British Woman Comes Forward about ‘Secret Floor’ of North Korean Hotel

North Korea is a deeply fascinating and rather distressing country. It seems absolutely insane that in the age we are in, we know so little about what goes on inside those borders. The country is extremely secretive, and we rely on those that have managed to get in to spread the word of what they saw in order to understand it.

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The country has been in the spotlight over the last few weeks due to its handling of the young American traveller, Otto Warmbier. Wambier, who visited North Korea last year, was arrested for crimes against the state when he stole a propaganda sign from a wall in the hotel he was staying at. After being sentenced to 15 years imprisonment with hard labour in January 2016, Warmbier was surprisingly handed back to America around two weeks ago in a coma and sadly passed away a few days later. It has since emerged he had been in the coma since March 2016.



North Korea say that Otto entered the coma after contracting the life threatening illness botulism and also taking a sleeping pill, but U.S Officials and Otto’s family both dispute this claim, saying there is no evidence that Otto contracted the disease. It remains to be seen what will emerge for the tragic case, but many people, including a woman who went on the same expedition as Otto, are calling for the end of organised trips to North Korea as it puts lives in danger.The woman, who chose to remain nameless for safety reasons, believes that the companies who take young students to places like North Korea, are doing so without any regard for their safety. She went on to say that having spent a year living in South Korea, she decided to explore the north side of the country and was shocked at how the tour company were “placing young adults in danger as they underestimate the risks [of situations] involved”.



The female tourist spoke of how they were encouraged to go and look at a secret room in a hotel, which was described as strictly “off limits”:“We had to be very quiet and the excursion felt very clandestine and a little bit scary.“Tour companies seem to routinely take people to that floor – knowing that it is off limits.“What I worry about is that tour companies are taking giddy young adults to this country and placing them in danger.”The tour company, “Young Pioneer Tours”, who ran both the female’s and Otto’s tour claim they tried to get in contact when he was in custody, but were continuously refused by the North Korean officials. The company have also said they will no longer take U.S citizens to the country due to fears regarding their safety.



Otto’s family have said that whilst they are aware and recognise the “awful, torturous mistreatment” that Otto received, they would rather remember the good times that they shared with their son. It has also been revealed that there will not be an autopsy performed on Otto at the request of his family.