As a South Korean, I can't wrap my head around why people would want to travel there. You obviously know that everything is controlled and dangerous.

I'll never understand why people would want to vacation in North Korea. This is just sad😔.

Update: Travis King is back in the USA facing charges for his actions. He has been dishonorably discharged from the military.

I find stories like this scarier than ghost stories...

Moral of the story: take the advice on travel advisories. The advisories are posted to protect you, but also to let you know that you're on your own if you get in trouble. Don't expect countries to go to war to save you.

I remember watching a North Korean defector once talk about the moment they landed in the USA. All the flight staff and the people that came to meet him off the aircraft couldn't stop welcoming him and telling him how glad they were to see him. He thought, 'these are my life long sworn enemies?!?!'

I highly doubt he even tried to take that poster in the first place they were just looking for something to frame him as a political pawn. Hearing him read that obviously written for him speech sounding so dejected and defeated is just awful. Like do North Korea really think that speech was believable? It’s laughably ridiculous

I lived in China for 8 years and have stood on the border of NK. What a difference just over the border, even though NK tries to keep people from seeing the poverty in the country by trying to keep the borders clean. One thing I learned living in China and traveling all over Asia is to abide by the laws of the land or suffer the consequences. I’m not saying the consequences are just but you must realize that you aren’t in the USA anymore

It brings chills down my spine every time I think about the restrictions this place has put on its people. If you aren’t rich in North Korea, you are basically left to die.

Seeing the footage of Otto begging for forgiveness just breaks my heart, I can't imagine what he must have felt in those moments.

It obviously wasn’t him and NK chose a random person to use as a scapegoat for their political agenda. Those on the trip say he wasn’t even there in the hotel at the time. The video doesn’t even look like him, plus the movements of the person look so unnatural, definitely was a NK government worker. Plus with cameras everywhere in that country, they definitely had footage of him else where when this happened but probably destroyed that footage. I bet every inch of that hotel was monitored and they could have followed Otto around, but we never saw that. This whole case is sickening. RIP Otto. We know he didn’t do this.

They didn't want Otto alive to tell his story. Even if they know that we know, N Korea would rather him dead.

I just love the way Stephanie tells peoples stories in such a respectful and intense way 😭😭😭😭

It’s terrifying that they specialize in forms of torture that don’t leave physical marks.

I remember when this happened, ALL I heard about this case was blaming the victim. I didn't even know that the evidence of him vandalizing stuff in NK couldn't even clearly identify him. There was so much I learned in this video that I didn't know based on media reporting at the time.

ADDED CONTEXT: This video sadly didn’t talk about the North Korean prisons nor their system of “three generations of punishment”. The prisons are actual concentration camps called “Kwan-li so” and at the very least half a million people are detained there. In the camps, there are two “zones”, made for two kinds of prisoners. The first is the “partial control zone”, where the prisoners are interned for a kind of limited period of time (always multiple years) and they follow the same model of the Chinese laogai of “reeducation through labor”, which means tons of propaganda and brutal, backbreaking forced labor. Then once they end their imprisonment, they are freed and can try to live the shitty life that awaits all North Koreans. But then there is the “total control zone”. Now, many don’t know that North Korea has what it calls “three generations of punishment”. This is a legal notion that mandates that the next two generations HAVE TO BE PUNISHED together with the person that committed the political crime. This means that if let’s say your uncle is arrested for political crimes, it’s not just him which will go to the prison camp for life, but ALL FAMILY MEMBERS for THREE GENERATIONS, in order to (ostensibly) “root out the criminal gene”. Your uncle, your aunt, your cousins, your father, your mother, you, your siblings, your cousin’s siblings, and even your kids, and that usually will be FOR LIFE. If someone who’s young is arrested directly and doesn’t have kids, that person will (if they work hard enough) be paired with a prisoner of the opposite sex by the guards EXACTLY as you would pair two farm animals, without having any choice in the matter, and put together in the same hut with the expectancy that you two will have sex and a pregnancy will result. After the woman gets pregnant, the couple will be separated, and the baby will be raised as a prisoner from day one. He will never know that a world exist outside the prison camp. He will not know what words like “family”, “nation”, “sea”, “sport”, or “love” mean, and will live his entire life as a prisoner, without even the concept of living as a prisoner in a prison camp, thinking that the entire world is built like that concentration camp and that all of reality is exactly like that living hell… and if he gets paired with another prisoner to have kids, those kids will live the same exact life, and only their kids will be sent to an orphanage and finally be able to know what “freedom” is. All of this is, in my opinion, the worst, most inhumane action that any nation does nowadays, without any equal for brutality. It’s total savagery, a complete mockery of the very concept of humanity, and for this sole reason North Korea deserves to see her end really, really fast.

