Not blaming you but in this society only white men get to be considered children until their 25. Everyone else is forced to grow up sooner.

Thank you. And for the millionth time NOT A KID. He was a grown man who decided to go to North Korea with his White American Privilege and thought that would fly. He was a fool, he did not deserve to die, but the only thing he was a victim of was his own stupidity.

Yup, that was in 93 or 94, when I was in high school.

Why don’t black young people get to use this pre-frontal love excuse. A 12 year gets shot down for playing and where people twist themselves in a pretzel to justify it.

Another thing the US can do, to help NK, is to make a commitment to the UN to treat its own prisoners better.

Wasn’t there some story years ago of an American who got sentenced to lashes for graffiti and chewing gum in Singapore and it was this big thing? Sorry. I can’t feel bad for dumb people who go to other countries and act like assholes. No one else on that trip was arrested.

Then why was he the only one on the tour who was detained?

Exactly. The State Department makes it plain that NK is a “don’t go.” It’s incredibly foolish to think otherwise.

He was a college kid studying (I believe) international relations and studying abroad in China.

Bragging rights? The same snowflakes also travel to Pakistan’s NorthWest Frontier Province or other Taliban strongholds. All the U.S. can do is warn you not to go, and tell you that you are on your own if something happens.

I know someone who has tried to visit North Korea. People tend not to really believe the horror stories when they grow up privileged in the west. People want to visit North Korea and then say they visited North Korea.

I’ll victim blame. You can be a victim and it can also be your fault. Should anywhere ever be beaten? No. Did you go to a notoriously evil country that’s politically paranoid that hates America? Yes. Is what happened unexpected? No. Americans have famously been detained in North Korea. Lisa Ling’s sister for one.

I think he was very foolish for taking the trip, even if he hadn’t been imprisoned and even if this hadn’t been the outcome. Literally the best case scenario is that you get to leave the country intact.

I’ve also been accused of victim blaming, but it’s a legitimate question. North Korea has handlers for foreign tourists that basically only allow them to see propaganda or (fairly new) items. Unless you are a journalist, scholar that has some connection to authoritarian countries or North Korea, have family from the…

An older, widowed guy from my office went a couple years ago. He had literally been everywhere else, twice and three times. He was genuinely fascinated by it. But he stayed exactly where the tour people told him to, didn’t try to hand out bibles, steal posters, etc. We were still worried sick about him— it was right…

White guy with dreads, skate boarding around the Beijing airport. On his way to NK, for fun. What a catch.

I think it’s possible to feel sad for him while at the same time acknowledging it was a bad decision. I used to do drugs for fun; I loved the adrenaline rush of it and knowing I was doing something I wasn’t supposed to. Does that excuse my stupid behavior? No.

i’ll go ahead and blame the victim here.

The response from Cuba is not shade.

What the actual fuck even IS that?!