American Soldiers Choose Socialism

Six American soldiers - deserters who voluntarily surrendered to the Korean people's army during the Korean war.
After signing Panmunjon armistice agreements, decided to stay in the DPRK. The photo was taken six months later after the end of the war, on new year's day, January 1, 1954.
They travel around the country with propaganda speeches on a truck decorated with Soviet and North Korean flags and calls for peace in English. A total of 21 American prisoners of war have expressed a desire to remain in North Korea after the end of hostilities on the Korean Peninsula. All of them, before the armistice was concluded on June 27, 1953, were transferred to the demilitarized zone to the area of the demarcation line in the vicinity of CAT Panmujom, where they were given by North Koreans a 90-day period to consider their decision.
During this period the US authorities tried to exert massive psychological pressure on their former soldiers who took up anti-imperialist positions. They were bombarded with letters from relatives and childhood friends, american officers who came to visit them, promised full forgiveness and a lot of benefits.
Those who believed them were cruelly deceived. Two of them were persuaded to return, but at home were waiting for them not the warm embrace of their relatives, but for a martial court for desertion and cooperation with the enemy. One was sentenced to 10, the other - to 20 years in prison.

The rest of the former prisoners of war who chose socialism lived a happy, secure life in the DPRK, they married local girls and became actors, playing American imperialists in North Korean feature films. In America, their choice was explained by the fact that they were all "brainwashed" in POW camps. The black guy in this photo, in an interview with him many years later, explained his choice by saying that he preferred to live in a society where there is no racial oppression and where he does not feel like a second-class person because of the color of his skin.