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So am I supposed to feel bad for Otto? We all know NK is a disaster of human rights, but hey fuck it, this kids thinks he's gonna prove a point by taking down a

So am I supposed to feel bad for Otto? We all know NK is a disaster of human rights, but hey fuck it, this kids thinks he's gonna prove a point by taking down a propaganda poster? This is lazy activism. Congrats, you prover your point. Meanwhile, we now need to spend real diplomatic points figuring out how to get you free'd all while you rot in some NK hell hole. By the way, nobody, or at least almost nobody will ever remember what you did.

covercash 11y ago
The article suggests he took the poster down with the intention of selling it outside of the country.
thedz 11y ago
You are supposed to feel bad, because even if what he allegedly did is stupid, the sentencing is not in any way proportionate to the action. And that's assuming he really did what North Korea says he did. It's not the first time they've made up charges, or trumped up benign accidents into intentionally malicious acts coordinated by the US Gov.
- nv-vn 11y ago
  Someone who was allegedly there when the kid did it commented on a thread yesterday. I doubt the NK government would be posting propaganda on HackerNews of all places, but hey, you never know.
- jonah 11y ago
  There's mention of the arrest from an HN member who saw it first-hand in the thread from yesterday on photos from DPRK: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11287535 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11287535
- threatofrain 11y ago
  On a completely tangential note, I wanted to say that in a system where we expect to probabilistically catch people, a $1000 penalty for a $1000 crime cannot rationally deter people in cases where the crime is "worth" something. You have to charge people a disproportionate penalty to discourage people. On the other hand, a society with omnipresent cameras that catches people almost 100% of the time can penalize proportionally.
comex 11y ago
If he actually took down a poster; the description comes from the NK news agency. It seems more likely that he did something than that NK just decided to detain some random tourist, but there may be details missing.
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- qrendel 11y ago
  Why isn't it as likely that they want a hostage to use as leverage? Accusing him of doing something insanely idiotic would give plausible deniability of the actual purpose.
ArcticCelt 11y ago
>this kids thinks he's gonna prove a point by taking down a propaganda poster? I think its even worst. "took down a propaganda sign in Pyongyang so he could exchange it for money outside the country" According to the article he did to sell it on ebay.
- millstone 11y ago
  That's the motive ascribed to him by the DPRK, a confession they extracted while he was detained. They routinely extract false confessions of "plots to overthrow the state" and the like. So this confession is worthless. We probably can't know what he actually did, or why he did it. The incident could even be made from whole cloth.
  - andrewflnr 11y ago
    The "plot to overthrow the state" fabricated storyline would probably be activism, not petty profiteering.

covercash 11y ago

The article suggests he took the poster down with the intention of selling it outside of the country.

thedz 11y ago

You are supposed to feel bad, because even if what he allegedly did is stupid, the sentencing is not in any way proportionate to the action. And that's assuming he really did what North Korea says he did. It's not the first time they've made up charges, or trumped up benign accidents into intentionally malicious acts coordinated by the US Gov.

nv-vn 11y ago
Someone who was allegedly there when the kid did it commented on a thread yesterday. I doubt the NK government would be posting propaganda on HackerNews of all places, but hey, you never know.
jonah 11y ago
There's mention of the arrest from an HN member who saw it first-hand in the thread from yesterday on photos from DPRK: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11287535 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11287535
threatofrain 11y ago
On a completely tangential note, I wanted to say that in a system where we expect to probabilistically catch people, a $1000 penalty for a $1000 crime cannot rationally deter people in cases where the crime is "worth" something. You have to charge people a disproportionate penalty to discourage people. On the other hand, a society with omnipresent cameras that catches people almost 100% of the time can penalize proportionally.

comex 11y ago

If he actually took down a poster; the description comes from the NK news agency. It seems more likely that he did something than that NK just decided to detain some random tourist, but there may be details missing.

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qrendel 11y ago
Why isn't it as likely that they want a hostage to use as leverage? Accusing him of doing something insanely idiotic would give plausible deniability of the actual purpose.

ArcticCelt 11y ago

>this kids thinks he's gonna prove a point by taking down a propaganda poster? I think its even worst. "took down a propaganda sign in Pyongyang so he could exchange it for money outside the country" According to the article he did to sell it on ebay.

millstone 11y ago
That's the motive ascribed to him by the DPRK, a confession they extracted while he was detained. They routinely extract false confessions of "plots to overthrow the state" and the like. So this confession is worthless. We probably can't know what he actually did, or why he did it. The incident could even be made from whole cloth.
- andrewflnr 11y ago
  The "plot to overthrow the state" fabricated storyline would probably be activism, not petty profiteering.