This is heartbreaking! At the time I recall many cruel comments online about this. The reality is, no matter what he supposedly did, he did not deserve what happened to him. We all make mistakes but we don't all pay for them with torture and death. My heart goes out to his family. Otto must have been terrified. RIP young man. Thank you for telling the story with compassion.

People are like "well why would you take a poster" while it COULD NOT BE MORE OBVIOUS that he did no such fucking thing lmao. He was asleep in his bed the entire time. The only crime he committed was being without witnesses to speak up for him for two hours. Like, it wouldn't even shock me if he was served a drink with something in it -- not enough to really injure him, just enough to make him feel shitty enough that he'd go to bed while everyone else went out.

why. just why. why would u ever punish yourself like this. going to north korea as itself is just outrageous

It’s a huge warning to people who travel abroad. Other countries have different laws, cultures, beliefs, idealism then the US. Don’t go to hostile countries. I was heartbroken for Otto and his family. It’s disgusting what happened to him.

Back when this was all over the news, it was said that the subject in the cctv footage wasn’t even Otto. Either way, I cannot for the life of me understand why ANYONE would willingly go to North Korea 😔ESPECIALLY if you’re an American!

i will never forget Otto… his story has stayed with me forever. hope he’s resting in peace 🕊️

When he was released and shortly passed away my heart was burdened. I prayed for Otto for months when I heard of what happened. I hope he is resting now in paradise. 💔

I love how stephanie creates an emotional connection for the listeners like it's not that she's telling a story bit she's going in depth and creating a whole scene

For a restricted floor that doesn’t even exist, surely it would be locked and have restricted access. My guy was able to just get in that easy? That’s sus asf.

The DMZ feels so strange, you know you are at a place that represents a terrible war but everything is so catered to tourists it's like you go there for fun...

Thank you for covering this in depth because I ignorantly thought it was like a situation where he went to a really strict country and did stupid shit…I don’t think he did.

people who vacation in the DPRK are not only risking their own future, but also directly supporting a deadly regime and ruthless dictator.

As a nurse who has taken care of people in a vegetative state, teeth do rearrange themselves when not in use (talking, chewing, etc) and limbs do get contractures when not in use for long periods- appearing deformed.

I am so disgusted by ALL current and recent world leaders.

Them telling the rest of the tour group “Otto is sick and been taken to hospital” immediately after they had him detained. And later telling the guide the same thing, well similar to same. Why not say Otto is being detained and won’t be making the flight. Then tell the guide the same. It’s just so odd to say he’s sick being taken to hospital. And to say headache when he would later have brain damage…. But later he is seen at “court” begging for “forgiveness” so we know he wasn’t brain dead yet. What were they doing to him???? My god. So scary

the fact they probably knew he was jewish and they announced his last meal was pork.

We'll never know what truly happened. However it was obviously something really traumatic. A young and healthy 22 year old doesn't just fall into a coma for a year and then die within a week of getting home. Something sinister took place no doubt.

This is one of the most disturbing story I have ever heard for some reason. That boy was tortured beyond imagination.

If level 5 is so restricted, why is it so easy for random people to get access?

Steph made a great point. North Korea is notorious for having CCTV everywhere and yet they only had this footage of "Otto"? I bet there was CCTV footage of Otto's room available, but because he was sleeping all night and never left his room, they destroyed that footage.

