The two American journalists who were recently sentenced to 12 years in a hard labor camp in North Korea are facing a stiff penalty for their actions.
I know this will place me in the vast minority, but I believe North Korea should stand by its actions in this case and not release the two women. Now, I know that one of them has a 4-year-old daughter and one has an unreleased medical condition. Perhaps my opinion would change if it were my own mother, but the fact remains that they knowingly broke the law by illegally entering North Korea and possibly committing other unreleased crimes.
If a foreigner breaks the law against the United States, do we just release them back to their home country with no punishment? Odds are they end up facing an even harsher judicial process than American citizens.
By trying to convince North Korea to release these two women, the United States serves only to propagate the idea that we think we are better than everyone else and shouldn't be punished for breaking other nations' laws.
Whether the sentence seems too harsh to us here in America does not make a difference. The fact remains they consciously broke North Korean law. Thus, they should be subject to the North Korean juducial system and serve the sentence.
