How problematic of a person do you have to be for North Korea, a nation that likes to keep people, to be like "I think you should leave."
this post was submitted on 27 Sep 2023
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He was escaping assault charges and didn't "defect" for ideological reasons. Norks prolly think they will score more diplomatic points by handing him over back to the US.
I think their hands are kind of tied. He's not a valuable asset, he is a fuckup. He doesn't hold the same value as a random citizen tourist that didn't have the intention of defecting. He's not in a position to provide valuable intel. They either kick him out or treat him like a god and let him go home to tell everyone how awesome North Korea is. Punishing him only hurts their image.
I don't think it would hurt their image at all. They would be well within their rights to imprison him for the crossing. The US would do the same. I think they more want to exemplify US soldiers as incompetent fuckups by using him as an example.
There's a Lions led by Donkey's Podcast episode about cutting a tree in North Korea, and it ended in North Koreans taking turns chopping into pieces an US Officers body for hours. I don't think they care much about image.
There was also that NK guy who used sneak a kick in the balls to SK and US soldiers, that guy was famous. That episode was kind of hillarious.
Seriously, having a defected US soldier in North Korea is a huge PR and propaganda win, he must've been the dumbest pain in the ass to be not worth keeping.
I mean, he tried to defect to NK. We already know he's a dumbass.
It's basically a junta with a hereditary monarch, favored soldiers do well for themselves.
I guess he hoped his PR value would buy him some status.
There have been a few other US defectors to the DPRK, and iirc they weren't treated terribly. Though they did feel quite isolated culturally, I suppose you must anticipate that before you do something like that.
He went from an undesirable discharge to Federal Court Marshall and at least a decade in federal prison as a US trader and coward.
will he come in a coffin like the last guy they 'let go'?
According to Reuters, he's in good health.
If you're too crazy for North Korea to use as some sort of confirmation someone hates America, then you are too damn crazy. I hope he doesn't return worse than when he left. NK is now not a country you can't be extradited from.