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North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is renowned for its extreme secrecy and isolation. Its leader, the authoritarian Kim Jong-un, governs with an iron grip. The country is believed to hold around 120,000 political prisoners, who endure grueling labor and frequent torture. Public executions are also used as a tool to instill fear. Over the last decade, at least seven people have faced public execution for merely watching K-pop videos from South Korea.
It’s not unexpected that thousands of North Koreans flee the country annually, although the numbers have significantly dwindled. What’s less discussed are the astonishing occasions when individuals have chosen to defect to North Korea. In this article, we’ll delve into the ten most remarkable defections to the reclusive nation.
10. James Dresnok
One of the most notorious defectors to North Korea was James Dresnok, an American-born U.S. soldier. Stationed on the Korean Peninsula, Dresnok crossed the demilitarized zone (DMZ) and was quickly captured by North Korean forces. He spent the remainder of his life in North Korea until his death in 2016. His two sons, who stayed in North Korea, expressed their unwavering loyalty to Kim Jong-un in a 2017 interview.
Dresnok made his defection to North Korea on August 15, 1962, navigating through a minefield. At the time, he was divorced and facing a court martial for forging his sergeant's signature. In the 2006 documentary *Crossing the Line*, Dresnok confessed, “I was fed up with my childhood, my marriage, my military life, everything.” After his defection, Dresnok rose to fame as a film star, appearing in several North Korean propaganda films where he played the role of the American villain. Dresnok remained loyal to North Korea throughout his life, saying, “I feel at home. I really feel at home… I wouldn’t trade it for nothing.”
9. Charles Jenkins
Another American soldier who unexpectedly defected to North Korea in 1965 was Charles Robert Jenkins, who stayed in the DPRK until he managed to escape in 2004. One evening, while intoxicated, Jenkins crossed the demilitarized zone, hoping to avoid combat duty in Vietnam. Unlike Dresnok, Jenkins quickly realized his grave mistake. After defecting, he found himself locked in a room with three other U.S. defectors (including Dresnok), where they were forced to study North Korean ideology for ten hours each day.
In 1972, Jenkins became a citizen of North Korea and was provided with an apartment. In 1980, he married Hitomi Soga, a Japanese woman abducted by the North Korean regime. In 2004, Jenkins was able to escape with his daughters to join his wife, who had been allowed to return to Japan. Upon his escape, Jenkins became an outspoken critic of the North Korean regime, revealing disturbing tales of physical abuse, deprivation, and even the removal of one of his testicles.
8. Choe Deok-sin
While it is mainly Americans who have defected to North Korea, there have been a few rare instances of South Koreans taking the same risky step. One notable defector was Choe Deok-sin, a former Foreign Minister and Ambassador to West Germany. In 1986, Choe and his wife made the decision to defect to North Korea. Before this, Choe had served as an officer in the Korean Liberation Army and later headed the Korea Military Academy. However, his dissatisfaction with the South Korean military government led him to move to the United States with his wife. A decade later, Choe declared that he would defect to the North, where he was warmly received.
Choe was celebrated in North Korea until his death in 1989. In a strange twist, his son, Choe In-guk, who had once criticized his parents' decision, publicly announced his own defection from South Korea to North Korea in 2019. Choe Deok-sin remains the highest-ranking South Korean defector to have ever made the journey to the North.
7. A Return to the Homeland
What happens if someone defects but later changes their mind? While defections to the South are relatively common, it is far rarer for defectors to return to the North. However, at the start of 2022, reports emerged of a South Korean man crossing the DMZ into North Korea, an event that is notably uncommon. Further investigation, however, revealed that the man was actually a North Korean who had defected to the South the previous year, though this has yet to be confirmed.
The identity of the individual, who remains unnamed, is believed to be a gymnast, explaining his impressive ability to scale the border fences. His reasons for returning to North Korea remain a mystery, but it is often reported that North Korean defectors face significant hardships in the South, including discrimination, bullying, and challenges in securing employment.
6. Larry Allen Abshier
Larry Allen Abshier became the first U.S. soldier to defect to North Korea when he deserted his post in early 1962. Like others before him (see #9 and #10), Abshier had encountered trouble with his superiors. Stationed at the DMZ, he had been caught smoking marijuana on multiple occasions and faced a potential court martial or even dismissal. In an attempt to avoid these consequences, Abshier chose to cross the heavily mined DMZ and enter North Korea.