Wait! Otto's parents refused an autopsy on Otto's body? That's crazy! if you ask me. How could you NOT want to know what exactly killed your son? Yet, they go sue North Korea for half a billion dollars? You'd think they'd want to know every detail possible of what was done to their son during his horrific detention in that country. That just doesn't sound right to me.

Hello travelers! I am a traveler, as well! Please do me a favor-when and if you travel to a country with a dictator-please evaluate how much you love your life! I was going to travel to Russia…and guess what? I canceled that plan! Do you know why? Watch the news. My bf is from Lebanon and I was supposed to go meet his family last year. He canceled our plans. You know why? Well it borders a couple of countries that are kinda sorta in the news right now. North Korea has been in the news for a long time too. Just because Dennis Rodman can go…does not mean you can go! Please use common sense.

Why anyone would even go near NK is beyond me.

I think it’s so risky for people to visit a country that has closed its doors to the world knowing that at anytime anything can happen.

Please please please. If you go to foreign countries, study up on the laws. Especially if you are going to somewhere that is a dictator state. Not on the same scale, but look at the young woman who just got arrested in Dubai for arguing 😢

I read a different account of Otto’s return. That when his parents met him on the plane, he was keening like a tortured animal and couldn’t stop. I sure hope somebody pulled that story out of thin air.

Just binging your videos while completing a puzzle. It’s a true mood

I am Mexican. I remember an American girl being asked what her plans were for spring break and she said she was going to Mexico, that a little stupid cartel wasn't going to ruin her vacation. I was appalled to say the least by her answer. All the while in my state people were turning up mutilated, a friend of mine wa shot in the head in Acapulco, I love my country but it's very unsafe.

I think people severely underestimate just how controlled n. korea is, and just how brainwashed the typical citizen is. I've watched a lot of interviews from defectors and it's truly a dystopian nightmare in many ways.

R.I.P Otto. You deserved better.

No matter what anyone did, they don’t deserve to be fucking tortured like that. Literally he had nobody in that cell. They could’ve done unspeakable things to him. Things that will never come to light. Imagine all the regret he must’ve felt. Wishing he could go back and undo everything. He was only 22 and he didn’t deserve this. His family didn’t deserve this.

The more I learnt of this case, the more I'm convinced he couldn't withstand the mental torture and tried to end it all. The officers found him still alive but very badly injured and couldn't do anything to bring him back. Awful. Whether he took the poster or not he didn't deserve to suffer any of this.

This entire tragedy about Otto Warmbier was a very heart-wrenching one. I followed this story when it was current. One, because of how sad it all was, and two, because Otto reminded me of my own son, who is now 39. Otto would now be about 29. I am not ashamed to say that due to those things I stated above, as to why this was so heart-wrenching for me, that I was moved to real, heart felt emotions and tears for this young man. Such a promising life, Otto's-a true prospect for the future, yet lost to the brutalities brought on by senseless aggressions, between leaders of governments around the world, prompting such deep hatred toward one another and the different people on planet earth. It makes no sense. It saddens me to no end. 😔

Just a side note. Waterboarding has been a widely adopted practice since the Spanish and Italian Inquisitions (late 1400s/early 1500s). The only reason people think it is a more recently developed technique is because the term "waterboarding" wasn't coined until the late 1970s. It has gone by many names, Tormenta de Toca, the water cure, water torture, but the method remains the same.

I remember watching this unfold in real time. What struck me as crazy was reading the comments and how many people actually believed the whole Methodist Church and CIA excuse. And Honestly the whole televised apology that was shown to the world felt more like a humiliation tactic than anything else.

This woman is probably the best story teller I've ever seen.

I thoroughly enjoy how well you tell the stories of these victims, as well as the opposition. You make sure to not step on any toes, and remain respectful. You're awesome!!

Geeze why would anyone want to go to North Korea why ? There is so many beautiful places without all this terror.

At Ottos "confession" it looked very forced and the fact the poor guy is brain dead so he cant eveb talk about his experience even if he could imagine how hard that would be all my prayers go to him and his family.

