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On January 2, 2016, after a week of exploration, Otto was detained at the airport as he was about to leave North Korea. Two soldiers escorted him away, leading to a chilling joke from his roommate about never seeing him again. Otto's arrest shocked his fellow travelers; he was accused of stealing a propaganda poster from a restricted area of his hotel.
In a coerced confession, Otto appeared at a press conference reading from a prepared script, claiming that he aimed to harm North Korean society at the behest of a secret society at his university. Many, including his family, believed that Otto was framed, suggesting that the North Korean government was using Otto as a political pawn in the strained U.S.-North Korea relations.