James Joseph Dresnok

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James Joseph Dresnok

Born 1941
Flag of the United States Richmond, Virginia
Residence Flag of North Korea Pyongyang, North Korea
Occupation American soldier (deserted)
North Korean teacher, occasional actor

James Joseph Dresnok (born 1941) is an American defector to North Korea. He was featured on the CBS magazine program 60 Minutes on January 28, 2007, as the last United States defector alive in North Korea.

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[edit] Name

James Joseph Dresnok[1] refers to himself as “Joe Dresnok” and is referred to as both “James Dresnok”[2][3] and “Joe Dresnok” in news reports, sometimes as both in the same report.[4]

[edit] Family

He was the son of Joseph Dresnok I (1917–1978), and has a brother Joseph Dresnok II (born 1946).[5] In 1951, when Joe was 5 and James was 9, the family split up while living in Richmond, Virginia. Joe said he stayed with his father, and moved with him to Pennsylvania and lost contact with his mother and James.[6] The arrangement with his father was temporary. In his teens, James Dresnok was placed in a foster home, dropped out of school, and joined the Army one day after his 17th birthday.

[edit] Defection

Dresnok was a Private First Class with a U.S. Army unit along the Korean Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea in the early 1960s. At one point, shortly after his wife in the United States had left him for another man, and he was facing a court martial for leaving base without permission, he deserted his post.[4] On August 15, 1962, at noon, while his fellow soldiers were eating lunch, he ran across a mine field in broad daylight into North Korean territory and was quickly apprehended by enemy soldiers. He was taken by train to Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, and interrogated.[4]

[edit] Life in North Korea

Dresnok met other American defectors soon after his arrival. Eventually there were four of them: Larry Allen Abshier, Jerry Parrish, Charles Robert Jenkins, and Dresnok. The men lived together and were the subjects of "reeducation" by the North Korean government. They were forced to memorize large portions of books by Kim Il-Sung and his Juche philosophy in Korean. Subject to poor living conditions, intense control and lack of freedom, the four men tried to leave North Korea in 1966 by seeking asylum at the Soviet embassy in Pyongyang, but were immediately turned over to North Korean authorities by the embassy.[4] After that experience, Dresnok decided to settle in North Korea and assimilate. Beginning in 1978, he was cast in several North Korean films, including the 20-part series Unsung Heroes, as an American villain, and became a celebrity in the country as a result. He is called "Arthur" by his Korean friends, as that is the name of the character he played in the series. He also translated some of North Korean leader Kim Il-sung’s writings into English.[4][7] According to Jenkins's book, The Reluctant Communist, Dresnok was something of a bully, betrayed the other Americans' confidences to the North Koreans, and enthusiastically beat up Jenkins 30 or more times upon the orders of their Korean handlers. In Crossing the Line, Dresnok denies these allegations.

During his life in North Korea, where he still lives, he has been twice married. His second wife (first in Korea) was a Romanian woman named Doina Bumbea, and they had two sons (she is referred to as "Dona" in Jenkins' autobiography). After Doina died of lung cancer, he married his third wife, the daughter of a North Korean woman and a Togolese diplomat, with whom he had a son in 2001.[4] The family lives in a small apartment in Pyongyang that was provided to them, along with a monthly stipend, by the North Korean government. [4] Today, Dresnok is in failing health, with a bad heart and liver, which he attributes to smoking and drinking too much.[4]

Dresnok has stated that he intends to spend the rest of his life in North Korea, and that no amount of money could entice him back to the West.[4] Currently in retirement, Dresnok occasionally gives lectures in North Korea and spends his time fishing “just to pass the time.”[4]

His elder son from his second marriage, James Dresnok, was a student at Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies, where his father taught English in the 1980s.[4] James speaks English with a Korean accent and considers himself Korean although he reportedly does not wish to marry a Korean woman.[4] James intends to enter the diplomatic service.[4]

[edit] Crossing the Line documentary film

Dresnok is also the subject of a documentary film entitled Crossing the Line by British filmmakers Daniel Gordon and Nicholas Bonner, which was shown at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.[8] The film, which was narrated by actor Christian Slater[3], was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the festival.[9]

[edit] Quotes

  • “On August 15th, at noon in broad daylight when everybody was eating lunch, I hit the road. Yes I was afraid. Am I gonna live or die? And when I stepped into the minefield and I seen it with my own eyes, I started sweating. I crossed over, looking for my new life.” [4]

[edit] Other defectors to North Korea

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Frederick, Jim; “In from the Cold”, Time (magazine), November 4, 2004. Accessed January 28, 2007.
  2. ^ Russell, Mark “An American in North Korea, Pledging Allegiance to the Great Leader”, New York Times, October 19, 2006. Accessed January 28, 2007.
  3. ^ a b Full Cast and Crew for Crossing the Line, IMDb profile. Accessed January 28, 2007.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Anderson, Robert G.; Casey Morgan. "An American in North Korea.", 60 Minutes, January 28, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-08-21. 
  5. ^ Joseph Dresnok I (1917–1978) was born on February 3, 1917 and died in March 1978 according to the Social Security Death Index
  6. ^ Man Hopes His Brother Alive; Thursday, January 18, 1996
  7. ^ Spiller, Penny. "Last US defector in North Korea", BBC News, 2007-01-23. Retrieved on 2006-06-22. 
  8. ^ World Documentary Competition, “Crossing the Line” (2006) 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Accessed January 28, 2007.
  9. ^ Awards for Crossing the Line (2006), IMDb profile, Awards & Nominations section. Accessed January 28, 2007.

[edit] External links

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