The horror of North Korea touches an American family.
Let’s pause for a moment to consider some essential truths about the regime in North Korea. A little more than a year ago, the government there arrested a visiting American student named Otto Warmbier. The charge? He had allegedly tried to steal a propaganda poster. Even if he did commit this heinous offense, it’s also likely that Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un wanted a bit of additional leverage during a moment of tension with the United States, and Warmbier made a good target. North Korea has often held Americans as hostages in the past.
But this time, matters took a terrible turn. Not long after his captors forced Warmbier to make a bizarre public confession, he disappeared. The Swedish diplomats in Pyongyang who handle such matters on Washington’s behalf couldn’ t even get a hint of what was happening. Then, after long months of silence, the North Koreans suddenly announced they were sending Warmbier home — in a coma. American doctors diagnosed extensive brain trauma. And now we learn that he has died, at age 22.
Think about it: Kim’s minions realized that their captive American was brain-dead — so they decided to unload the responsibility onto his parents.
