U.S. soldier facing disciplinary action flees into North Korea (news.yahoo.com)

submitted 2 years ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

33 comments fedilink hide all child comments

top 24 comments

sorted by: hot top new old

[-] [email protected] 27 points 2 years ago

Well, that’s certainly a bold move

[-] [email protected] 22 points 2 years ago

Right? Good for him.

[+] [email protected] -60 points 2 years ago

I'm pretty sure that whatever his charges are, defecting to north Korea was a bad idea.

If he's lucky he'll have a standard of living almost as high as federal prison.

[-] [email protected] 37 points 2 years ago

Shut up lib

[-] [email protected] 36 points 2 years ago

How exactly do you know this? You've been there or just reporting what you heard from Western news?

[-] [email protected] 26 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I'm pretty sure that whatever his charges are, defecting to north Korea was a bad idea.

Dang, you're "pretty sure"? How'd you get so confident?

[-] [email protected] 23 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I am curious why that soldier faced disciplinary action in the first place. US soldiers aren't exactly famous for good ethics, so I wouldn't be surprised if he committed acts heinous enough to warrant escape.

By the way, wouldn't the DPRK just send him back?

[-] [email protected] 13 points 2 years ago

Actually I can believe that he's a victim, because the US army tends to protect their actual criminals and prosecute the whistleblowers.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I am curious why that soldier faced disciplinary action in the first place. US soldiers aren’t exactly famous for good ethics, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he committed acts heinous enough to warrant escape.

The DPRK should investigate what he did and sentence him according to their laws.

[-] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago

By the way, wouldn't the DPRK just send him back?

They'll probably (rightly) suspect it as an espionage attempt and imprison him for six months or so before eventually deporting him. That's what they've done with westerners in the past.

I don't think this has happened since like the Korean war, so who knows tho

[-] [email protected] 10 points 2 years ago

I would hope with an honest to goodness defection they would not deport him.

[-] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

I hope so too!

[-] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

I linked to an article elsewhere in this thread -- looks like he got in a fight with a Korean civilian and was disorderly/combative with cops when arrested.

[-] [email protected] 22 points 2 years ago

I think he knew that and still made the choice. There's a handful of US defectors in the DPRK because they were ideologically closer to communism than imperialism, so maybe he'll fare as well as he hopes.

[-] [email protected] 21 points 2 years ago

Wow! Federal prison must be one hell of a luxury these days!

[-] [email protected] 14 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I mean, the only parts of Amerika that live better than the pen are the gateds on the coasts, and the former plantations; so I don't know what you're going on about there... I categorically refuse to denounce homeboy's defection unless it comes out he was wanted for like-- sex crimes or smth. In which case, light him up on sight.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

This is really underestimating how bad U.S. prisons are, and while god damn America and all, it's still a country with a high standard of living for most people.

We have to be in touch with the actual material conditions of people, and "only a few places are better than federal custody" just isn't that.

[-] [email protected] 26 points 2 years ago

The crossing comes at a time of high tensions on the Korean peninsula, with the arrival of a U.S. nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine in South Korea for a rare visit in a warning to North Korea over its own military activities.

Imagine barbecuing in your garden and someone with a loaded assault rifle comes to you and start shouting at you to stop acting like a dangerous motherfucker with your kitchen knives

[-] [email protected] 25 points 2 years ago

Godspeed, you crazy bastard. o7

[-] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

Jokes aside I wouldn’t do this if I were him. He’s probably going to be in prison suspected as a foreign infiltrator.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-66219603.amp

He apparently got in a fight with a Korean civilian and at least was disorderly (if not combative) when arrested. No idea what type of penalty that would get someone at a U.S. court martial, but prison and a dishonorable discharge (making gainful employment extremely difficult) are probably on the table, maybe guaranteed.

No idea what I'd do in that situation, but even knowing he'd be detained for a while in the DPRK it might look better than the alternative.

Of course, there's a big chance he is trying to infiltrate the country, and this is pretext. He's 23, not some kid right out of high school, which to me suggests that's far from out of the question.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

The article just says "Korean" which I assume means southerner since it was in Seoul, but I initially got the impression that the civilian was from the DPRK. Just leaving this here in case people have the same confusion.

load more comments

this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2023

63 points (98.5% liked)

World News

2672 readers

83 users here now

founded 5 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]