3 ms·

If nobody sells food to prisons, then what will the prisoners eat? Do you propose that prisons be run as farms where prisoners are made to produce their own fo

If nobody sells food to prisons, then what will the prisoners eat? Do you propose that prisons be run as farms where prisoners are made to produce their own food? I've heard that prisons in South Korea work that way, but I've also heard that prisons in South Korea are brutal by even American standards, such that the US Military has an agreement with the South Korean government that any US servicemen put into Korean prisons will be fed more than a starvation diet. Apparently conditions in Korean prisons are such that an agreement like that is necessary. Maybe, prisons buying food isn't the problem with American prisons.

jstarfish 3y ago
> Apparently conditions in Korean prisons are such that an agreement like that is necessary. I don't know the current state of them, but you can tour Seodaemun prison (operational 1908-1987; it's now a museum/memorial). They make no attempt to hide the fact that the conditions were historically even worse than you're describing-- basically concentration camps sans gas chambers. Food was watery gruel, toilets were rat-infested holes in the ground, etc. Visit in the winter when it's 30F out for the full experience; the prisoners weren't given adequate clothing for the cold themselves so even bundled up to the teeth you can appreciate their misery.
FirmwareBurner 3y ago
>US servicemen put into Korean prisons Out of curiosity, how many servicemen did the US allow to get into foreign prisons? I know at least two highly mediatized cases of US servicemen committing murder in Europe[1][2] but were instantly airlifted to the US before they could be arrested by the local police, so they couldn't be trialed and jailed in the EU and instead got to walk free back home. If the US stepped in for them in Europe, I doubt they won't do the same in Korea. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Cavalese_cable_car_crash https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Cavalese_cable_car_crash [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teo_Peter#Death https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teo_Peter#Death
- mcpackieh 3y ago
  The American soldier who recently defected to North Korea had previously been in a South Korean prison for two months for assault: https://www.bostonherald.com/2023/07/18/us-soldier-who-fled-to-north-korea-had-served-2-months-in-south-korea-prison-on-assault-charge/ https://www.bostonherald.com/2023/07/18/us-soldier-who-fled-... Here is a 2007 article in Stars and Stripes (USDoD newspaper) about the special treatment American service-members receive in South Korean prisons: https://www.stripes.com/news/u-s-servicemembers-treated-differently-in-south-korean-prisons-1.62880 https://www.stripes.com/news/u-s-servicemembers-treated-diff...
  - FirmwareBurner 3y ago
    >The American soldier who recently defected to North Korea Wait, what?!
    - mcpackieh 3y ago
      Just last week, the first such defection in 40 years I believe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travis_King https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travis_King He was meant to board a plane back to America where he would be thrown out of the military, but he evidently decided to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire.
      - FirmwareBurner 3y ago
        Reading through his list of "achievements" of always getting into trouble, that looks like a person suffering from mental illnesses. I suspect the north will keep him as a bargaining chip to exchange for something later on.

jstarfish 3y ago

> Apparently conditions in Korean prisons are such that an agreement like that is necessary. I don't know the current state of them, but you can tour Seodaemun prison (operational 1908-1987; it's now a museum/memorial). They make no attempt to hide the fact that the conditions were historically even worse than you're describing-- basically concentration camps sans gas chambers. Food was watery gruel, toilets were rat-infested holes in the ground, etc. Visit in the winter when it's 30F out for the full experience; the prisoners weren't given adequate clothing for the cold themselves so even bundled up to the teeth you can appreciate their misery.

FirmwareBurner 3y ago

>US servicemen put into Korean prisons Out of curiosity, how many servicemen did the US allow to get into foreign prisons? I know at least two highly mediatized cases of US servicemen committing murder in Europe[1][2] but were instantly airlifted to the US before they could be arrested by the local police, so they couldn't be trialed and jailed in the EU and instead got to walk free back home. If the US stepped in for them in Europe, I doubt they won't do the same in Korea. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Cavalese_cable_car_crash https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Cavalese_cable_car_crash [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teo_Peter#Death https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teo_Peter#Death

mcpackieh 3y ago
The American soldier who recently defected to North Korea had previously been in a South Korean prison for two months for assault: https://www.bostonherald.com/2023/07/18/us-soldier-who-fled-to-north-korea-had-served-2-months-in-south-korea-prison-on-assault-charge/ https://www.bostonherald.com/2023/07/18/us-soldier-who-fled-... Here is a 2007 article in Stars and Stripes (USDoD newspaper) about the special treatment American service-members receive in South Korean prisons: https://www.stripes.com/news/u-s-servicemembers-treated-differently-in-south-korean-prisons-1.62880 https://www.stripes.com/news/u-s-servicemembers-treated-diff...
- FirmwareBurner 3y ago
  >The American soldier who recently defected to North Korea Wait, what?!
  - mcpackieh 3y ago
    Just last week, the first such defection in 40 years I believe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travis_King https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travis_King He was meant to board a plane back to America where he would be thrown out of the military, but he evidently decided to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire.
    - FirmwareBurner 3y ago
      Reading through his list of "achievements" of always getting into trouble, that looks like a person suffering from mental illnesses. I suspect the north will keep him as a bargaining chip to exchange for something later on.