The US soldier’s decision to run across the border to North Korea has brought back memories of my own tour to the North Korean border. I was filled with a mix of emotions as I embarked on this journey, feeling both curious and nervous. I couldn’t help but question whether it was a wise decision to take this tour. After all, it’s not every day that you visit a border with no official cease fire and where the threat of war looms constantly in the news.  

Crossing the border was a nerve-wracking experience, but I never considered running across and believing that things would be better on the other side. During the tour, when we officially entered North Korea, I couldn’t shake the fear that soldiers might come in and take some of us away. I know the tour is safe, but that worry lingered in the background.  

I have seen the news to where they have said that he was in jail in Korea and he was awaiting military judicial proceedings when he returned to the US. The only question that I have is, did you think that it was better to “defect” that to face your punishment? The last American who was arrested in North Korea came back in a debilitating condition. Wasn’t this person aware of that?  

I hope for a positive resolution, but there’s always a nagging fear that one day I will hear a bad outcome on the news. If he is returned,  I believe for the rest of his life anyone at anytime should be able to give him a slap to the back of his head and ask him, “what were you thinking?”