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North Korea has released a grainy video that it claims shows American student Otto Warmbler attempting to steal a propaganda banner from a hotel – an act which saw him being handed 15 years hard labour.
The short clip at the Yanggakdo International Hotel in Pyongyang shows an unidentifiable figure removing a sign from a wall before placing it on the floor.
The banner in the hotel apparently says: "Let's arm ourselves strongly with Kim Jong-il patriotism", referring to the isolated state’s late leader, who died in 2011.
The short security camera footage could not be verified, and the clip shows a brightly lit corridor in the hotel supposedly in the early hours of January 1st – when Mr Warmbler was accused of taking the sign.
North Korea regularly blacks out many buildings because of resource shortages in the country.
Mr Warmbler was arrested as he attempted to leave the country in January and later made a televised “confession” saying that he had taken the sign to bring back as a “trophy”.
The 21-year-old student, who had visited the isolated state as a tourist, had said during his confession that he had tried to steal the banner for an acquaintance who wanted to hang it in her church.
North Korean state news agency KCNA has earlier said the University of Virginia student’s offence was "pursuant to the US government's hostile policy" and that he was convicted under an article of the criminal code dealing with subversion.
Foreigners are often detained in North Korea, where they are used by Pyongyang to exert diplomatic pressure.
However, the rogue state has often imposed stiff sentences before releasing prisoners, and many of those who have confessed later say they were forced to do so.
Tensions on the Korean peninsula have been increasing after Pyongyang conducted a nuclear test in January which was followed by a rocket launch last month.
This article was written by Neil Connor video source YouTube from The Daily Telegraph and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.Image may be NSFW.
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