It is unclear how exactly the U. S. would force N. Korea to pay the sum considering the fact that North Korea has very few, if any, assets which the US government could seize.
District Judge Beryl A. Howell’s verdict is a symbolic victory, since there is no mechanism that could force North Korea to pay compensation.
“An American family, the Warmbiers, experienced North Korea’s brutality first-hand when North Korea seized their son to use as a pawn in that totalitarian state’s global shenanigans and face-off with the US,” Howell wrote.
Warmbier was arrested in North Korea in March 2016 during a group visit, on the suspicion of subversive acting as he allegedly stole a propaganda poster from a hotel’s wall.
