NationStates Jolt Archive

There's a film from 2006 entirely about a US soldier who defected ages ago and went to live in North Korea, where he's still living now.

He was one of four, but two have died since and the other (you may recall, it was in the news) returned to the US again fairly recently.

In 1962, a U.S. soldier sent to guard the peace in South Korea deserted his unit, walked across the most heavily fortified area on earth and defected to the Cold War enemy, the communist state of North Korea. He then simply disappeared from the face of the known world. He became a coveted star of the North Korean propaganda machine, and found fame acting in films, typecast as an evil American.

[...]

Now, after 45 years, the story of Comrade Joe, the last American defector in North Korea, is told.


The film is called Crossing the Line. It's a British documentary film. It should be interesting to watch just for the sheer strangeness of it...

More information here (http://www.crossingthelinefilm.com/synopsis.html) and here (http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=features2007&content=jump&jump=review&dept=sundance&nav=RSundance&articleid=VE1117931909&cs=1).

Now that's something I never, ever expected.

oh i saw an interview with this guy on the american tv show "60 minutes"

he was a somewhat disgruntled us soldier serving in korea when he decided one day to cross the border and defect to NK. he thought that he would be traded out for soviet prisoners in a matter of months. in other words he was a stupid kid.

he suffered horribly for the next 40 years being treated like crap and being forced to do NK propaganda. he eventually married a japanese woman who had been kidnapped in japan in order to be forced to teach japanese in NK.

his story is incredible. how one days stupid (treasonous) decision can be the mistake that destroys your life.

im gonna put this movie on my netflix list.

oh i saw an interview with this guy on the american tv show "60 minutes"


You're thinking of the one who recently left NK and (I think) returned to the US. This film is about the guy who's still living in North Korea right now.

There's a film from 2006 entirely about a US soldier who defected ages ago and went to live in North Korea, where he's still living now.

He was one of four, but two have died since and the other (you may recall, it was in the news) returned to the US again fairly recently.



The film is called Crossing the Line. It's a British documentary film. It should be interesting to watch just for the sheer strangeness of it...

More information here (http://www.crossingthelinefilm.com/synopsis.html) and here (http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=features2007&content=jump&jump=review&dept=sundance&nav=RSundance&articleid=VE1117931909&cs=1).

Just a couple of notes:
There were actually quite a few more who had either deserted and gone over or had refused repatriation after the armistice. There were 23 US "turncoats, most of whom, but not all, were orignially POWs. Most ended up in the PRC, and many returned in the late 50s and 60s. There was also a Brit as well, IIRC.
http://www.aiipowmia.com/koreacw/zweiback21.html
Charles Jenkins, the deserter who you said was recently returned, wasn't actually returned to the US, but here to Japan. He did turn himself in and was given a very short sentence - 30 days, of which he served 6, and a dishonourable discharge. He did visit the US briefly, but now resides in Niigata, on Sado Island with his Japanese wife's family. His wife was one of many Japanese abducted by the DPRK.
There have been US defectors in most of the US wars. Most recent was probably Ryan G. Anderson.

You're thinking of the one who recently left NK and (I think) returned to the US. This film is about the guy who's still living in North Korea right now.

Bingo. Ashmoria's thinking of Jenkins.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Robert_Jenkins

Bingo. Ashmoria's thinking of Jenkins.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Robert_Jenkins

ahh ok. did this other guy have a better experience than jenkins did? not that anyone living in NK outside the dear leader's palace lives in anything but squalor. but perhaps he was given a better standard of living because he was more cooperative.

Charles Jenkins, the deserter who you said was recently returned, wasn't actually returned to the US, but here to Japan. He did turn himself in and was given a very short sentence - 30 days, of which he served 6, and a dishonourable discharge. He did visit the US briefly, but now resides in Niigata, on Sado Island with his Japanese wife's family.

Thanks! I did remember that he'd been to Japan initially (and received a dishonourable discharge), but I couldn't remember whether or not he'd then moved on to the US.

Aha. Looking at the article, this guy defected around the same time as Jenkins, during the early 60s. My comment on the turncoats was re the UN-Korea/PRC war. (Watch someone call me out on that while I'm posting this...)

Of all the places to defect too, you should at least choose one where at least the dictator is considered upper class. Also, I havent heard much about the Japanese kidnappings before, you would think that might tense up diplomacy a little.

ahh ok. did this other guy have a better experience than jenkins did? not that anyone living in NK outside the dear leader's palace lives in anything but squalor. but perhaps he was given a better standard of living because he was more cooperative.

Here's what the NYT review of the film says:

Mr. Dresnok says he is a true believer in the North Korean system. “I wouldn’t trade it for nuthin’,” he states emphatically. He is proud that two of his three sons attend the prestigious Foreign Language School in Pyongyang, saying he could never have afforded such an education in the United States. “I don’t want my sons to be an illiterate old man like me.” But he is a celebrity in North Korea, and although Pyongyang is poor by Western standards, it is the city of the elite for North Koreans. “Anyone living in Pyongyang is privileged,” Mr. Bonner said. “But the main force behind us was human interest.”

But privilege is probably not the answer to understanding why Mr. Dresnok and the other American defectors decided to build their lives in North Korea; belief is. Three of the four American defectors, with the exception of Mr. Jenkins, came from broken homes, with missing or abusive fathers. They made homes in the most extreme totalitarian state in the world, where Kim Il-sung is portrayed at the ultimate father figure for the entire nation. Even though Mr. Dresnok has numerous health problems (mostly related to his smoking and drinking, which he refuses to stop), the North Korean government provides for him and his family.

Which leads into the second time Mr. Dresnok cries in the film. While talking about the North Korean famines of the 1990’s, he says that despite the hundreds of thousands who died, the North Koreans never cut his rations. “Why? Why do they let their own people starve to death to feed an American?” he asks as he tears up. “The Great Leader has given us a special solicitude. The government is going to take care of me until my dying day.”

My understanding of Jenkins' case is that he stayed as long as he did for similar reasons.

“Why? Why do they let their own people starve to death to feed an American?”

Heres a hint. It's not because he's deeply concerned for you.

Here's what the NYT review of the film says:



My understanding of Jenkins' case is that he stayed as long as he did for similar reasons.

not that you can believe anything he says. he lives in north korea. he isnt allowed to say anything that would reflect badly on the country. if he did, and im not saying that he would, both he and his children would suffer for it. if he's going to stay, he has to spout the party line.

which doesnt mean that he doesnt believe it, just that you cant trust that he does.

And, coincidentally, there's now a BBC article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6267645.stm) on this very topic.

Apparently BBC4 will be showing the film on a yet-to-be-determined date.