James Dresnok was an American solider serving in the US Army during the Korean War but he defected to North Korea. But who was he?
James Dresnok was born in Norfolk, Virginia on Mar 3, 1941. He parents divorced which caused some tensions in Dresnok’s home life and ended with him being sent to a foster home. He dropped out of high school and then joined the army after his 17th birthday. He spent some time in West Germany for military and then was sent off to South Korea. At the time, Dresnok was a Private First Class with the 1st Calvary Division of the US Army which was a unit that operated along the Korean Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea.
Unfortunately, he began forging signatures on paperwork that granted him permission to leave the base. This was soon discovered and Dresnok decided to go AWOL before he could be punished on August 15, 1962. Dresnok decided to do this by running across a minefield in broad daylight into North Korea, where he was then apprehended by the North Korean Army.
While in North Korea he settled down and started a new life. In 1978, Dresnok began acting in several North Korean films and translating some of Kim II-sung’s writings while teaching English at the Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies. He also appeared in various propaganda through out the years including directly speaking out against the US government. He also married twice while in North Korea. The first time to a Romanian woman named Doina Bumbea, with whom he had two sons. Unfortunately she died in 1997 of lung cancer which lead to Dresnok marrying a North Korean female with whom he had a son. In April 2017 it was reported Dresnok had died in 2016 and it was confirmed shortly afterwards by his sons that he had died in November 2016 from a stroke.
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