The 'Evil American' Living in Pyongyang: the Story of a Defector

James Joseph Dresnok was born in Norfolk, Virginia in 1941. His parents divorced when he was 9 years old and his father eventually abandoned the young Dresnok at a local senior home, beginning his life as an orphan. Dresnok was placed in foster care but eventually dropped out of high school and enlisted in the Army at 17. His first marriage ended in shambles, mostly because of his wife's infidelity and his lengthy military assignments away from home.

Eventually stationed at the demilitarized zone in South Korea, Dresnok was threatened with a court martial for leaving his camp site to visit a prostitute in a local village. The fact that he forged his supervisor's signature to fool the gate guards made his actions even more deplorable. Overcome with depression over his orphan upbringing, failed marriage, and soon to be failed military career, Dresnok made a break for a new life on August 15, 1962. In broad daylight, while the rest of his camp was eating lunch, Dresnok crossed the 2.5 mile wide stretch of minefield that splits the entire Korean peninsula into north and south.

While tales from other American defectors to North Korea depict years of torture and a living hell, Dresnok appears to be content with his life in Pyongyang, the nation's capitol city. In a BBC documentary titled "Crossing the Line" about his experiences, Dresnok admits that he lives a privileged life under socialism. During the famines of the 1990s that swept the nation, Dresnok was fed rice rations while others in the country starved. His rise to prominence was due mostly to his stint as a movie actor for state propaganda films during the 1970s, always portraying an evil American capitalist and imperialist.

After an early life of failing to find a place where he could belong, Dresnok claimed to be pleased with his life in Pyongyang, where he was married twice, fathered three children, and now calls home. As a naturalized citizen, Dresnok enjoys all the benefits of being a citizen of North Korea, including state funded living quarters and medical care. Whether his enthusiasm for his life as a socialist is genuine or encouraged by the state is unknown, but Dresnok made it clear to filmmakers that he wouldn't trade his life in North Korea for any amount of money in the world. It was revealed in the documentary, however, that Dresnok and three other US defectors had managed to escape to a Soviet embassy in 1966 and request asylum, which was refused, and the men were delivered back to North Korea.

Today, his life as an American soldier is a distant memory, and Dresnok spends his days with friends fishing, drinking soju, and smoking cigarettes, despite the recommendation from his doctors that he make better lifestyle choices.

Sources:

Penny Spiller. Last US Defector in North Korea. BBC News.

Daniel Schorn. Joe Dresnok: An American in North Korea. CBS News.

Mark Russel. An American in North Korea, Pledging Allegiance to the Great Leader. The New York Times.

Gary Jones. North Korea's Pet American. The First Post.

Mark Seddon. The Dear Leader Takes Care of Me . The Guardian.