The death of Otto Wambier a few weeks ago is truly a tragedy for America, but it was preventable. The US State Dept. offers an extensive warning against travel to the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea), which as it happens is about the least democratic country on the face of the earth. That warning by the State Dept. is there because since 1996, at least 16 Americans, 1 Australian and 1 Canadian have been detained in the DPRK for “crimes” such as going short distances from their hotel without approval, taking photos of innocuous things without permission and bringing Bibles into the country in their bags. Additionally, as the DPRK still recognizes only a cease-fire, it still considers itself in a state of active war with the US, and tries any US citizen under “wartime law”. That may not be any worse actually than what they do to anyone else, but it should be enough to reinforce that it’s not a good idea to go there.
One thing many people forget while living safely within the United States, where rights are guaranteed, is how different that is from most of human history and even large swaths of the World today. Americans have no rights in the DPRK because no one has rights in the DPRK- even (and actually especially) the country’s own citizens. According to multiple reputable media sources, Kim Jong Un fed his uncle to 120 dogs that had not eaten for 3 days in front of 300 senior officials in a process that lasted for about an hour.
The US has numerous issues in dealing with the DPRK. In addition to their regular and barbarous treatment of their own citizens, they continue to use any and all available resources toward the production of arms and particularly nuclear weapons, which they have now shown can reach all of Japan and likely parts of the US. Despite nearly infinite sanctions against the country, and substantial sanctions against foreign governments providing aid to the country, they persist. But as the DPRK is still armed with nuclear weapons and crazy, the US has never attempted an armed rescue of US citizens, which would be very likely to result in the deaths of all the prisoners before they could be reached, and re-start shelling (and a possible nuclear attack) on South Korea, Japan or possibly even the US. In 2009, Bill Clinton was able to negotiate the release of two US citizens by traveling to the country personally. This only accelerated the pace of the DPRK taking US citizens. Ostensibly to repeat the media event of Bill Clinton in Pyongyang, 13 of the 16 citizens mentioned above were taken after Clinton’s visit.
So the lesson for most of us should be don’t go there. It’s a bad place- and there are bad places left in the World. Perhaps the first and second citizens could have thought it might work out okay, but the 17th should be pretty sure that it might not. And if you do go there, evidence has shown that the US government making a big deal out of getting you out leads to more people taken. Over time, that means that the likelihood of the next person to enter being taken for “crimes” is exponentially higher than the last person who left, and the likelihood of the US government being able to come get you becomes substantially lower.
Further, it side tracks what the US is able to do with regard to managing China- sometimes side-tracking half of the discussion time that could be used to discuss nuclearization of the Korean peninsula, kidnapping of Japanese fishermen and missiles fired over Japanese airspace with discussions about getting back a US citizen who thought this would be the “tourist trip of a lifetime”.
There is evil still in the World- and a lot of it is there. Our country will do what it can for you and should continue to do so, but individual judgment is still an individual responsibility, and if you choose to enter the lion’s den, don’t be surprised at the consequences.