They could probably live in some sort of witness protection situation in South Korea, but I guess that's still a shitty life if you want to see your family again.

Ah, yeah but not at the lower levels like this soldier.

I feel certain that any allegiance he expressed was to protect the well being of his family, rather than a genuine position.

No way. You notice how he implies he broke the rules and is being punished for it? This was the diary for his commanders and/or military police to "secretly" read. Defectors pretty much give the same story - corruption and crime is ubiquitous, nobody follows the rules when they can't be caught.

Human nature is pretty unremarkable for the most part, but one thing we have going for us is that the majority of people never buy the propaganda, regardless of what it is and where they are. You can see that in history, in modern authoritarian states, and even in the West about propaganda I personally agree with (save the planet! vaccines don't cause autism! covid is real!).

This person wrote all that, thinking we would cower at the resolve of north Korean soldiers. Instead, his words just sound sad and pathetic. An end to a life lived as a hostage to a madman.

The tone is partially due to translation, and partially due to him regurgitating his indoctrination. I'm sure it's a real diary, but like anyone, his writing is affected by his environment.

High probability that he fully expected state security to look through it.

Translated from an indoctrinated North Korean? For sure. It'd probably make a lot more sense in native Korean than it does as translated text.

It's partially translation issues. Maybe double translated from Korean - > Ukrainian - > English? North Korean is supposedly becoming its own dialect, as well.

That said, there's a lot in there that sounds like the individual giving their whole personality over to the group. More so than a normal military. That comes right out of the BITE model, what's more commonly called "cults".

Tankie paradise

It's a weird place. From what I've heard, at this point it's more like a giant plantation or a resource colony (with no foreign overlords) than a normal dictatorship. The three sectors of the economy are policing the common people, making stuff for export (often on the black market and often globally illegal stuff) and making nukes to protect from foreign adversaries. The money from exports goes to grain, and luxury items for a separate elite that doesn't even like to stay in the country, let alone be part of it.

100% agree. I was recently thinking about the Two Minutes Hate and how polarized our politics are these days.

In re-directing the members' subconscious feelings away from the Party's governance of Oceania and toward non-existent external enemies, the Party minimises thoughtcrime and the consequent subversive behaviours of thoughtcriminals.

Wag The Dog.

Probably got caught not believing all this stuff in private, and listening to k-pop or something. Off to war you go...

The propaganda of the regime is that the old Kim and the new Kim are godlike. They can read your thoughts and catch you if you deviate from the plan. Of course most adult North Koreans aren't stupid enough to believe this. It's like believing in Santa Claus culturally.

The problem is that the state is almost godlike. They will come into your home and check for unapproved media. They will take your children away and ask them in a detention center what mommy and daddy did that was bad.

They will send your ass to the frontline of a Russian war of conquest and kill your family if you are captured.

Why would you want to go to Valhalla, Folkvangr sounds much nicer.

The trouble here is that NK state religion is monotheistic.