ICC NOTE: North Korea has yet again paraded an American citizen in front of the cameras to ‘confess’ the crime he has committed. Whether or not his confession was factual to the crime he committed it is a move which has become all to common for the hermit kingdom. Even more so North Korean officials are attempting to paint the college student as acting upon the orders of an Ohio based church. According the North Korean official, a church leader requested Otto Frederick Warmbier to confiscate North Korean propaganda material in order for them to use it for purposes to thwart the DPRK government. The church has denied even knowing the student stating he and his family are not members of the church. Not only is North Korea imprisoning church leaders like pastor Hyeon-Soo Lim and previously Kenneth Bae, but they are attempting to dirty Christianity whenever they have an opportunity.
2/29/2016 North Korea (CNN) – North Korea has allowed the world to get its first glimpse of Otto Frederick Warmbier, an American student at the University of Virginia, two months after his arrest.
Warmbier is accused of trying to steal a North Korean banner, containing a political slogan that was hanging from the walls of his Pyongyang hotel.
A North Korean official with direct knowledge of Warmbier’s case says the 21-year-old held a press conference “at his own request” on Monday morning at the People’s Palace of Culture in Pyongyang.
The event provided insight into the bizarre charges the 21-year old is facing in the secretive Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), including allegations he was encouraged to commit the “hostile act” by a purported member of an Ohio church, a secretive university organization, and even the CIA.
The U.S. State Department said it was aware of media reports the U.S. citizen was detained in North Korea but declined to comment further “due to privacy considerations.”
New details of alleged ‘hostile act’
In a video supplied to CNN, North Korean guards escorted Warmbier into the room. He was not restrained, and was wearing dark trousers, a light-colored blazer, shirt and tie.
Appearing to read from a statement, Warmbier said: “I committed the crime of taking down a political slogan from the staff holding area of the Yanggakdo International Hotel.” It is not known if the student was forced by the DPRK to speak, or whether he was coerced.
“I apologize to each and every one of the millions of the Korean people and I beg that you see how I was used and manipulated,” Warmbier said. “My reward for my crime was so much smaller than the rewards that the Z Society and the Friendship United Methodist Church get from the United States Administration.”
Warmbier is also seen in the video sobbing and pleading for forgiveness, and bowing deeply to apologize.
“I never, never should have allowed myself to be lured by the United States administration to commit a crime in this country. I wish that the United States administration never manipulate people like myself in the future to commit crimes against foreign countries. I entirely beg you, the people and government of the DPRK, for your forgiveness. Please! I made the worst mistake of my life!”
