James Joseph Dresnok - Life in North Korea

Life in North Korea

"I was fed up with my childhood, my marriage, my military life, everything. I was a goon. There's only one place to go," Dresnok said in an interview. "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.”

Dresnok met Larry Allen Abshier, another American defector, soon after his arrival. Eventually there were four of them: Abshier, Jerry Parrish, Charles Robert Jenkins, and Dresnok. The men lived together and participated in several propaganda efforts on behalf of the North Korean government. They appeared on magazine covers and used loudspeakers to try to persuade more American soldiers at the border to defect. However, at first, they did not wish to remain in North Korea indefinitely. In 1966, the four men tried to leave North Korea by seeking asylum at the Soviet embassy in Pyongyang, but were immediately turned over to North Korean authorities by the embassy. Afterwards, 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, after the character he played in the series. He also translated some of North Korean leader Kim Il-sung’s writings into English.

According to Jenkins's book, The Reluctant Communist, Dresnok was something of a bully, betraying 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 vehemently denies these allegations.