After two years, most enlisted are E-3 or E-4(NCO). This one likely got busted down a stripe or two in UCMJ (we called it "Office Hours" back in the day). In the old Marine Corps, these perpetual privates were known as s*birds.
Anyway, he may think he was getting away from his problems by defecting to N. Korea but in fact, his problems have only just begun. This will not end well for him.
In ROTC, OBC and my platoon leader time, the conventional wisdom was, "You spend 90% of your time with 10% of your soldiers." I refused to buy into that. My philosophy as a leader was to reinforce success and make sure I was there for the soldiers, NCOs and junior officers who were committed to doing things right, so when I got my company command, I committed to taking care of all my Article 15s after evening chow. The good troops were off for the day, and the sh!tbirds had all day to think about what waited for them that evening. My platoon leaders and NCOs called it, "Night Court" :-)
Things may or may not have changed since the days when Jenkins and the other GI’s were in Korean custody, but i recall jenkins saying they were forced to memorize north korean pledges etc.. in korean. Beatings if not done correctly. I highly doubt theres an ebonical dialect of korean.
All i can say is that he gonna earn his street cred if he makes it out alive.