A mother in North Korea was sentenced to death because during a house fire she chooses to save her son and let the picture of their leader (every house MUST have one) burn, this is a true story.

Totalitarian Logic: The enemy is both a cunning, dangerous and highly capable adversary as well as a completely inept idiot who cannot even tie their shoes.

I dont think he touched the poster. There i said it. I can't imagine the pain of ottos family.

It's so damn sad. I can't even imagine how his family and friends must be feeling. I can only imagine the amount of hopelessness, sadness, and anger they must have felt, and are still feeling. I hope everyone involved will eventually be able to find peace.

Love to that tour guide who didn't want to leave Otto behind and stayed in North Korea ALONE to try and get information

my uncle actually visited North Korea, he's a photographer and is the assistant to a pretty well known german photographer, Andreas Gursky. They went to North Korea together for a new project and they went to take photos of this huge festival in North Korea. My uncle told me during their whole stay, they were accompanied by a "guide" and they could never go anywhere without that guide. As soon as they stepped out of their hotel room, the guide was there and asking them where they are going. They always told them what they were allowed to take photos of and what not. But the government was pretty happy with their work and they even got some medal for their "services" to north korea, basically for putting north korea in a "positive light" creating "good press", basically aiding them in their propaganda. The project wasn't really about picturing any side of north korea it was about the huge masses of people gathering at this festival, Gursky always takes photos of large spaces. I don't know how else to describe it, but he takes pictures with lots of stuff in it XD. Landfills, huge apartment buildings, grocery store aisles in the US, factory workers etc. But I honestly think if there is a warning by your government and your government tells you not to travel to that location, if you go, everything that happens to you is on you. At that point you're asking to get killed. There was a case in my country of a couple taking a VW trip to India and on their way back the passed a place in Pakistan, that our government had multiple warnings about because of the occupation by Taliban, and they were captured by Taliban of course and held captive for 8 months. The operations done by our country to save them costed millions of taxpayer money and when they were freed they wrote a book, made a movie and are still doing interviews about it. Some newspaper called them the "dumbest hostages ever". And I agree. It's been 13 years since they have been released and they still get attention from the media. They are two insanely privileged people, from wealthy families, from one of the wealthiest countries in the world.

Fifth floor is the listening and spying floor for the hotel. This is because ALL rooms are wired for spying!

This story has haunted me for years. Every time I thought of how broken and crying he was, I myself would break down in tears. I have a son and if this happened to him, I would want the guilty parties to suffer for years before death. It’s too upsetting to even watch this entire video.😢

Ive always been very conflicted about this whole situation. On one hand, he knew where he was traveling & the possible consequences if he stepped out of line being in NK. But the treatment & punishment he was given is obviously way too much, especially since he essentially came back dead.

The Travis king situation was so crazy to me. SPECIALLY As an American soldier based in Korea and went to the DMZ and made a joke to the guard on the bus about crossing just months before that happened.

I found your channel because of Spotify and I've been hooked ever since. I've already watch/listened to a few of your podcasts already and I love the way you tell the stories. Thank you!!❤

I watched the entire video and after learning the details I believe Otto was being tortured from the beginning, severely enough for him to fear for his life and confess under duress and begging for people to save his life. Help didn't come soon enough for him and he died and North Korean government wouldn't let people see him because of the condition he was in. He was brain dead from early on

If your not used to seeing people who have spent a long time in an immobile state, like a coma, their condition could seem bizarre. Arms and legs can become strangely bent, eyes can rot, faces can look a little distorted...I've even seen fingers black and rotting and exposed back bones from bed sores. This is with care and it happens gradually with time. So if you haven't slowly gotten used to the changes it can be very jarring. I havent seen this in a long, long time though. It was more common when I first became a nurse years ago. Still this is a very sad story.

All I can say is that the whole thing seems so silly - A free American university student ignored the Travel Advice to visit NK as a tourist! He then tried to trespass into a forbidden area in NK just because he's curious! He then went on TV and cried for forgiveness from NK! In the end after 1.5 years of so much damages on personal and international political level, his father said he was so proud of his son !!

