A jet ski rider who has been detained since he washed up on South Korea’s coast is believed to be a Chinese dissident who feared for his safety and fled by crossing hundreds of miles of sea, trailing barrels of fuel behind him.

The coast guard in the western South Korean port city of Incheon said in a statement Sunday that a Chinese man in his 30s tried to illegally enter the country Aug. 16 by riding a jet ski from the Shandong area of China, an eastern province around 200 miles away across the Yellow Sea.

  • Jeena@jemmy.jeena.net
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    1 year ago

    People like him are welcome in the non-authoritarian part of thè world. Just sad that he had to leave family and friends behind.

    Also, very cool stunt!

    • Magister@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      And he will be tracked wherever he goes by “china police” in foreign countries, like there’s in Canada, who will threaten to kill his family in China.

  • jcit878@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    any country a citizen needs to run from in fear for their life is objectively an utter shithole

      • Wookie@artemis.camp
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        1 year ago

        Are there many people from the US seeking asylum in other countries or migrating at high numbers?

          • wahming@monyet.cc
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            1 year ago

            Less in fear for his life, and more in fear of jail time. Which he shouldn’t have had to fear, don’t get me wrong. But there’s still a big difference in scale between fleeing jail and fleeing death.

            • xePBMg9@lemmynsfw.com
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              1 year ago

              I too would flee in either case. I think being robbed of your freedoms and death are pretty similar. Though I agree with jcit.

            • zephyreks@programming.dev
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              1 year ago

              For violating the espionage act? The Rosenbergs were executed for that. US psyops truly out in force.

      • joe@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I might be off base, but your comment has the feel of a “gotcha!”. Yeah, America certainly qualifies.

        Edit: Perhaps work pointing out that I’m not the first person you replied to.

  • boyi@lemmy.sdf.org
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    1 year ago

    Lee said Kwon attended Iowa State University and has a degree in aerodynamics.

    He puts his knowledge to good use.

  • NotSpez
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    1 year ago

    He Is a Man of Focus, Commitment and Sheer Fucking Will

    • Cleverdawny
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      1 year ago

      It’s not that much fuel. From what I can tell, jet skis usually get about 20 miles per gallon, so he would need 15 gallons of fuel, minimum

  • Radioactive Radio
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    1 year ago

    Like that last scene in resident evil 4, he might be carrying the President’s daughter too.

  • Serdan
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    1 year ago

    He can afford jet ski, but not a plane ticket?

    • MicroWave@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      I’m sure you read the article but missed this part:

      “[They] told me that they found out from the Chinese authorities that Kwon was banned from leaving China,” Lee said. “[He] had no choice but to flee China for his safety.”

      China has increasingly used exit bans to bar people — including domestic critics and foreign executives — from leaving the country.

      • oatscoop@midwest.social
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        1 year ago

        The USA state department has a “reconsider travel” warning for China, and they specifically cite exit bans as one of the reasons. Especially for Americans with Chinese dual citizenship, as China doesn’t recognize dual citizenship.

      • Serdan
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        1 year ago

        Skimmed the article, missed that part.