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US Soldier crosses border into North Korea, taken into custody
- Thread starter nilbog
- Start date
We know that but that's what he'll say.
We're talking about the same guy who says he could get a peace settlement in 24hours
I mean, you don't run across the border there on accident.
We don't need to ascribe every stupid ass decision people make as mental illness or a mental breakdown. It's insulting to people that are actually experiencing those things.
He's not a victim. He's just a fucking idiot is far more likely.
Genuinely curious if he suddenly decided to defect or if he was trying to do it as a whim or "prank" or dare to himself.
Tell my kids the story of crossing the border in the NK and surviving. Or "I'm sick of this country, I would be better of in the NK than THIS AMERICA".
Tell my kids the story of crossing the border in the NK and surviving. Or "I'm sick of this country, I would be better of in the NK than THIS AMERICA".
Identifying parameter: "Old Internet Nostalgia"
Old Internet Nostalgia, identified.
Goddamn what a blast from the past.
He was already facing military discipline, likely due to being obnoxious as hell. Guy probably thought he was a genius jumping a fence to avoid getting punished.
It seems like the more likely reason to me, to be honest. It's hard to imagine someone zipping across the border for shits and giggles, but I guess it's just speculation either way until we learn more.
People who have defected sometimes end up becoming mouthpieces for propaganda, including even acting in North Korean movies (they need someone to play Americans after all).
The US defectors who became film stars in North Korea
In 1965, US soldier Charles Robert Jenkins left South Korea for the North – and he went on to become a star in the Hermit Kingdom. Simon Fowler recounts his strange tale.
www.bbc.com
But I agree just speculating at this point.
Thank you. I swear, this needs to be constantly said in these threads. People do stupid shit, especially young men in their 20s.
You'd be surprised how much stuff is done for shits and giggles.
Imagine someone's mental state deciding it would be funny going full Leroy Jenkins into the DPRK
Sounds like he might have been up for an Article 15* or worse already, so if the endgame for this guy is either North Korea or Leavenworth....well shit.
But those aren't even remotely comparable qualities of life.
Whether they have undiagnosed or diagnosed mental illnesses is not something that should be the default thinking when folks do things that may be harmful to themselves. Sometimes folks do stupid things for shits and giggles.
I can not speak intelligently on how a US defector* would be treated in North Korea. The shit I would do to stay out of Leavenworth prison would be criminal unto itself.
*provided he is actually doing that and not doing some wild shit FTL.
So the dude was being removed from the country to face punishment for undisclosed crimes, and he managed to slip his escort, make his way to the border, join a tour group and then cross into another country?
Doesn't sound like mental illness to me. Sounds like a plan. A really dumb plan, but a plan all the same.
Don't get me wrong, I know that people with mental illness can put together and execute complex plans (and that stressful situations can incite or exacerbate mental problems), I'm just saying: there was intent here. And I don't think it's uncommon for people facing punishment to make a poor judgment call about and take a dumber alternative.
Doesn't sound like mental illness to me. Sounds like a plan. A really dumb plan, but a plan all the same.
Don't get me wrong, I know that people with mental illness can put together and execute complex plans (and that stressful situations can incite or exacerbate mental problems), I'm just saying: there was intent here. And I don't think it's uncommon for people facing punishment to make a poor judgment call about and take a dumber alternative.
He's a private second class with no intel he can offer North Korea to buy good treatment, he's in for hard labour at a gulag or being turned into a propaganda tool. Either way he's fucked.
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With that rank, he knows nothing worth anything to them. He has nothing to offer NK except the potential to make the US waste political capital on his release. And NK isn't going to extract that capital by keeping him in lavish conditions.
You are possibly 100% right. I dont know what his presumed disciplinary was for.
Also just to be clear, his rank doesnt matter when it comes to access to intel. I was an E1 but I had TS clearance. Which meant in my field reading almost every single message that came in regardless of what it was classified as. More than likely you are right and he knows squat but in these cases its always best to be as informed as possible.
Depends on his job. He could easily get classified info at E-2.
The National Guardsmen leaker was barely an E-3 when he started leaking.
Depends on his job. He could know a good amount.
He likely panicked. It sounds like he'd managed to escape custody in the airport terminal, took a sudden opportunity to join the tour to get away further, then was looking around for where next to run and made a colossally stupid snap decision to run across the border. Did he fully know where he was or did he think it's a place they can't follow, so haha? Either way, it was a really bad impulse to follow that I am sure he'll have time to regret.
This is why I hate needless speculations in threads like these.
If he's just a moron, it's disrespectful to people dealing with mental crisis to ascribe his dumb decisions to mental illness.
If he's in mental crisis, it's disrespectful to him to just call him an idiot.
And in the end, the people that were luckier when they flipped their coin will brag about how they just knew it. It's gross. Without getting into a philosophical debate, there is a "truth" to this situation and if it's appropriate for it to become public, it probably will.
My first thought.
My second thought, especially since that one person leaked state secrets for discord server clout lmao
If you're stationed in South Korea you know all about that border
CNN update
OP
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