You’ve probably already seen it, but man, if you haven’t, here’s the CBS “60 Minutes” interview with Joe Dresnok, the former U.S. soldier who defected to the Workers Paradise in 1962. Since moving to the North, he’s been keeping himself busy teaching English, translating and portraying evil Americans in movies (or, in other words, pretty much the same thing he’d be doing if he’d stayed in South Korea). Definitely worth watching, as this is the first time he’s spoken to the outside world (not counting North Korean propaganda broadcasts across the DMZ) since he made his way to the North. And if you ever wanted to see a white boy speaking English with a Korean accent, they also talk to his son.
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16 Comments
Don’t know if Jenkins is telling the truth, but that Dresnok guy looks like a bully.
PS. Check the other video, the one about savants. There’s this English guy, Daniel Tammett. He’s autistic, but he’s articulate, intelligent, and introspective. He learned Icelandic, fluent, in 7 days!
Amazing interview… both of them actually. Almost makes me want to defect to the DPRK… I mean, look at all those benefits… He enjoys being so famous with the Norks that he ignores the fact that he’s helping to drain the lifeblood of a country.
You mean losers who are rejected and despised in their home countries and go to Korea to try to be somebody?
Bye, Katz.
“Dresnok” even SOUNDS like a good evil henchman name.
He came across on CBS as a near ‘tard, not unlike Jenkins — and Katz.
This reminds me of the 21 American soldiers who defected to China after the Korean War. All but one went back to the States. Unlike the Norks China let the traitors return to the States. There was a documentary on it called ‘They Chose China’. It’s not available on amazon, but here’s more info on it:
http://www.nfb.ca/trouverunfil.....7Bchina%7D
for me the most fascinating bit was the info on his son - who seems somewhat normal if not brainwashed - poor kid. He doesn’t want to marry a Korean - the kid will marry who he is told to marry …
it was fascinating interview - can’t wait to see Crosssing the Line.
guanoisland, I see that as either a cry for help or an attempt to make North Korea more culturally diverse than it really is.
Dresnok reminds me of his many better educated, but less colorful, but equally blindered fellow-travelers here in the South who similarly suffer from advanced stockholm syndrome dementia.
There is a longer interview with the filmmakers of Crossing the Line @ http://www.npr.org/templates/s.....Id=6942344.
What a slug! Interesting story however, it’s like Cindy She-man on steroids. You hate to see these people get any credibility from their story.
North Korea rocks!!
I think it is a shame that they did not dwell a little more on his past. One of the reasons why he immediately volunteered (yes - volunteered) to come to Korea after a tour in Germany was because his wife was divorcing him in the States and by going overseas he was protected by the Soldier-Sailor Relief Act - in effect - stopping the divorce until he could return.
I think they should have also mentioned his transgressions while in Germany. He ran into trouble there as well. As for Jenkins’ statement that Dresnok used to beat them while they were tied - I find more credibility with that than Dresnok’s smart-ass comment that Jenkins tried to pull rank on him (after several years of being in North Korea) and so they got into a fight. He said there were two hits: Him hitting Jenkins and Jenkins hitting the ground. Does that mean Jenkins even threw a blow?
I find it very interesting that apparently the first four defectors never met the last two defectors, even though they did apparently meet people who had been snatched by the North.
Correction:
Does that mean Jenkins never even threw a blow?
The person must have needed “A Place In The Sun” and finally found it in North Korea. It’s his life.
R. Neff — The 60 Minutes feature was little more than a rehash of the movie, in miniature. The movie does go into a lot more detail. I cannot remember, though, if they talked about the 1980s defectors in the movie.
As for credibility… I dunno. What seems more likely to you… that Dresnok got made at Jenkins while drinking and decked him, or that he is an evil sadist? NK certainly encourages a lot of hideous, inhuman behavior from people as part of its monstrous machine… but personally I think Jenkins comes across like more of a weasel. In the absence of more evidence, I prefer Dresnok’s story. But who knows the truth? Talk about through the glass darkly.
Haisan,
Very true. I also think that Jenkin’s story is suspect and could believe that some of their conflict was due to drunken rages - which, in itself, seems remarkable - I never really thought of these guys going around “town” getting drunk. I have talked to several people who have, according to them, managed to elude their “escorts” and go out and drink with the local expats - per se. I think it is fascinating that Dresnok has enjoyed the hospitality of his host far better than the host’s own people. Doing the research into Pfc White has opened my eyes to a lot of things that I was not aware of. All very interesting stuff.
What would be even better would be a look at how the South Korean defectors in North Korea are living.