lawsuit was. possible. They asked for a half a. billion dollars. North Korea ignored the. lawsuit. They stated that, "You know. what? You want proof that we didn't. murder Otto? Send his body back, and. we'll perform an autopsy." Which like, okay, imagine you're like, "Sure. I'm.

sure you'll tell us the truth. Let's do. that.". Speaking of autopsy, the Warmbiers. refused an autopsy, but a postmortem was. done. Dr. Sammarco from the US was in. charge of Otto's postmortem, and she. tried to stay quiet for a while, but she. said ethically she had to speak up. She. went to tell journalists that she didn't. believe that Otto was tortured, at least. not in the way that the Warmbier parents. were describing. She said there's no. evidence of any healing fractures or. healed fractures. "For someone who had. been bedridden for more than a year, I.

thought that his body was in excellent. condition.". So she stated, "I mean, the scar on his. foot, it could have come from anything. The teeth looked normal.". Side note, Otto's dentist came out and. said that Otto's teeth didn't look. rearranged, but they looked pushed back, which can happen from loss of gums. Mhm. Right. But it was stated by all the. experts that some sort of fool foodborne. illness would likely not have caused. this level of brain damage. So North Korea did lie. I mean, I guess.

you could say allegedly. I'm not saying it. You could say it, right? But um Dr. Sammarco said, "We're. never really going to know what happened. to Otto unless the people that were. there come out and say, 'Hey, this is. what happened.'" So there are no. definitive answers of whether or not he. was tortured. And you guys know when there's no. definitive answers, people come up with. their own theories. So, theory number. one, Otto was waterboarded and ended up. in a coma. Cuz people want to know, how. did he even end up in a coma, right? Cuz. he's healthy. Waterboarding is.

I don't want to say a common torture. tactic, but it seems to be done by many. different governments, including the US. had a history of waterboarding. Um it's. when you tie someone down on a table, place a towel over their face and pour. water into the towel until the towel is. soaking wet. You keep pouring and you're. basically drowning the person without. them being underwater. So, the point is not to kill them. It's. to make them feel drowned, but not. really drown them to the point of death. It's straight-up torture. Um ex-North. Korean prisoners said that the forms of.

torture that guards used was actually so. horrible that waterboarding was pretty. tame to them. If he was they might have waterboarded. him because they're like, "Oh, this is a. foreigner. We can't do our usual routes. of torture.". If he was waterboarded, he could have. gone long enough without oxygen and that. could have caused the loss of brain. tissue. If this was the cause, there. might have been liquids present and in. his lungs at the time of his death, but. that's not something we can find out. without an autopsy. Supporters of this theory believe that. waterboarding doesn't leave physical. scars. I mean, usually not. So, this is.

a viable torture tactic for North Korea. Some people argue this theory and say, "No, North Korea almost never physically. harms Americans, just mentally and. emotionally tortures them. So, there's. no chance he was waterboarded." They. believe that this is just some sort of. rumor. Then we head into the next theory, that. Otto tried to hurt himself, but he was. found before he was successful. So, after the sentencing, he felt. hopeless and he did something to deprive. himself of oxygen for that long, but the. guards found him and they took him to a.

hospital. This theory is bolstered by the fact. that other American prisoners have tried. to end their lives while in captivity by. the North Koreans. Then we get into a wilder theory. North. Korea used VX on Auto. This is the same. deadly chemical that was used on Kim. Jong-nam, Kim Jong-un's half-brother. Some people even take this conspiracy. even further and state that maybe they. used it on Auto to prep and study how it. would work on Kim Jong-nam a year. before. Allegedly, they want to test it first. and study the effects on how someone. would react to it and how much of a dose.

would be needed. But some people argue. they could have just used it on North. Korean prisoners. They're not really a. government above hurting their own. people and that way it wouldn't have. been such a diplomatic show. But people argue that it could have been. two birds one stone. They want to send a. strong message to the US and experiment. and see if the US can find the cause of. the death. Like how undetectable this poison is. Others argue that potentially the North. Korean people, they don't fit the. profile that was needed that was. consistent with Kim Jong-nam. Maybe.

North Korean prisoners had been. malnourished for most of their lives, potentially not in the best health and. it wouldn't be comparable to Kim. Jong-nam who probably received all the. food and health care his heart desired. Maybe Auto's health profile would have. been more similar. But I don't know if that makes sense. either because Auto was a young fit. college student and Kim Jong-nam was. neither. They like they weren't in the. same weight class or the same age group. An ex-spy that was active in North Korea. during the time said Auto pretty sure, he's pretty sure that Auto was poisoned.