Two weeks after his defection, Abshier was celebrated on North Korean propaganda channels and later became a film star, appearing in numerous North Korean movies. However, his life in the DPRK was far from easy. Fellow defector Charles Jenkins described him as 'the most scared' and 'the simplest' of the Americans. Abshier allegedly suffered bullying from fellow defector Dresnok. The North Korean regime later arranged for him to have a 'Thai wife,' who was reportedly kidnapped from Macau three months earlier. Unlike the others, Abshier died young, at just forty years old, after suffering a heart attack.
5. Oh Kil-nam
One of the most contentious South Korean defectors was Oh Kil-nam. After completing his Ph.D. in Marxist Economics in Germany, Oh was approached by North Korean agents who offered him a prestigious role as an economist in the North Korean government. Despite his wife’s objections, he accepted the offer, and he, his wife, and their two daughters traveled to North Korea through East Germany and Moscow. Upon arrival, however, there was no job waiting for him, nor was there any medical treatment for his wife’s hepatitis as promised. Instead, they were subjected to intense indoctrination in North Korean ideology.
Later, Oh was approached with an assignment abroad, where he was to be based at the North Korean embassy in Denmark, tasked with infiltrating South Korean students. However, upon reaching Copenhagen, he sought help and was detained by Danish authorities for several months. He was then sent to Germany, hoping to free his family, but it was already too late. Oh’s family had been arrested and taken to a concentration camp. The last communication he received from them was in 1991, and he has no knowledge of their fate since then.
4. Roy Chung
One of the more notable defections to North Korea involved Roy Chung (Chung Ryeu Sop), a twenty-two-year-old South Korean who had immigrated to the U.S. with his family in 1973. In 1979, while serving in the U.S. Army in West Germany, he went AWOL and was declared a 'deserter.' Two months later, he emerged in North Korea, citing his inability to endure the 'disgraceful life of national insult and maltreatment' in the U.S. Army.
Despite claims of his defection, Chung's parents, who lived in the U.S., insisted that their son had been abducted by North Korean agents. U.S. officials, however, saw no reason to doubt North Korea's version of events and chose not to investigate, since Chung had not been exposed to any classified information. What happened to Chung after his defection remains a mystery.
3. Joseph White
Lastly, we have Joseph White, a U.S. soldier who defected to North Korea in 1982. White enlisted in the U.S. Army in October 1981 and was assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division in South Korea by March 1982. On August 28, 1982, at the age of twenty, he mysteriously left his post at the DMZ and crossed into North Korea for reasons that remain unclear. North Korean authorities later claimed he sought political refuge in the country due to 'deep emotion.'
In 1983, White’s parents received a letter from their son, reassuring them that he was safe and employed as an English teacher. Tragically, two years later, in 1985, White drowned while swimming in the Chongchon River. The river was swollen due to rain, and White got caught in a fast-moving current. His friends could not save him. He passed away at just twenty-three.
2. Pak Jong-suk
A notable case of 'double defection' occurred in 2012 with the high-profile return of sixty-six-year-old Pak Jong-suk to North Korea. Pak had originally defected in 2006 to join her father in the Chinese city of Qingdao. There, she claims South Korean intelligence agents tricked her into defecting to the South, where she spent six years. In May 2012, Pak reportedly flew back to North Korea via China.
Upon her return, Pak held a public press conference, expressing regret for 'betraying her motherland' and praising the 'profound loving care' she had received from the North Korean leader during her homecoming. In the 80-minute speech, she recounted the hardships she faced living in the 'corrupt money-crazed South.' Despite her emotional display of loyalty, many remain skeptical, believing her return was motivated by concerns for her family rather than any true longing for her homeland. They argue that her narrative was likely fabricated by the State.
1. Matthew Todd Miller
Arguably the strangest case of defection to North Korea involves Matthew Todd Miller. In April 2014, the twenty-four-year-old American tourist arrived in North Korea as part of an organized tour. Upon his arrival, he shocked authorities by tearing up his visa and demanding political asylum. As a result, Miller was arrested for 'gross violation' of the country’s legal order.
Miller was sentenced to six years of hard labor in September 2014 for entering the country illegally and engaging in 'hostile' acts. However, he was freed on November 8, 2014, alongside fellow American Kenneth Bae, who had been sentenced to fifteen years for anti-government activities. After his release, Miller explained that his intention had been to 'stay in the country,' and that he simply wanted to 'learn about North Korea and speak to an ordinary North Korean about normal things.'
