Here’s what happened to 6 American soldiers who defected to North Korea

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Updated onJan 20, 2023 12:11 PM PST
7 minute read
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SUMMARY

Isolated and sealed off from the rest of the world, North Korea doesn’t exactly shine as a beacon of hope and light. But for a half dozen American soldiers serving after the Korean War ended, it apparently seemed that way. The war came …

Isolated and sealed off from the rest of the world, North Korea doesn't exactly shine as a beacon of hope and light. But for a half dozen American soldiers serving after the Korean War ended, it apparently seemed that way.

The war came to a halt with an armistice in 1953, though the North has often threatened to back out, while it's not blustering about destroying its neighbor or lobbing artillery shells over the de-militarized zone. Since that time, both sides have occasionally come close to war once again. But with U.S. soldiers still stationed in and supporting the South, that probably wouldn't work too well for the Hermit Kingdom.

So what happens when an American soldier decides to switch teams? In 1962 we got an answer, along with five others who defected to North Korea (There are many others who defected during the war listed here).

Here's what happened to 6 American soldiers who defected to North Korea

1. Pvt. Larry Allen Abshier

On May 28, 1962, Pvt. Abshier walked off his post and meandered through the minefields of the Korean DMZ and fled to North Korea, becoming the first post-war defector. According to a defector who came across later, Abshier was a bit of a troublemaker and was caught smoking marijuana on a number of occasions. So rather than face Army discipline, he chose the most repressive regime on earth, according to NK News.

Once he got there, he was used for his obvious propaganda value. The North broadcasted on June 13 that Abshier could no longer stand his "humiliating life" in the American military, and then later, as other defectors showed up, he became a big-time star of propaganda films, usually playing as Evil American #1. Seriously, he even has his own IMDB page.

Abshier in a North Korean film.

Abshier did end up getting married — twice. His first wife was taken away from him when his captors found out she was pregnant. His second wife was a Thai woman who was kidnapped by Pyongyang agents. But despite plenty of hype about American defectors being treated to lavish rewards, Abshier was forced to read propaganda about Kim Il Sung for 11 hours a day and lived in a crappy house. He died of a heart attack on July 11, 1983.

2. Pfc. James Joseph Dresnok

Just like Abshier, Pfc. James Dresnok wasn't the recruiting poster soldier (yes, we know you're shocked). After serving two years in West Germany, he found himself on the South Korean DMZ, facing a court-martial. According to "60 Minutes," his wife had left him and he had left his base without permission, and the Man was about to drop the hammer.

So he just walked through a minefield instead, joining Abshier (although they didn't know each other). Like him, Dresnok was later plastered on magazines, books, and made appearances in movies. After four years of that, he (and others) finally figured out their new life sucked, and sought asylum in the Soviet embassy. And the Soviets told them to pound sand.

Dresnok in a still from a Chinese news package.

Luckily, the North Koreans didn't shoot him, and he decided to just conform. "Oh, I gotta think like this, I gotta act like this. I've studied their revolutionary history, their lofty virtues about the Great Leader. Little by little, I came to understand the Korean people," Dresnok told "60 Minutes."

He's still there, alive and kicking. Dresnok, who goes by Joe, taught English for some time and now lives in a small apartment in Pyongyang, living off his government check. He's been married twice, and even has three kids. His oldest son James considers himself Korean, and wants to be a diplomat, according to CBS.

3. Cpl. Jerry Wayne Parrish

In Dec. 1963, Cpl. Jerry Parrish walked across the DMZ, according to NK News. The why for Parrish wasn't as clear cut as the others, though Charles Jenkins (who defected next) wrote in his book that he cited personal reasons, but "didn't elaborate about them much except to say that if he ever went home, his father-in-law would kill him."

There's much less known about Parrish's time in North Korea until Jenkins showed up in 1965. At that point, the North now had four American mouths to feed, and it stuck them into a crappy house and pitted them against each other so they would become indoctrinated.

"At first the four of us lived in one house, one room, very small, no beds — we had to sleep on the floor," Jenkins told Far Eastern Economic Review. "There was no running water. We had to carry water approximately 200 metres up the hill. And the water was river water."