He said, "I can't say 100% sure, but. around 70 to 80% sure that drugging led. to his death. They couldn't bust his head in, you. know, how would that look? So they just. took care of things by poisoning him.". So his belief was that Auto was. waterboarded because he wasn't. confessing, he was putting up a fight, he wasn't. he wasn't giving up to the regime and he. couldn't speak Korean. The spy said, "There were so many times. they would take American detainees and. get so frustrated that they don't speak. Korean and just like mentally or.

physically torture them. Cuz they're not answering in Korean. Now, he. he did say waterboarding is not proper. torture. In North Korea, um proper. torture is typically when you're. suspended from hooks on the ceiling and. beaten by multiple guards. Then you're. electrocuted. And the most popular one. is they mix chili powder, a very spicy. powder, in water and then they feed that. through your nostrils over and over and. over again. Yeah, he did say it was very strange cuz.

he was in the he was a spy in North. Korea at the time that Otto was taken. and he said everyone in the regime was. talking about how this crazy American. CIA spy was trying to overthrow the. government. But in the same breath, the. same people would turn around and say, "Ugh, that college kid is such a stupid. kid. He's like a little chicken. He's a. coward.". So, do they even believe he's a super. secret spy for the CIA? And I'm not saying Otto is a coward. I'm. just saying like, do you guys even. believe what you're saying half the time. then?

Anyway, he alleged that Otto was drugged. after his torture not to kill him, but. to put him in a state where he could. never talk about what he endured by the. regime. Then he was released back to America. The journalist asked the ex-spy, "What. kind of drugs do you think Otto is. given?" And he stated, "I can't be too. sure the exact one, but North Korea. always talk amongst themselves about how. if they detonated their stockpile of. biological weapons, the whole world. would be done with.". And then of course, there are the really.

crazy allegations that Otto was a CIA. spy. And some even go so far down the. conspiracy rabbit hole that they believe. that Otto was returned to the US, but he. wasn't comatose and he was only. pretending to be. And the news reported. on his death, but he didn't really die. because he is under CIA protection right. now. Can I just say that is such a wild. thought process? Others stated that. church members and frat members were. offering him up to $20,000 if he brought. home a poster from North Korea. Which. doesn't make sense because you can. actually buy a few propaganda posters.

while you're in North Korea. A lot of former tourists said, "I mean, it's not the same ones that they have in. North Korea, but it's like propaganda. posters.". I think they're smaller, less prominent, probably a very specific style, but like. why would you. it doesn't make sense. Why would anyone. drop $20,000? Why would a church drop. $20,000 for that? Just like how the CIA's theory doesn't. make sense, why would they want it so. badly? A Redditor commented on a post about and. it is so unhinged, and the fact that. there were some likes on there and.

people believe this theory. It reads, "Anyone thought that he might still be. alive? The theory that he was a US spy. and that all of this was staged? The. parents don't even look like him.". What? And one of the key facial. manipulation techniques is to shave. eyebrows, and we can see that Otto. shaved his eyebrows. No reason to shave. your eyebrows, only reason is if you. want to look different. Anyway, he looks. way older than a college student. I. could easily give him 30, not 20 years. old. Everything I've seen looks awkward. Even the photo of him playing with. snowballs looks like a plan to make.

everything seem super nonsense. So, I. think he's secretly living under. protective ID. Nothing that a beard and. hair dye can't fix. He was swapped as he. was spotted as a spy. No reason why. Koreans want to kill him. No valuable. information collected. And also, if he. really was killed, I just don't think. things would have ended as smoothly as. this. I have nothing to add to that. A funeral was held for Otto at his old. high school, and hundreds of people. showed up on the streets to watch his. funeral car drive by. There were more.

than 2,500 people to see him off. Now, briefly, let's talk politics. So, Donald Trump worked very closely. with the Warmbier family to help. negotiate Otto's release. Even with. Otto's passing, Donald Trump put out a. statement that was in line with the. Warmbier sentiment that Otto was. innocent. The North Korean regime is. brutal. They're killing people. This is. just another victim of North Korea. Side. note, even South Korean president spoke. out against Otto's death and even the. current first lady met with Otto's. mother.

