I kind of liken them to the idiots who get stuck or lost climbing Mt. Hood in the middle of winter. I suppose we should send mountain rescue to get them down, but on the other hand...

If you would have done that in North Korea you would have gotten the death penalty

They also grossly underestimate how utterly humourless these regimes are. You can’t plead your case in court, charm a judge by claiming “boys will be boys”, pinky-swear you won’t do it again and get off with probation. You’ll probably just piss them off if you try

Pretty big difference between the “got shitfaced one night and wound up with a tattoo of Bea Arthur on my ass” kind of youthful indiscretion and “dicking around in a totalitarian nightmare country that people risk their lives to escape” kind.

I’m sorry, and I do hope he gets out before 15 years, but this is a solid case of play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Why the fuck would you want to visit North Korea, let alone steal from them? You’d be safer sticking your dick in a hornets nest.

When I was 21 I pissed on the local PD’s lobby door and got a drunk and disorderly for it. Not visiting the Hermit Kingdom willingly. There’s a world of difference and stupid in those two things.

Of course he doesn’t deserve it, but you are applying American justice principals to an authoritarian dictatorship. It doesn’t apply.

This story just got weirder and weirder. So, either he's foolish or he's nuts. Right?

What really sucks is that he won’t be able to get a refund on his roundtrip ticket to Somalia.

The charges against him said he was encouraged to commit the “hostile act” by a member of an Ohio church, a secretive university organization and the C.I.A.

Still, what kind of, well I don’t want to say idiot but that’s the general idea, willingly goes to North Korea? Is this someone the U.S. should spend either money or capital on freeing? Don’t we have enough Trump voters here without bringing one back from North Korea?

Setting foot in North Korea is stupid.

First thought: “well, that’ll learn ya.” Like, no, I don’t have sympathy for the entitled American bro who went to a facist, unstable country and found out he couldn’t act like a bro there. I also don’t feel bad for the kid who threw a shoe at, and then was mauled to death by the SF tiger. I hope this kid is…

gr8 job dumbass

“I made the worst mistake of my life”

...on church trips to North Korea.

Yeah when I think of my limited time on Earth the thoughts “I want to visit North Korea” has never entered my mind. I feel for the people there but NO. Hell, even Dennis Rodman has to get drunk to visit and they welcome him.

Jesus. I mean this kid was dumb as hell but he must be terrified. I wish church groups could quit with all this “convert the heathens!” bullshit and focus on doing charity without strings attached.

Kids - do stupid things in countries with which we have good diplomatic relations or right here in the USA. Probation and a fine beat 15 years digging ditches doesn't it?

Stealing anything in North Korea is ottoly stupid.