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Rob_Hugo@PortNWI have enjoyed reading different articles that tie my community to China, Japan, and even Korea. I have written about the Wang family, who own and operate The Great Castle restaurant, the Chinese graveyard and how it got moved to its new location, and even reviewed Shen Yun when the dance group came to town. My latest article search begins, “Bakersfield man held captive in North Korea is sentenced to 6 years of hard labor”! It is hard for me to understand and sympathize with Matthew Miller, a 24-year-old (now 26) who made the choice the stay in North Korea, damaging his passport and refusing to leave the country after he was asked many times. Matthew Miller had a plan and he was not going to leave because he wanted to experience life in North Korea and talk to North Koreans about everyday life.
My next article search brought me, “Freed American Matthew Miller: 'I wanted to stay in North Korea'.” Even after Matthew was sentenced to 6 years of hard labor, the officials still wanted him out of their country. Matthew states that he was prepared for torture but was actually treated very kindly. He was able to keep his iPhone and iPad for a while and was treated very humanely. Matthew said he was never planning to ask for help from his government but stated that he had planned on reaching out to Sweden. I know this does not directly connect to China and Origins 1800, but I found it extremely interesting and weird at the same time.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/14/world/asia/north-korea-matthew-miller-case/
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/20/-sp-north-korea-matthew-miller
AnonymousAfter reading @tvancuren's post, I was interested in reading the two articles posted in the post. I find people very curious on various levels, some which can be a bit or too extreme. Unless there is something Miller is intentionally hiding or is forbidden to share for any reason, as he stated he probably really did just want to "experience" North Korea. His decisions and actions were definitely a waste of time for many officials but I guess he got what he wanted. It's interested how some people are... I guess there aren't words for specific decisions or behaviors made by some individuals.
Perhaps all the talk on North Korean was intriguing to him and he wanted to see it for himself or to validate all the information being portrayed in the media. Maybe he wanted to live a dangerous, life threatening life because he felt he could? The outcome of Miller's experience could have been a lot worse so he should probably consider himself quite lucky. I believe some individuals also feel they have nothing to lose and are able to do whatever it is they want to "try" or "experience", regardless of the possible consequences and results. Many times, these individuals cause a lot of unnecessary chaos. In the end, nobody will ever know what really happened to Milller in North Korea during his entire stay, except for Miller himself. It's definitely an interesting, yet peculiar story.