Four American Citizens are Being Detained and Held as Bargaining Chips in Pyongyang

Imagine your freedom being taken away without warning. No US embassy to call, no help coming to your aid and no chance for justice. Imagine being charged convicted and sentenced to years in prison of hard labor in a North Korean prison. Your crime? You are an American guilty of crimes against the State, crimes you did not commit.

Kim Kak Song, a teacher, Tony Kim, also a teacher at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology and 21-year-old student Otto Warmbier all fall into this category. Warmbier was sentenced to 15 years hard labor for removing a poster. Now add to the mix Kim Dong Chul, a resident of Fairfax Va., who ran a hotel service. He is serving ten years at hard labor.

These American citizens are hostages of an out of control regime. North Korea is holding them as bargaining chips or as shields against military action. The North Korean government under Kim Jong-un is playing with fire as they push ever closer to a tipping point.