Sadly there is a 21 year old American student being held in North Korea right now. He is accused of stealing a political banner from his hotel. Sounds like a bit of a college prank and that’s assuming it’s even true. A college prank meaning it’s no big deal. However, this isn’t the US and North Korea is known to look for any reason to hold Americans for propaganda reasons. In fact during my trip to North Korea in 2009, I came just after Bill Clinton traveled to Pyongyang to free a detained journalist.

I did this Skype interview with my friend Fay Fredricks at ABC News in Phoenix, Arizona. I feel awful for this American student being held in North Korea and his family and I really hope he gets out of there soon. I still don’t buy that he actually did it but if he did then it’s a lesson to people that when you’re out of the US, you play by different rules. Don’t mess around-the North Koreans do not.

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