North Korea has released the surveillance video it says shows an American university student stealing a propaganda banner bearing the name of Kim Jong-il—the state’s former leader—from the wall of his hotel. Otto Warmbier, 21, was sentenced on March 15 to 15 years of hard labor in a prison camp for the alleged crime.
The video shows Warmbier, an undergraduate student from the University of Virginia, in a cramped area of the Yanggakdo International Hotel in Pyongyang, walking towards the wall before removing the rectangular poster.
The banner reads (translation): “Let’s arm ourselves strongly with Kim Jong-il patriotism!”
Warmbier said he accepted the money offer because his family is 'suffering from very severe financial difficulties.'