I just wanted to say I have not seen such a detailed video about this case. You have also been very respectful. Good job girl.

Hearing him speak, and say things that very obviously he doesn’t believe, things that aren’t true, that he is forced to say is so heartbreaking, the chance he didn’t even go into the restricted area at all… Feel so bad for this poor man

Even with an autopsy they couldn't prove water boarding. The water wouldn't still be in his lungs a year later and even if there was fluid it would be difficult to say this fluid is from water boarding verses fluid build up from being on a vent for over a year. Also there are lots of ways to kill someone without a mark when they've had a year to heal. Cutting off circulation to the neck is easily done without breaking bones. It's nearly impossible to figure out a cause of death without blood results and toxicology from the time of the incident.

SO MUCH PRAYERS & LOVE TO THAT YOUNG MAN & FAMILY!!!

I was in Costa Rica and took a tour going to the Amazon by boat a large river. We where told numerous times DO NOT PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE WATER. because is full of alligators. With in a 5 to 10 minutes I asked how about those small individuals little I don't even know what to call them but look not very safe and I can see their hands continually in the water. I asked about this. They said those people are Americans. So I said what?????? Americans think they can do anything they want I asked how they get the boat he said they offered good money to the locals to rent those small boats my question was has anyone got in trouble with the alligators he said all the time many many deaths many lost because the alligators takes the body under water and eat the person in minutes 10 to 20 of them just tearing the person apart😮. Crazy that you would go out of the USA and be so arrogant to think you have the freedom we have here in the states. This poor man got in a situation horrible situation because of that type of mentality. Not an excuse to do what this country did to him not at all. I would never visit this N Korea but definitely never would even think about breaking any law

I thought I knew everything about this case but I continue to be blown away by your story-telling and the hard work of all of the researchers that help construct the story and case. Thank you for allowing us to have a deep insight into Otto’s case.

One of the most haunting details of this story is that his mother reportedly heard animal like sounds when he was coming off the plane and it then to discover it was her son. It’s just unthinkable what his family must have felt to see their beautiful child so broken before his death like that. It would almost have been better if they never got to welcome him home and he’d just died before meeting them.

I am absolutely disgusted by North Korea. Their torture method to their own people or foreign people is absolutely disgusting and scary. Not leaving any physical marks and you are left to think about the torture methods they did to Otto and everyone else that has been detained by North Korea. And I feel like no matter how rich or powerful you are. It's hard to deal with North Korea. I feel really bad for Otto's family and Otto. I hope no one else chooses to travel in North Korea. It might seem like an adventure or cool thing to say to your friends that you travelled to North Korea and left there alive. But people have to realise how dangerous each choice they make is.

This was a real mess! Stephanie did a wonderful job of explaining it. We will never know the truth…

My brother did one of these tours. So crazy. You couldn’t pay me a billion dollars to go there. Poor Otto; this is so terrible.

I never considered whether or not he actually took the poster prior to this. (it’s such a ridiculous ‘crime,’ on the surface that you don’t think to probe deeper) but you’re so right. There would likely be more/clearer footage, and IF they had better footage, surely they would air it, to strengthen their accusations?

I’d never consider going to a country I was warned not to go to. I’m so sorry for Otto and God bless his family. I pray they find a peace that surpasses all understanding! They will be in my prayers!

They only let him go because he was terminally brain dead and would not recover. Why continue to pay for that? Also, we should not be victim blaming here. He was human, made a very grave mistake, and suffered the ultimate price. He and his family suffered enough and shouldn't have to see others blaming his son for going in the first place. Obviously it wasn't a smart choice but it was his choice and we are far beyond that now.

Sometimes you have to say things you don’t believe to get other Americans back home, but that still doesn’t make any of it right. Freedom For All

My heart goes out to the family of Otto and the American soldier. In the end, the games our countries play ultimately fail the common person.

This case breaks my heart. Here the patents thought they were getting their son back. But instead he was brain dead and on life support. Then his parents had to make the decision to cut him off. They tortured his parents too.

