September 25, 2014

American man begins 6-year hard-labor sentence in North Korea.

Matthew Miller, 24, was convicted of "acts hostile" to North Korea.

According to to the state-run media, he tore up his visa "in the hope of becoming a world famous guy and the second Snowden through intentional hooliganism."

AND: They seem to be giving him what they are making a crime out of wanting.
North Korea has accused him of ripping up his visa on arrival to the country so he could go to prison and expose human rights violations there....

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Goodbye. Have fun storming the castle!"

sojerofgod said...

Another casualty in the fight for unearned fame. Like the woman with three breasts, a person willing to put their life at risk for notoriety. Oh, when will we hold the media accountable for the blood on their hands?
Perhaps when people stop watching "Dating Naked" and regain a measure of common sense and decency.
Or when the error of their ways is tattooed on their forehead by some guy in a black sheet.

Carnifex said...

I hope NK keeps the idiot. Lord knows we've got too many here already...just look at the Obama elections.

Do you think it possible we can fool all the democrats into moving to NK? After all, it's got Democrat in its name, and it's got full blown socialism! A 2-fer for the brain dead.

MD Greene said...

I don't believe he tore up his passport. I don't believe ANY official pronouncement out of North Korea. I'm also pretty sure that the young man did not receive anything resembling a fair trial.

We have no idea how many prisoners that despicable country is holding, foreign or domestic, and I grieve for every single one of them.

American Liberal Elite said...

Dennis Rodman to the rescue?

Fritz said...

"Dennis Rodman to the rescue?"

That might be a fair trade.

Clyde said...

What made this doofus think that North Korea was a vacation destination? Seriously, dude, WTF? His education is evidently deficient, since he should have learned in school what a pestilent craphole North Korea is.

tim in vermont said...

These aren't communists though.

Larry J said...

For protesters here in America, getting arrested is no big deal. That isn't true in many other parts of the world. If he wanted to expose the harsh conditions in North Korean prisons, he'll have ample time to gather evidence. Perhaps he should've watched some episodes of "Locked Up Abroad" before visiting North Korea.

phantommut said...

Somehow, I don't think it's going to be cute kinky girls with scorpions for this guy.

NK is poor, and cute kinky girls are expensive. And the cost of importing all those scorpions? Forget it.

MayBee said...

What he is going to go through is horrible, and I feel sorry for him.

ron winkleheimer said...

I concur with Crazy Jane.

I don't know why this guy voluntarily went to NK, but I find it unlikely that he tore up his passport. What would be the point of that?

And if he really wanted to defect, why wouldn't the NK government be trumpeting that. They use propaganda to convince the populace that the rest of the world is worse off than they are. An actual defector would be a propaganda coup.

According to the Washington Post he has lived in South Korea and speaks Korean, which makes this even stranger since nobody can live in South Korea and have a good opinion of NK unless they are complete idiots and ideologues.

lemondog said...

Recently watched bits and pieces of Midnight Express. Could not bear to watch the film in its entirety. Don't know how much liberty was taken with the facts but if his imprisonment is anything close to it.....I shudder.

ron winkleheimer said...

Here is a link to WP story concerning this guy that talks about what other people that have been imprisoned in NK have gone through.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/09/15/what-american-mathew-miller-sentenced-to-6-years-of-hard-labor-in-north-korea-could-face/

It's so horrific that suicide is seen as a better alternative. One victim doesn't get his hair cut because he can't stand for strangers to touch him.

David said...

Be careful what you wish for is always good advice.

traditionalguy said...

The Norks could strap him to the ICBM they are developing for sending a nuclear bomb to the USA and he could come home like Slim Pickens rode one down in Dr Strangelove.

tim in vermont said...

We raised a generation of eternal children but pretend that they can be responsible adults.

The Crack Emcee said...

Unfair sentence?

You said he gave him what he wanted,...

Drago said...

Crack: "You said he gave him what he wanted,..."

LOL

It's funny seeing all the black guys offering up a knee-jerk defense for N Korea and it's death/slave camps where they literally stomp women to death and forced abortions.

But hey, pro-abortion!

It's all good.

Cedarford said...

I think we have to mature past slogans.
Such as "Leave No Man Behind!!!".

Sometimes, we are better off with doing just that. Focus not on Bowe Bergdahl or some border-crossing "Snowden Wannabe" - they got themselves into their own mess. Not America.
They aren't worth the lives of 5 or more brave Americans who died trying to save a deserter to honor a stupid slogan. Or paying the NORKs 500 million in loan guarantees just to get an American rat back.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

phantommut said...
Somehow, I don't think it's going to be cute kinky girls with scorpions for this guy.

Ha! I rewatched that one last week, what a bad movie.

I am sorry for Miller and hope the U.S. can work out a safe way to get him out, assuming he is either just an innocent or a naive rights activist.

khesanh0802 said...

"Stupid is as stupid does"

Trashhauler said...

It takes the sacrifice of an occasional idiot to highlight the difference between the imagined oppression in this country and the real thing in so many locations overseas.

It bears saying again: There is no such thing as a citizen of the world. The world out there neither wants nor appreciates your allegiance.

jeff said...

People get used to the courage and resolution of people doing things to get noticed in the horrible and fascist Amerikka where one can bravely stand and speak truth to power, and get a bit confused when visiting a country that actually IS as they claim America is.

Dustin said...

If you are saying this man is getting what he deserves, you are either ignorant or evil.

Those prisons are absolutely horrible places.

It is basically guaranteed that any information coming from North Korea is a lie.

tim in vermont said...

"If you are saying this man is getting what he deserves, you are either ignorant or evil."

He *is* getting what he deserves, in the Darwinian sense. As of now the only thing he can do for his fellow man is serve as an example of what not to do. Hence mockery is in order.

Ann Althouse said...

"If you are saying this man is getting what he deserves, you are either ignorant or evil."

If that's directed at me, you need to read my sentence again and think about it.

Ann Althouse said...

"They seem to be giving him what they are making a crime out of wanting."

That sentence.

Ann Althouse said...

I have no idea what he actually wanted but if they think trying to get that is a crime, why would they punish that crime by in fact giving him what they made it a crime to want. It's incoherent.