• ScrivenerX@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        arrow-down
        64
        ·
        1 year 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.

        • diegeticscream[all]🔻@lemmygrad.ml
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          29
          arrow-down
          3
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year 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?

        • freagle@lemmygrad.ml
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          26
          arrow-down
          3
          ·
          1 year 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.

          • rjs001@lemmygrad.ml
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            15
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            I doubt this was ideological. He would have tried this earlier in his time in the military and likely wouldn’t have joined the military at all I would imagine

            • freagle@lemmygrad.ml
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              6
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              1 year ago

              Ideology changes over time. Being in the military is often a catalyst for big changes to ideology.

        • Life2Space@lemmygrad.ml
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          23
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year 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?

          • CriticalResist8@lemmygrad.ml
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            13
            ·
            1 year ago

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

          • Marxism-Fennekinism@lemmygrad.ml
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            8
            ·
            edit-2
            1 year 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.

          • diegeticscream[all]🔻@lemmygrad.ml
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            7
            ·
            1 year 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

          • MarxMadness@lemmygrad.ml
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            1 year 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.

        • MaidenScare10k@lemmygrad.ml
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          16
          arrow-down
          3
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year 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.

          • MarxMadness@lemmygrad.ml
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            1 year 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.