You might not expect this, but defecting to North Korea can actually be a ticket to fame and fortune. There are very few Americans in North Korea – and those who don’t find themselves in prison camps often achieve massive success in entertainment. This is the strange story of the hermit kingdom’s white movie stars.
Welcome To North Korea
North Koreans defecting to the South is a common sight. But you hardly ever see defections the other way. But it wasn’t always like that. In 1951 the Cold War reached peak meme. Basically the entire world was at war in the Korean Peninsula, and somehow, communist forces almost captured the whole of Korea. The situation was so desperate that America’s supreme commander wanted to use nuclear weapons. He was soon dismissed for this suggestion, and the fighting continued. As losses stacked up, it basically became a war between China and America. Luckily for all, the war ended in 1953, with a military and political stalemate. Ever since, the border has been demilitarized and heavily guarded on either. And among the many American soldiers sent to guard that ridiculous border was James Joseph Dresnok.
Like most people with the middle name Joseph, his life was not a good one – at least to begin with. His mother was a bigamist prostitute, and his father abandoned him at a retirement home for some reason. Fast forward to 1958. A now 17 year old Dresnok found himself in the US army, and sent to West Germany. But army life really wasn’t for him. There was just too much discipline. On being ordered to clean an armored car with a toothbrush, he very nearly defected. He genuinely considered crossing over into Soviet East Germany to avoid cleaning any more trucks – but ultimately chickened out.
In all fairness, defecting at that point would be a lose/ lose scenario. Most likely, he would be interrogated and sent back west, only to be court-martialled for desertion. And even if they did grant him asylum, he’d have to live in Germany forever. Not good. So he bit the bullet and just carried on.
Defecting to North Korea
1962 was different though. This time, he was in South Korea, and facing a court martial regardless. Having forged his Sargent’s signature to get more time off, Dresnok was in big trouble. So he panicked, running across a minefield in the demilitarized zone, and into the arms of the enemy. From that point onward, he was one of only 7 Americans to defect to North Korea since the end of the war. But unlike most other defectors, this somehow turned out to be the best decision of his life. To start with, it was pretty rough though. Yet after the long torture sessions, when it became obvious he knew nothing of value to his captors, they decided to use him for propaganda. Dresnok began appearing in films, radio broadcasts, and on magazine covers.
He lived in a house with 4 other Americans, all of which were now a bizarre kind of celebrity. It actually sounds like the worst reality show of all time – and that is saying something. For a while Dresnok worked as a translator and English teacher – but from 1978 onward he began appearing in movies. The North Korean film industry has never been all that big – but as one of only a few white actors, he dominated the casting for villains. Here he is playing the commander of a POW camp, in the hit spy show “Unsung Heroes”.
He only appeared in one episode, but it was so popular, most North Koreans came to know him by the name of his character – Arthur Cockstead.
The Abducted
Off screen, Dresnok was forced into marriage with a Romanian woman. She was Doina Bumbea, a painter, who in 1978 was lured to Asia with the promise of a job in Japan. In reality, she was held captive in North Korea until her death 2 decades later. Believe it or not, this was a regular thing back in the day. More than 3 thousand people abducted by North Korea – most of which in the late 1970s. They even had submarines specifically patrolling for foreigners to kidnap. Most American defectors were made to marry other westerners – with the hope their offspring could be sent abroad as spies. But this wasn’t on the cards for James Joseph Dresnok’s children – because they’re famous.
Like their father, they now act in propaganda films – but unlike him, North Korea is all they know. Other Americans in North Korea who turned to acting include Larry Abshier – the first US soldier to cross over, and Charles Robert Jenkins, who was active in North Korea’s film industry until the year 2000.
Seoul City Sue
Also of note is Anna Wallis, a Christian missionary who somehow became North Korea’s head of English propaganda. Living in South Korea when northern forces took over, she was known locally as an English tutor, and soon got the attention of communist forces. Then in July of 1950, her voice began to reach American soldiers. Every day from Seoul, eerie messages were broadcast of her taunting the enemy in their own language – messages like this.
It was surprisingly creepy. Her relaxed tone of voice combined with thinly veiled threats and music. She would have made a good YouTuber. To western forces, she came to be known as Seoul City Sue – and she was so notorious they went looking for her on retaking South Korea. But they never found her, and the only clue as to her fate comes from other US defectors claiming she was executed in 1969. That’s the problem with throwing in with a dystopian dictatorship – it’s only a matter of time before you disappear.