by Sabrina Rickert ’19

In the beginning of 2016 Otto Warmbier, an American university student, visited North Korea on a guided tour, but while there was arrested for theft. He was imprisoned for 17 months until he died from lack of oxygen and blood to the brain in June of 2017. It is a tragically severe punishment for a minor crime like theft, but Vice President Pence is taking it to the next level when dealing with North Korea on this issue. Fred Warmbier, Otto’s father, has been invited by Pence to the Winter Olympics, in South Korea to spotlight an event that occurred almost a year ago.

Pence doesn’t seem to understand that the Olympics are a time for peace, and unity for countries around the world. Inviting the father of Warmbier south of the Korean border might not have been his brightest idea. The doomsday clock has been ticking with North Korea for a while and Pence might set it off with his diplomatic ploy, especially when time and time again North Korea has threatened not only to bomb us, but to bomb South Korea.