		<div class="wpcnt">
			<div class="wpa">
				<span class="wpa-about">Advertisements</span>
				<div class="u top_amp">
							<amp-ad width="300" height="265"
		 type="pubmine"
		 data-siteid="111265417"
		 data-section="2">
		</amp-ad>
				</div>
			</div>
		</div><p>North Korea&#8217;s highest court has sentenced an American tourist who allegedly attempted to steal a propaganda banner from a restricted area of his hotel to 15 years of hard labour in prison.</p>
<p>Otto Warmbier, a 21-year-old University of Virginia undergraduate student, was convicted of subversion and sentenced in a one-hour trial at the Supreme Court.</p>
<p>Mr Warmbier was arrested in early January as he tried to leave the country after visiting as a tourist with a new year tour group.</p>
<p>In a statement before his trial, he told a gathering of reporters in Pyongyang he wanted the banner &#8220;as a trophy&#8221; for the mother of a friend.</p>
<p>North Korea announced the arrest in late January, saying Mr Warmbier committed an anti-state crime with &#8220;the tacit connivance of the US government and under its manipulation&#8221;.</p>
<p>He had been staying at the Yanggakdo International Hotel, which is on an island in a river that runs through Pyongyang, the capital. It is common for sections of tourist hotels to be reserved for North Korean staff and off-limits to foreigners.</p>
<p>In his comments, Mr Warmbier said he was offered a used car worth 10,000 dollars by a member of the church for the banner. He said the church member told him the slogan would be hung on its wall as a trophy.</p>
<p>He also said he was told that if he was detained and did not return, 200,000 dollars would be paid to his mother in the form of a charitable donation.</p>
<p>Mr Warmbier, from Wyoming, Ohio, said he accepted the offer of money because his family is &#8220;suffering from very severe financial difficulties&#8221;.</p>
<p>In previous cases, people who have been detained in North Korea and made a public confession often recant those statements after their release.</p>
<p>North Korea regularly accuses Washington and Seoul of sending spies to overthrow its government to enable the US-backed South Korean government to control the Korean peninsula.</p>
<p>US tourism to North Korea is legal, but the US State Department strongly advises against it.</p>
			<div style="padding-bottom:15px;" class="wordads-tag" data-slot-type="belowpost">
				<div id="atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68cd3b0040e5f">
					<script type="text/javascript">
						window.getAdSnippetCallback = function () {
							if ( false === ( window.isWatlV1 ?? false ) ) {
								// Use Aditude scripts.
								window.tudeMappings = window.tudeMappings || [];
								window.tudeMappings.push( {
									divId: 'atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68cd3b0040e5f',
									format: 'belowpost',
								} );
							}
						}

						if ( document.readyState === 'loading' ) {
							document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', window.getAdSnippetCallback );
						} else {
							window.getAdSnippetCallback();
						}
					</script>
				</div>
			</div>
Discover more from London Glossy Post
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
