There is nothing more tragic than what happened to 22 year young college student Otto Warmbier who had a beautiful future ahead of him. He has died of a brain injury where the oxygen was cut off to his brain and the brains cells began to degenerate leaving him essentially a vegetable.North Koreans said he was in a coma for a year because of botulism ( the same thing botox is made of) and that he took s sleeping pill. Doctors in the US who examined his comatose body thoroughly and said there was no trace of botulism but that his air supply was cut off causing the brain damage.
The propaganda by the North Koreans was that he stole a banner. They gave some cockamaimie reason that Warmboer did it for the church and on a $200 bet. This is ridiculous according to his father Fred Warmbier in that he wasn’t a member of the church and certainly did not need $200 to win a bet. That sounds like something a naive Korean propagandist would make up.
As we learn more and more about Otto we see he was a super bright young man who never even had a fight. he was not a trouble maker.
After again reviewing the tapes of his allegedly stealing a banner, in light of what we know of Otto, I have doubts that he did so. It seems very mechanical and staged. It is my view that perhaps he was made to do this by the North Koreans, who then filmed him. I believe he was singled out because of his height. he was the only one in the group who could easily reach the banner and take it down.
Look at the photo of him with some of his fellow students who were on the trip with him in North Korea. Observe his height and his presence.
Now look what Warmbier does with the banner. he places it down on the ground. To me that seems odd. If he was planning to steal it he would not have put it on the ground in a mechanical methodical way. Instead he would have folded it under his arm and quickly walked away. But that is not what happened
From what we know, he was a very intelligent young man and has never been in trouble or even had a fight according to his father. Usually when people steal banners or commit acts of vandalism they don’t do it quietly. They do it in the presence of others as a form of showing off. His walk is too mechanical for this to be anything other than a staged attempt in my view by the North Koreans to show he did something wrong.
His apology was a performance as his father admitted in his presser. But nevertheless he was in sheer terror as he did what he was supposed to do- apologize for his act which no doubt the North Koreans staged. His praying above was real and his face shows he is in terror. As he looks up to pray to God he says ” Save this poor innocent scapegoat.” He is in essence telling us that he was used as a scapegoat by the Koreans to show how bad the Americans are and to detain him and punish him as a symbol of punishing the US.
Look at his face. he is in anguish. He knows exactly what will happen and he is devastated.
He bows down not only as a symbol of “apology” to the North Koreans that he was forced to make, but also in resignation of his fate.
He did what the North Koreans told him to do and made a public apology which he read and which the North Koreans, no doubt wrote for him to say. In this photo you can see the script that he was no doubt forced to read. His father said that he was proud of his son’s performance as that is exactly what it was. Look at Warmbier in this photo. He is alert and his skin tone is flush and his eyes are open and bright.
As he apologies he is in tears as he is forced to say what never happened and apologizing for something he was told to do by the North Koreans. Look at his right wrist , To me it looks bruised as though he was placed into tight handcuffs.
As he stands up and realizes he will be going into a hard labor camp, the realization hits him hard and he is in mental and emotional agony.
As soon as Warmbier is taken out of the courtroom his skin tone has changed. He is more pale. he is subdued as though he may have been given a shot or a pill to calm him down as he is dragged by these two North Korean enforcers and Warmbier can barely stand on his feet. He can barely walk.
His devastated parents were told nothing and were not allowed to have any contact with him. the Obama administration told them to lay low and they did NOTHING to inform the parents as to what was going on or to help get their son released. The father n essence said that he holds Obama and his administration responsible for not doing anything to help their son. They were only told a week ago that their son had been in a coma for a year. This in my view is unconscionable and cruel and inhumane. But that is exactly what Kim Jung Un wanted to do. he wanted to show how cruel he could be on the world stage and he succeeded. It was only through the efforts of the Trump administration and Rex Tillerson that Otto Warmbier was released to his parents. Unfortunately, he was released to them as a comatose vegetable instead of the vibrant son they once knew.
If you look at Otto on his arrival he looks pale and cannot move on his own. Apparently though medical tests it was revealed that he would not see or hear and that there was extensive brain damage. His father said that when he arrived his face showed a lot of tension but when he settled in at the hospital and his mother was at his side along with his father his face relaxed. Obviously he was given a lot of touch and made to feel comfortable- something he was deprived of for over a year in North Korea. Whatever brain cells he had left in terms of hearing and feeling, he knew he was with those he loved him and his facial muscles and body language responded.
The brain damage was so extensive that there was no way Otto could recover, so his parents made the agonizing decision to let him go. No parent should ever have to make this decision, but in Otto’s case, there was no hope and no chance of recovery whatsoever. The damage done to him in North Korea was so massive, he could not be rehabilitated. Perhaps his systems were shutting down as well.
Perhaps the parents took him off life support and gave life support of his organs to those who could use them like donating his heart, liver, kidneys, eyes, lungs, pituitary gland, ear bones, and skin. Perhaps they gave others a gift of life through Otto so that Otto could live on through them. But we will never know at this point.
May this precious young man forever rest in peace and may his legacy be an example to every American who travels abroad. Do NOT go to countries where the Department of State reports there is danger. Do not listen to any advertisements from any other country telling you it is safe to go there when the Department of State says the opposite.
I have no doubt that Otto Warmbier was singled out and used as a political pawn to be used as an example of what North Koreans are capable of doing. If you have that gene that makes you live on life’s razor’s edge and want excitement, find it elsewhere, not in North Korea or in countries where the Department of State tells you to beware.
Dr. Lillian Glass Body Language Blog 