re: U.S. soldier detained after crossing North Korean border without permission

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He might have wanted to play a round of golf. The only NK course is right north of the DMZ. It may be shut down because they haven't hosted the NK Open in a couple years.
There were usually a dozen or so foreigners in the event. Usually won by a British guy. One of them married his caddie (all of them were young females) and the NK let him take the lucky girl with him back to England.

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There's also a small one-hole "course" on the southern side on Camp Greaves.

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lol, they're not flying out of Osan anymore?

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You mean detainees or military in general? I was there 99-00 and we flew into/out of Incheon even back then.

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There's also a small one-hole "course" on the southern side on Camp Greaves.

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I wonder what the fee is to play that one hole.

BTW, whenever a Brit didn't win the NK Open it was usually a Mongolian. I had no idea Mongolia had golf courses.
They actually have about a dozen with the most popular being Genghis Kahn Course. They have lots of open territory but very few trees and the high temps during mid summer are about 50 degrees F.

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You mean detainees or military in general? I was there 99-00 and we flew into/out of Incheon even back then.

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I remember some folks flying into Incheon at that time, even when the new airport opened in 2001. I flew in through Osan in 2000 and left through there in 2001.

I would have figured a detainee would have gone through Osan rather than a commercial airport since it is a USAF base. I'm sure things have changed in over 20 years but I didn't think accountability of a detainee would change.

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frick him. Leave him there. I wouldn’t give them a ham sandwich to get him back.

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Sheesh. The guy could have mental issues.

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Usually won by a British guy. How did he win? Little Rocket Man shot a 72 for the tournament.

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Rocket Man couldn't play. People would see him shoot. I always read the official invitation online written in English. It clearly said that ALL countries were welcome....except South Korea.
If you signed up to play they gave you travel agencies to contact. You always had to fly into China and then get bussed to NK.

The British guys wrote posts of their experience. The weird thing was life at the hotel. It was big. Like 100 rooms. The only 6 rooms occupied were the golfers. Other people weren't banned, they simply had an average occupancy of zero.

The hotel restaurant staff was all giddy with curiosity. They had never seen customers before. Nobody gets laid off. You get paid the same whether or not you have cutomers.

They said the food was terrible even though it was the best in town. But the caddies were very pretty.

wouldn't want to depend on Biden to get me out of jail

He shoulda said Mother May I

faafo

update

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The incident happened a day after King was escorted to a South Korean airport following his release from prison, where he had been jailed for an altercation with locals. He was due to fly back to the US and report to Fort Bliss, Texas.

But in a near-farcical twist, King was only taken as far as security - then left alone because his minder was unable to pass through with him without a ticket.

Instead of getting on the plane at Incheon International Airport, he managed to leave the airport, then headed for the border tour.

The Korean Herald reported the US national had 'defected' to North Korea, although officials in the Pentagon and State Department have not given a motive for his actions.

King is believed to have spent two months in custody in South Korea. He then spent a week under observation at a US base in South Korea before leaving the facility on Monday.

US Army Col. Isaac Taylor, the public affairs director for US Forces Korea, said: 'A U.S. Service member on a JSA orientation tour willfully and without authorization crossed the Military Demarcation Line into the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).



LINK

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