North Korea

Posted by: Ominae

Can confirm that.

Last trip I took to the DMZ earlier this year required me to book well ahead of a month, and thanks to increased restrictions on the amount of visitors allowed daily (especially to the Blue House at Panmunjeom gate) it's becoming rather difficult to confirm a booking. Walk-in visits are not allowed, and even South Korean citizens have to go through a process before visiting. Last I checked, Panmunjeom gate was booked out so completely that I couldn't even get a confirmation as far as 3 months in advance, and the tour staff were saying that it was critical for us to arrive early before the DMZ staff stopped allowing new visitors to book in. Apparently they've had issues in the past with more desperate tour groups somehow sniping their original reservations by coming in super early, or some other under-handed trick.

So either this guy was really good at bullshitting his way past the tour guides and reception desk at the DMZ, or he'd already had a prior reservation booked - which I suspect is the more likely answer.

Edited by SgtRicko on Jul 23rd 2023 at 7:13:28 PM

Why do people want to visit the DMZ so badly?

And isn't the whole point of the DMZ that no one is allowed there?

Edited by Redmess on Jul 23rd 2023 at 11:39:36 AM

being told no is the most enticing thing 99% of the time tbf

I think some raised the possibility that Travis booked the tour in advance.

So what happens next? Will he be a sort of hostage for NK to strike deals over?

The DMZ is becoming more of a tourist trap these days.

There's an American-style camping park full of retro-style mobile homes and tents for those looking for a "safe" outdoor experience, a cafeteria attached to the bus station, a small amusement park called Pyeonghwa Land featuring a merry-go-round, bumper cars, slides, etc, and this is all next to the bus station / gondola that leads directly into the DMZ proper. In fact a complaint some folks visiting the DMZ have is how certain tour agencies use agreements with the businesses located in the DMZ no-man's land to help shill their products through "voluntary" stops at the establishments. These often take over an hour and have little to no relation to the DMZ or it's history.

The most infamous one is some tea brewery that brags about how thanks to the undisturbed soil of the DMZ they're able to grow and brew some of the most nutrient-rich and healthy teas on the planet. So healthy in fact, that it can even solve various medical issues, such as joint pains, erectile dysfunction, improve bowel movements - you name it, they'll claim it.

Edited by SgtRicko on Jul 24th 2023 at 12:52:06 AM

The guy’s a private. May not have anything worth “sharing”, but he can be a propaganda piece to negotiate with.

Edited by Ominae on Jul 23rd 2023 at 8:37:02 AM

In addition to briefly discussing the current defectee to North Korea, the linked video talks about all of the past American soldiers who defected. Though in one particular case (Roy Chung) it might've been an abduction; nobody's really sure how the guy managed to get all the way from West Germany to North Korea in the late 1970s, and nor did the family believe the official story from the North Korean government.

Why would American soldiers defect to North Korea? The Soviet Union, I could understand, but NK seems like an unlikely place for an American in particular.

It is not like he would have been able to defect to somewhere else from South Korea…

Sure, but to borrow from Sgt Ricko

Edited by Risa123 on Jul 23rd 2023 at 8:35:00 PM

Well yes, but some even commit suicide (or worse) after career setbacks. Defection to North Korea can be seen as downright rational in comparison.

Edited by Smeagol17 on Jul 23rd 2023 at 9:47:06 PM

Then our guy simply wasn't a very rational person.

Although really difficult, people can and have bounced back from having the black stain of a dishonorable discharge on their career history in the United States, provided you aren't trying to get a job that entails government work or confidential information. Same even applies if he ended up facing further prison time: he didn't commit murder or anything severe, so even assuming the worst case of his Court Martial sentencing him with further imprisonment, I imagine it probably wouldn't have been anything past a year.

Like the video I shared mentioned, a couple of the guys who crossed the border basically didn't think things through very thoroughly. One of them fled because he was shit-faced drunk and believed running away to North Korea would've been a great way to avoid being sent to Vietnam, and probably get traded back to the United States after several years... which did not go as planned, by the way.

Edited by SgtRicko on Jul 24th 2023 at 5:07:19 AM

Pyongyang announced that UN Command is in talks with them, but refuse to explain details.

Also some of the tourists thought that the events that took place in the DMZ was some kind of publicity event.

DW reported on Shoigu being presented in Pyongyang for an official visit.

The report did also filmed a reporter speaking to South Koreans on their thoughts on reunification someday. It also mentioned that more South Koreans think that Seoul's naive on not having nukes.

Edited by Ominae on Aug 1st 2023 at 12:57:39 PM

https://www.sentinelone.com/labs/comrades-in-arms-north-korea-compromises-sanctioned-russian-missile-engineering-company/

https://archive.md/QHli8#selection-1123.74-1123.105

Reports from NK News mention DPRK hacker groups Scar Cruft and the Lazarus Group breaking into the servers of Russian missile manufacturer NPO Mashinostroyeniya between 2021 and 2022.

Cybersecurity firm Sentinel One announced it days after Shoigu visited Pyongyang.

KCNA released a statement from King, who experienced racism while serving in the US Army before and after he got deployed to South Korea.

Allegedly. He doesn't show up in the segment at all, as I understand it, and it is all indirect quotations. And considering which country we're talking about, that is immediately sus.

And since they surely would have shown him saying it in person if it was true, I'm going to lean towards it being propaganda lies.

Edited by Redmess on Aug 17th 2023 at 11:22:11 AM

True. They did persecute pro-Pyongyang Zainichis who came back with their Japanese spouses/children during the Cold War.

A SCMP explainer vid on 100,000 Zainichi Koreans who moved to North Korea and the problems facing them today.

It’s reported that KJU made it to Russia via armoured trains from Pyongyang.

KJU's making several visits in the Russian Far East, including a cosmodrome and several military factories.

https://www.dw.com/en/north-koreas-kim-jong-un-leaves-russia-with-gifts/a-66835855

KJU got gifts from Russia, consisting of five kamikaze drones and a 'Geran-25' reconnaissance drone, set of bulletproof protection [clothes] [and] special clothing not detectable by thermal cameras."

The SCMP vid highlights the use of the North Korean-made armored trains that the Kim family used, first by Il-Sung. Wilson Center Fellow Lee Sung-Yoon gives details on how long travel would take from Pyonyang to Moscow and how the Kims (using said train) are able to cope with long travels, although Lee highlights that KJU is different from KJI in the sense that the former doesn't mind taking a plane if he needs to.

Edited by Ominae on Sep 17th 2023 at 7:35:57 AM

I wanna commute by luxury armored train

Six drones don't sound like they would help much.