In North Korea an American citizen
has recently been sentenced to hard labor for six years. This American is Mathew
Miller who has been held captive for months. The crime which Miller is being
punished for is unclear, but the North Koreans claim he committed “hostile acts”.
When he arrived in North Korea as a tourist he ripped up his tourist visa
according to previous North Korean news. Miller was with Uri Tours and they
said they did not understand why he would do that. Miller only received a five
minute interview that was clearly monitored by the North Korean government. He
pleaded to the American government to help saying it was his last chance.
Miller’s family and friends were advised not to talk to reporters, leaving us
with little information about this event. There are also two other American men
who are imprisoned in North Korea because of their petty crimes.
This
article was written by Holly Yan from CNN on September 14, 2014. This article
was clearly not opinionated nor did it side with a victim or government. This
was a smart choice as a writer because even though we have the freedom of
speech and press other countries do not, which could start disputes among countries.
This is a hard situation to be in as a leader of the US because you want to
help your citizens in imprisonment but you also don’t want to start a quarrel
with a dangerous country like North Korea and put your other citizens (at home)
in more harm. I hope that these men can be released and sent back home for
their punishment for whatever crimes they committed, instead of being punished
in an unfair manner in a foreign country.
I agree with your perspective on how tough it is for the U.S. to handle this situation in the most efficient way. Regardless of what the U.S. does, it appears that conflict will stir. Although, it does seem more logical to not anger the country that holds such a threat. I wish there was specificity on what the other two imprisoned men did because it would make personally "choosing a side" an easier decision.
ReplyDeleteWell, i know it is a tough decision but in the US we don't really have a strong relationship with North Korea that we need to try to hold together. So i think we should do whatever we can to help this American citizen.
ReplyDelete-Veronica Nichols 2nd Period