I keep seeing the moving images of him on trial.

The boy was already broken even before being sentenced.

The stories that flow out of NK after it folds will rival WWII Germany in barbarism.

True, but that may not be for decades or even another century.

China fears a united, strong Korea. (Imagine if North and South Korea merged and the industrialized South spread north.) They like having a buffer state. They will prop up North Korea for that purpose. They really don't care what happens to average North Koreans as a result.

There is no chance for North Korea to fall until China is weak.

I'm sure there are more moving pieces than we civilians could ever imagine. But, from an uninformed emotional perspective, I hope we can neutralize this cancer soon. Would be nice to see some progress.

Maybe the Norks did apply a devastating new pharmacological device of torture. Kept the guy on a bad acid trip for weeks or months.

Who was that Roman Emporer guy who tortured for sport and entertainment? Wasn't it the guy who got in right after Caligula?

Claudius?

As an aside: if you're looking for a good historical read try "I, Claudius" and "Claudius the God" by Robert Graves

I'm not sure about that. China has been distancing themselves from NK recently. And people can not survive on propaganda alone.

And the Chinese value money over their military. If it looks like NK is going to start a war with the West, which is bad for business, then all support from China vanishes over night.

Kid didn't deserve this.......hoping those accountable are brought to justice....:mad::mad::mad:

Nor should he have. it's not the responsibility of the US gubmint (or taxpayers) to bail people out of messes they created through their own poor judgement.
Our actions have consequences and i am a big fan of personal responsibility.

Well nobody in North Korea deserves this.
But it's no secret that it happens there.

Why is it important and requires somebody to brought to justice in the case when somebody self inflicts this on himself.

Yet when it happens every day for people who never had a choice or chance and nobody bats an eyelid. Sorry , but I don't buy that.

Not simply because the kid does or does not match my own nationality.. that's just not good enough reason to get upset or mad about.

If a Belgian goes there, and get's himself in trouble...
I don't expect my governement to waste much time and resources over him.

I'de rather have em spend my tax money on people who got in trouble through no choice if their own. People with bad luck or health...

I never said in my post the government should be involved in anything.

People do things that are "self-inflicted" all the time and we do what we can to help.

We have treatment centers worldwide for folks with addiction issues, for example.

You're welcome to your opinion but this pisses me off to no end....:mad:

there are worse things to be pissed off about

I never said they weren't.....

I hope your kids never do anything stupid and need help as a result. If mine do, rest assured I will pull every possible chain to help them. If yours do, and your son or daughter are at risk of being brutalized, I'm sure you'll shrug your shoulders and go about your day. :rolleyes:

Exactly. I'm not directing this to any one person, just agreeing that the concept of personal responsibility needs to temper the expectation that the government is like a big hand in the sky that is going to pop out of a cloud to save you.

He passed away today. If it was me, I'd want the same. I saw my dad like that for the past several years. Told my wife to not let me live like that.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-student-freed-north-korea-204425775.html

Wow, that was unexpected. I'm very glad that he made it home before he passed.

That fat little lunatic that runs North Korea needs to be killed, sooner rather than later. Here's hoping that Mattis has people working on that eventuality now, so that when North Korea really becomes a threat we already have a plan in place to deal with it.

JR

Take it to parf. I seriously blame the Obama administration for this. As well as the MSM.

Just lay low. Shut up. We're doing something.

BS.

Did the kid FU? Yes. But nobody should die for what is a low level college prank. And we sat on our collective asses and let it happen. Seriously upsets me. I don't expect or want the government to save us from our own stupidity. But I do expect them to at least try to do the right thing when somebody f's with our citizens. My heart goes out to him and his family.

I feel bad for his family.....one momentary mistake and he paid with his life. However, do we risk thermo nuclear war over one dumb mistake? Not in my opinion.

No. of course not. However, if you believe that NK will eventually be able to hit us with a nuke than I think we'll be hitting them first. I just hope we already have a plan under formulation beyond what we've got on the table now.

JR