North Korea did not stay silent. They. said about Trump, "The fact that the old. lunatic Trump and his riffraff slandered. the sacred dignity of our supreme. leadership using bogus data full of. falsehoods falsehoods and fabrications. only serves to redouble the surging. hatred of our army and people towards. the US and their will to retaliate. against us thousandfold.". They stated they were the biggest victim. in all of this. They said, "Although we have no reason. to show mercy to such a criminal of the. enemy state, we provided him with.

medical treatments and care with all. sincerity and humanitarian basis until. his return to the US.". You know what they did? North Korea sent. the United States sent Washington a $2. million bill. They said, "This is our charge for the. medical care we gave to Otto.". Um the US ignored it, okay? Just like. North Korea ignored the lawsuit. Side. note about the lawsuit, America still. went ahead with the lawsuit. There was. zero cooperation from North Korea and. the judge found North Korea guilty and.

awarded Otto's family $240,000. And you're like, "No way they're paying. No way North Korea's like, 'Oh, just. give me your bank details, right?'" The. American government gave the Warmbiers. money from offshore accounts that were. seized from North Korea. Yeah, so technically the money is from. North Korea, but it was in the. possession of the American government. and that's how the Warmbiers were able. to get the money. Then in 2018 the Winter Olympic Games. happened and Mike Pence, then vice. president, invited Fred Warmbier, Otto's. dad, to join him. And he was sitting.

next to him in the VIP box during the. opening ceremony. Less than 10 ft away. was Kim Jong-un's sister, potentially. the shadowy figure that runs everything. over there, speculated. Kim Yeah. His. 10 ft? Like 10 ft away. Yeah. What? People actually say that Kim. Yo-jong's sister is scarier than Kim. Yo-jong. She was within three steps of the father. that her regime allegedly murdered, and. Fred refused to look at her the entire. time that he was there.

Yeah. So then the Olympic Games happened, right? And Fred Warmbier is there with. the Vice President, and then not too. long after. Trump goes to North Korea, and he's. photographed shaking hands. Yeah, I. remember that. Yeah, and the two of them sign this huge. document that said the US pinky swears. not to invade North Korea if North Korea. pinky swears to give up their nukes, but. nothing really made it binding. It's. like, when you decide, you know? And. from that point on Trump had nothing but. nice things to say about Kim Yo-jong. Some say this is a political move and. that it was smart that he had to weigh.

in the American people over Otto. Warmbier's family. Other people said, "How do you How do you do that?" After. Like, how do you just like do that, you. know? I mean, that's kind of crazy. It's like spineless, right? So. regardless of what you think, Otto's. parents, they were very offended because. Trump even said this about Otto's death. He said, "Kim Yo-jong didn't know about. Otto's death.". Because after all the like narrative. against North Korea that was happening, he's suddenly shaking hands with Kim.

Yo-jong. So a lot of reporters were. like, "Okay, didn't you just say they. murdered American college student?" And. he said, "No, no, no, the dictator. didn't know." He said, "I don't believe. Kim Yo-jong would have allowed that to. happen. He tells me he didn't know about. it, and I take him at his word. I've. spoken to Kim about the death of Otto. Warmbier, and he tells me he feels very. badly about it. It would not have been. in Kim's best interest to allow Otto to. be treated so poorly.". Otto's parents were mad, much of the. American public were mad, and it didn't. matter though. I mean, the White House. was just no longer focused on North.

Korea's human rights violations. And not. too long after that, as some sort of. I guess spectacle, in May of 2018, North. Korea released three other American. detainees, and Trump stated, "We want to. thank Kim Jong-un, who was really. excellent to these three incredible. people.". And like again, political affiliation. aside, I think there just are people with. power, and everyone in between are just. collateral. Like regular civilians are just a way to.

push a narrative or not when it becomes. convenient. And I think that's why. Otto's parents were so upset by this. So, since September 2017, the US has. banned anyone from with a US passport. from entering North Korea. So, right now, the closest an American. can get to North Korea would be the. South Korean side of the DMZ line, the. demilitarized zone, which is where. Travis King, an American soldier, passed. through the border into North Korea like.

a month ago. We don't know what's happening to him, or what North Korea plans to do with. him. Otto's dad spoke out on Travis's case. and said, "We empathize with him and his. family, no matter what the. circumstances. North Korea is going to. manipulate the situation. He is now a. hostage, a political prisoner, and a. pawn for the regime.". So, like I said, there are people with power, they play. their games, and everyone in between is. just going to be collateral.

What are your thoughts on this case? I mean, I know some people are going to. say, "Well, why would you go there? Why. would you try to take the poster?" But I. think that is not the right way of. thinking, because in the end, would you. want any country in the world to do. something like that because you took a. poster? Or you put a poster on the ground. That is the real problem. But, please stay safe. What are your. thoughts? And I will see you guys on. Wednesday for the main episode. Bye.