North Korea parades tearful American student ‘thief’ before the cameras

North Korea paraded a detained American student before the media on Monday in Pyongyang, where he tearfully apologised for attempting to steal a political banner. Otto Warmbier said he had acted at the behest of a member of a church back home who wanted it as a “trophy”. The attempted theft took place in a staff-only section of the hotel where he had been staying. North Korea says the 21-year-old University of Virginia undergraduate student committed an anti-state crime with “the tacit connivance of the U.S. government and under its manipulation”.

I started to consider this as my only golden opportunity to earn money.

Otto Warmbier

According to Warmbier’s statement Monday, he wanted the banner with a political slogan on it as a trophy for the church member, who was the mother of a friend. He was offered a used car worth $10,000 if he did it, he said. He said he was also encouraged in his act by the “Z Society” at the University of Virginia, which he said he was trying to join. He had been staying at the Yanggakdo International Hotel, which is located on an island in a river that runs through Pyongyang.