He added: "If I didn't listen to the North Korean government, they would tie me up, call Dresnok in to beat me. Dresnok really enjoyed it."

Like the others, he was used mostly for propaganda. He starred as "Lewis" in the 1978 cult classic (only in North Korean minds) film "Unsung Heroes." He married a Lebanese woman — who swears she wasn't kidnapped or anything — and had three sons, all of whom remain in North Korea. Parrish died of "massive internal infection" in 1997, according to the Far Eastern Economic Review.

4. Sgt. Charles Robert Jenkins

Jenkins is perhaps the most well-known of the American defectors, since he's still around, unrepentant, and still giving interviews. But his story of defection was basically your Army buddy's version of "I got drunk and went to get a tattoo and I don't know what happened." According to The Atlantic, on Jan. 4, 1965 Jenkins pounded 10 beers then decided to desert his infantry squad while leading them on patrol, in an effort to avoid going to Vietnam. Well, mission accomplished, bro.

It wasn't long before the beer wore off. "I made a lot of mistakes in my life, maybe, but that was the worst mistake anybody ever make," he told CBS News. "That's for sure."

Once he got there, he was put into a small home with the others and slept on the floor, forced to memorize propaganda all day. This was a far cry from his real plan, hoping the North Koreans would send him to Russia and the Russians would swap him back to the U.S. (on what planet does this make sense?).

Among one of the worst things to happen to Jenkins involved his choice of ink: On his forearm he had the letters "U.S." underneath infantry crossed rifles. The North Koreans held him down and cut off those letters, according to Far Eastern Economic Review.

He lived in North Korea for nearly 40 years, teaching English, translating, and of course, starring in propaganda. He married a Japanese woman who had been kidnapped and had two daughters. In 2002, she was freed in a rare act of diplomacy on Kim Jong Il's part, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe offered Jenkins the same courtesy. He took it in 2004.

Though the Army did throw him in the stockade for a whopping total of 24 days and gave him a dishonorable discharge, a hilarious twist from his time of desertion before he was tried qualified him for all the service medals during the period. So he actually showed up to his court-martial wearing a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. Thanks for your service, Chuck.

Jenkins after returning from North Korea.

Jenkins now lives with his wife in Japan, where he works at a historical museum, The Atlantic reported.

5. Pfc. Roy Chung

There's some controversy over what actually happened to Chung. Born in South Korea as Chung Ryeu, he moved to the U.S. with his parents in 1973 and joined the Army for the college money, later serving in West Germany. But here's where it gets weird: He was nowhere near Korea when he disappeared.

In June 1979, he vanished from his unit in Germany, and three months later, North Korean state radio announced he had defected. The Pentagon and State Department maintain that's probably true. But his parents are convinced he was kidnapped, The Washington Post reported.

None of the others reported ever coming into contact with him, and there's not much else known about his time in North Korea. He may still be alive, but is rumored to have died of natural causes.

Chung in North Korean People's Army uniform in an undated photo.

6. Pvt. Joseph T. White

The last person to join the defection dream team came on Aug. 28, 1982, when Pvt. Joseph White shot a lock off a gate at the Korean DMZ and started walking through the minefields. Carrying his M-16 rifle and ammo, he walked north and called out "I am coming" to his soon-to-be new best friends, according to Asia Times.

''My son did not cross that line,'' Kathleen White, his mother, told The New York Times. ''He loved this country and he loved that uniform and everything about it. Joey was nothing but gung-ho Army and gung-ho Reagan."

But back at his barracks, investigators found plenty of pro-North leaflets and other propaganda. And his fellow soldiers were dumbfounded. The last time they saw him, his arms were being held behind his back and North Korean soldiers were pushing him into a bunker, The New York Times reported.

What happened next is up for debate. In his autobiography, Jenkins said his government minders told him White had suffered an epileptic seizure and was paralyzed, but he never heard anything more. But in 1986, White's parents received a letter from a North Korean friend "who had been on good terms" with the soldier, explaining that he drowned in a river while enjoying a "leisure time" outing, the AP reported.

Since the propaganda bulls--t coming from North Korea is so thick, what really happened is impossible to verify.

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