What's gonna happen to those N. Korean soccer team members when they go home?

[CTyankee]

If I were them, I'd take the necessary steps to apply for political asylum...god know what Kim will do with them!

[CBR]

1. I was thinking that the whole time! Poor guys. nt

[CanonRay]

2. I'm sure they'll be proud to be members of the People's Army!

[Ian David]

3. No. The army actually gets food. I doubt these guys have many meals in their future. n/t

[malaise]

6. They're all army men n/t

[ChairmanAgnostic]

4. What N Korean Soccer team, they will ask.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

5. posted same question in another thread

I hope they are safe...

sP

[onehandle]

7. delete.

[onehandle]

8. It is rumored that the 'fans' at the games are actually Chinese.

Because true North Koreans would defect.

Maybe the players are too.

[bdamomma]

13. yes I'd heard that too worried about fans defecting and hired

actors to portray as fans

[KharmaTrain]

9. The Uday Treatment...

IRC didn't he have an Iron Maiden that he put players in who didn't "perform". If North Korea uses the old Soviet model, once they no longer play, the go back into the military.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

10. North Korea actually participates in international athletic events all the time

and they rarely win. What makes you think the team would be imprisoned or executed?

This is only the first game, and according to what I found on Google, the coverage in North Korea itself was positive.

You guys are just talking out of your asses.

[CTyankee]

12. From what I understand North Korea is a horrible place.

Perhaps I got wrong information from NPR (which had a program devoted to it a while back).

I think it is fair to say that Leader Kim is delusional. I don't think living under that kind of a tyrant is kind for athletes that lose so badly...

But maybe you are right. Maybe Kim just "thinks" they won...that's possible...

But I still think if these team members have any sense they'll just defect...

[Lydia Leftcoast]

17. No question NK is a horrible place

But they didn't lose "badly." Wasn't the score 2-1? Furthermore, it was the first time they'd even qualified since 1966.

It would take a lot of ingenuity to defect under the kind of supervision that NK athletes are under, plus you have to take into account how propagandized they are.

During the period when family visits were allowed, South Koreans were disturbed by how brainwashed their North Korean relatives were. They wanted to find out how their relatives were faring, and all the relatives wanted to talk about was how wonderful Kim Jong-il was. I don't recall many (if any) defections during that period.

Remember, North Koreans get NO outside information. Their "Internet" is strictly in-country, and their TVs and radios are built to tune in only government stations.

Imagine a nation of Moonies.

Now I'm sure some people see through all of it anyway, but your average pro soccer player isn't known for intellectual reflection.

[CTyankee]

20. The score was 7-0 which is very, very bad...I wouldn't have started this thread

if it weren't such a blowout...

[Johonny]

18. perhaps you missed the 7-0 score this morning

[Lydia Leftcoast]

19. OK, but still, they aren't the first NK athletes to lose in international competition

Not by a long shot.

These guys get will get Kim Jong-il brownie points just for qualifying for the first time in over 40 years.

[RagAss]

11. A Victory Parade...with a replica of the World Cup.

[peekaloo]

14. .

:D

with their pictures on boxes of "Wheatless"

[David__77]

15. Nothing will happen.

There are all kinds of N. Korean athletes who are famous in their home country, and they do sometimes lose. While some high-profile N. Koreans do defect, the large majority do not, either because they are ideologically convicted supporters of the government, or because they enjoy a high living standard for that country, or because they have all their friends and family there...

[tularetom]

16. They'll be strapped to a Taepodong-2 and fired out over the sea

[ParkieDem]

21. That won't work

If they seek asylum or defect, their families, friends and associates will all be rounded up and thrown in the North Korean gulag.

I recently read an article, can't find the link right now, about a recent North Korean defector. According to reports, up to 3,000 people associated with him were put in prison, where God knows what happened to them. Some were relatives who didn't even know they were related to the guy.