Visiting North Korea?

americans in comas

🎵i know, i know, it's really serious🎵

interesting writing post-warmbier:

"dangerous exploits: otto warmbier and the risks of travel to north korea," craig s. smith: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/22/insider/dangerous-exploits-otto-warmbier-and-the-risks-of-travel-to-north-korea.html

chinese state media on warmbier/trump's nk policy: China has made the utmost efforts to help break the stalemate in the North Korean nuclear issue. But by no means will China, nor will Chinese society permit it to, act as a "US ally" in pressuring North Korea. If Washington decides to impose third-party sanctions on several Chinese enterprises, it will lead to grave friction between China and the US over the Korean Peninsula issue. http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1052689.shtml

http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21723779-travel-ban-american-citizens-north-korea-may-be-offing-outrageous-death-otto

from piie: https://piie.com/blogs/north-korea-witness-transformation/people-people-engagement-north-korea - a study of the surprising amount of people-to-people engagement in north korea / https://piie.com/blogs/north-korea-witness-transformation/warmbier-and-rodman stephan haggard on travel ban/rodman diplomacy / https://piie.com/blogs/north-korea-witness-transformation/challenges-engagement I am sympathetic with Moon Jae-in’s effort to recalibrate North-South relations. But I am also glad to see that he is standing on principle and that hastily conceived efforts such as summit celebrations in Pyongyang (link is external) were canceled rather than rushed. / https://piie.com/blogs/north-korea-witness-transformation/more-us-sanctions-how-far-should-we-go

more on sanctions, us-dprk relations: http://sinonk.com/2017/06/19/a-roundtable-review-of-van-jacksons-rival-reputations-coercion-and-credibility-in-u-s-north-korea-relations/ For Jackson, the persistent militarized rivalry that causes recurrent but contained crises on the peninsula is produced and reproduced by the choices of US officials. By backing down in successive crises, the United States invites future provocations by signaling that it is unwilling to fight a general war over small skirmishes or continued advancement of the DPRK nuclear and missile programs. At the same time, these decisions have enhanced the credibility of US threats when they are issued, which deters broader conflict. As reputation is often deployed to argue that the United States is weak, it is a refreshingly nuanced diagnosis.

nate thayer on phoenix air, contractor that flew to pick up warmbier: http://www.nate-thayer.com/did-north-korea-poison-u-s-prisoner-otto-warmbier-with-botulism/

https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/stories/otto-warmbiers-release-reminder-brutality-north-korean-labor-camps/ Start with China. One of the major barriers to intervention in North Korea is China’s protection of the country. Pray God would raise up leaders in China willing to take a stand for religious freedom and human rights. Pray China would open its borders to North Korean refugees rather than sending them back.

Family declined an autopsy,

http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/238505/otto-warmbiers-jewish-faith-was-kept-under-wraps-during-north-korea-detainment-scroll

Bergman, a Warmbier family spokesman, appears to have advised the family to keep his Jewish identity under wraps because it would undercut North Korea’s alibi, which involved a church, for sentencing Warmbier to 15 years of hard labor for attempting to steal a propaganda poster, the video evidence of which is grainy.