If you give a mouse a cookie he’ll ask for a glass of milk to go with it. When you give the mouse the glass of milk he’ll probably ask you for help to overthrow the regime.

I thought the same as you. I could not Believe We, the States, stood by for such harsh punishment of one of her citizens let alone others

I feel like if Otto actually took down the poster, he would've panicked when the airport officer approached him. He wouldn't have laughed at his friend's joke. And if he had panicked even a little, his friend would've definitely shared that detail. But all he shared is that he laughed at his jokes meaning that he didn't suspect anything.

Another possibility for his coma is that they use brain altering drugs in their "interrogations" and he reacted horribly to them. This would fit with their mental torture tactics and wouldn't leave visible physical marks. His bad reaction to the drugs could have put him in a coma and then they tried to take really good care of him to bring him back and after a year realized they had really screwed up and needed to come up with a lame excuse to what they did.

everyone in the comments who are blaming otto is making me sick. it’s always about what the victim did or didn’t do or what they’ve could of done, and that is not the point. Yes, going to NK is not a good idea. We’re done with that conversation. I have no idea whether or not he was guilty, but what happened to him under the guise of so little evidence, and a forced confession was totally unacceptable. Can we please just stop talking about the fact that going is a bad idea and please just focus on the human rights trash pit that is NK. It doesn’t matter at this point why he did it, you’re all focusing on the wrong part of the story. The kid is dead, and whether u think he did something wrong or not, he sure as hell did not deserve to die for taking a poster OR going to NK. North Korea needs to change and that’s not going to happen under the guise of victim blaming, although i’m not saying there’s much we can do. With all that said no, don’t go to north korea, it’s not worth it, but don’t make these terrible cases revolve around a debatable mistake besides, hundreds of people, including us citizens, would travel to north korea and be fine each year, he probably had no reason to suspect that he wouldn’t come back unscathed

My heart hurts for Otto and his family. What a horrific thing to happen during what was supposed to be a means to learn. However…. Given even a cursory amount of information on N. Korea, idk why anyone would willingly go there.

This story is so hard for me. He came back so broken, he went through hell, her was tortured..... This case destroyed me when he came back, what his family went through. Thank you for doing this story with such care. ❤

As an American citizen who is pretty much American throughout my life. I didn’t need to know about this country because once I found out about it a few years ago. It has mentally scard me & every once in a while I’ll get an unwanted thought of this garbage Country called North Korea. Who despises both Americans enough that they would put war propaganda. & say everyone who’s against the Regime is the enemy is just so wrong & so stupid. How have there not been any bounties on any of Dictatorship. Regardless of if Otto was captured or not. This should’ve been taken out in the 90’s. It makes me legitimately furious that this garbage Dictatorship is still a thing. Here’s to hoping in a few years the regime collapses.

Basically, a prank. He tried to show off the other schools mascot, and that cost him his life.

I've heard about this. North Korea has become the most secluded and impossible to flee from in the last 2-3 years. The number of people able to flee in those years has dropped to two digits. I think 2021 it's been about 70 recorded cases.

Listening again to Otto's confession, something dawns on me -- how can someone understand the severity of a crime without also having an idea of the penalties associated with it? R.I.P.

people who said "Its just a poster"....they simply dont get it

this one had me in tears for a whole hour i dont understand how anyone could do such things 😥

CUBA MENTIONED!!!! please START TALKING ABOUT CUBA! CUBA IS DYING AND IS BEING OPRESSSED!!! WE ARE DYONG, PIR CHILDREN ARE STARVING!! our electricity is taken away every few hours, we have to walk/drive HOURS to find ONE bottle of water. I'm risking my family's life writing this. So please!! start talking about cuba. we need help.

Tbf, I went to a National War Museum in Seoul and it was similiar insofar that it portrayed North Korea one-sidedly as the aggressors in the Korean War and the US as heroes. It's hard to get an unbiased account. That's kind of how national history is. Though, there was a really heartbreaking statue outside of the museum which depicted a South Korean and North Korean soldier hugging. It was supposed to represent how the war had separated families and torn the country apart. That was heartbreaking.