Given that the US is in a technical state of war with North Korea, why would a US citizen visit N. Korea?

Why do people go into to cages with lion an tibers, it’s and adventure. Apparently Otto Warmbier got too adventurous.

The war was between North and South Kore not the USA and North Korea.

I agree with the OP. There are so many places in the world to go for an adventure, why go someplace where they’re going to be looking for a reason to hassle you, and it’s like a roach motel – they can check in but not check out. Trumped up charges, years of labor camp with poor or zero medical care, no rights and bad food – who needs the risk?

W.C. Fields said :“There’s a sucker born every minute.” Idiots are just as common, apparently.

The only reasons I can think of are they have family there,or are there for business reasons.

These were college students on a tour, not rogues.
South Korea and the U.S. agreed to a “Mutual Defense Treaty”, under which an attack on either party in the Pacific area would summon a response from both, @Tropical_Willie. North and South Korea are standing down, not at peace.

Taking a group of college kids into a hostile country during a time of unrest and saber-rattling seems just plain stupid to me, @jca.

Appeared to be a college tour, @SQUEEKY2.

I guess we should all stay home, watch TV and lash out in fear and anger at those who go out to learn about the world first-hand.

I suppose, as a college student, Otto Warmbier had exhausted all the learning opportunities provided by stable regimes, @jaytkay?

Who lashed out in fear and anger? Unless it was North Korea?

Prudence would seem to point to caution but some people are risk takers. We need risk takers in a society or we wouldn’t have things like manned spacecraft etc. Also , when incidents like this happen it forces the two enemies to interact with each other which may not be a bad thing. They are forced to exercise diplomacy.

No fear and anger on this thread, @jaytkay, just bafflement.

As silly an action as those who go to Iran and get jailed for years. There are many who feel that being a US citizen gives them immunity from the consequences of visiting an authoritarian regime. When the US Department of State says “don’t go there, or you will be on your own”, they mean it.

Some personalities are more adventurous and risk taking, vs. the more cautious types. I probably would not choose N. Korea as a travel destination but I am also an adventurous, explorer type so I can understand why some choose the road less traveled even if fraught with dangers.

To get to the other side? Haha. ^^Curiosity. I was curious as to what the other side lived like, so while I was in Europe back in the ‘80s I used to go to the East bloc. We were technically at war with the Soviets at the time. I had no problem getting a visa, but therer were no State Dept. warnings that I remember.

I got arrested while bicycling down the road between villages in East Germany. The charges were never explained to me. When they saw my American passport they put me, my bike, the West German who had come with me, and his bike, in the back of an army truck and shipped us 100 miles or so back to Checkpoint Alpha. They fed us sausages and potatoes before we left. Didn’t say much.

I had more trouble than that in Greece, a NATO ally, when my girlfriend got pissed off at me in the airport at Mykonos and got on a plane to Athens with my passport and luggage back in the early ‘80s. I had a hell of a time explaining to these hick police that, although I was a resident of Sweden, I was an American citizen. Without a passport, they didn’t buy it at all. They thought I was a Yugoslav spy or something. I had to stay two nights in the police station (they let me out in the daytime) until my girlfriend came to her senses and returned with my passport. OK. I’ve had enough coffee.

I don’t think that I could ever be so curious and naive to go to a country like N. Korea, though. I was never that stupid. I hope.

I wouldn’t want to bet my freedom on someone forcing North Korea to exercise diplomacy, @cazzie.

The tirade puzzled me, too, @jca.

”...many who feel that being a US citizen gives them immunity from the consequences of visiting an authoritarian regime.” My thoughts, exactly, @zenvelo.

You don’t have to put your freedom in jeopardy to find a road less traveled, @Coloma?

If you’re not one to take a group tour and never leave the group, it’s probably best to avoid places like North Korea, @Espiritus_Corvus!
I wouldn’t have been able to resiste East Germany, either, as long as they were giving Visas freely.

Me either @ibstubro.

Also, the US is not technically at war with North Korea. The “police action” that occurred in the 50’s was a UN undertaking. See also the conditions of SEATO.
The North Koreans just like to try and yank the US’s chain because they see the US as the biggest, baddest bloke on the block. They would like to be seen as “big wheels” too. (But they are just “hub caps,” if barely that.)

the United States would never grant full diplomatic recognition to North Korea, or sign a peace treaty formally ending the Korean War, unless its nuclear capability is dismantled.

We’re not at peace with North Korea, either.

Curiosity, good story to tell, the will to tell the world what is wrong there, desire for recognition, ...

People seem to have this notion that visiting a totalitarian nation is comparable to visiting the US. That you’re free to go and do as you like and ‘experience’ the country.

The “reality” you experience is what the government has created for your viewing pleasure.
The “risk” you face is that the government will have an axe to grind and use you as a political pawn for no legal reason.

I don’t have a problem with that.
But I think it should be like any other risky adventure…you should be required to carry insurance that will cover any extraordinary expenses your adventure may incur. Including private negotiation for your return, should you be detained.

The taxpayers should not have to subsidize thrill seekers.

Here’s a guide that will tell you what’s real, what’s fake:
http://travel.cnn.com/touring-north-korea-whats-real-whats-fake-487216/

‘Banality of normality’ is the positive spin, @jca? That North Korea is inherently boring?

Oh, the stories the visitors had to tell! Well worth risking their freedom for. ~

Well, the kid got a 15 year sentence. I asked a new question about it in Social today. For those who say NK is a great place to visit and we should all go there, that’s your answer. 15 years for stealing a poster (or trying to steal it). Hard labor.