Americans in North Korea explained

Americans in North Korea consist mainly of defectors and prisoners of war during and after the Korean War, as well as their locally born descendants. Additionally, there are occasional tours and group travel which consist of Americans via train or plane from China, some with temporary lodging and stay.

Prisoners of war

On September 17, 1996, The New York Times reported the possible presence of American POWs in North Korea, citing declassified documents. The documents showed that the U.S. Defense Department knew in December 1953 that "more than 900 American troops were alive at the end of the war but were never released by the North Koreans". The Pentagon did not confirm the report, saying it had no clear evidence that any Americans were being held against their will in North Korea but pledged to continue to investigate accounts of defectors and others who said they had seen American prisoners there. The North Korean government has said it is not holding any Americans.^[1]

Notable people

Korean War

Operation Big Switch, the exchange of remaining prisoners of war, commenced in early August 1953 and lasted into December. During that period, some 21 American soldiers refused to return to their homeland and decided to stay in the country (along with one British soldier and 327 South Koreans).^[2]

Notable defectors

• Anna Wallis Suh (1950,^{[3] [4]} died 1969^[5])
• Larry Allen Abshier (1962,^[6] died 1983^[7])
• James Joseph Dresnok (1962,^[6] died 2016^[7])
• Jerry Wayne Parrish (1963,^[6] died 1998^[7])
• Charles Robert Jenkins (1965,^[7] left North Korea in 2004,^[7] died 2017^[8])
• Roy Chung (1979,^[9] died 2004)
• Joseph T. White (1982,^[10] died 1985)
• Travis King (July 2023,^[11] expelled from North Korea in September 2023^[12])

See also

• 2009 imprisonment of American journalists by North Korea
• Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act
• List of Americans detained by North Korea

Notes and References

1. https://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/17/world/us-knew-in-1953-north-koreans-held-american-pow-s.html U.S. Knew in 1953 North Koreans Held American P.O.W.'s
2. http://www.nj.gov/military/korea/factsheets/opswitch.html Operations Big and Little Switch
3. Book: Edwards, Paul M.. To Acknowledge A War: the Korean War in American memory. Greenwood Publishing Group. 2000. 0-313-31021-1. 79.
4. Web site: Young Sik . Kim . 2004-07-29 . Korean War 1950: War of Unification . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070813192501/http://www.kimsoft.com/korea/eyewit18.htm . 2007-08-13 . 2009-05-03 . Eyewitness: A North Korean Remembers . July 10, 1950...More than 60 members of the Republic of Korea National Assembly join the N Korean cause. . refKoreanWar1950., for bibliography, see https://web.archive.org/web/20080720082409/http://www.kimsoft.com/korea/eyewit33.htm.
5. Book: Jenkins, Charles Robert. Charles Robert Jenkins. The Reluctant Communist: My Desertion, Court-Martial, and Forty-Year Imprisonment in North Korea. 2008. University of California Press. 978-0-520-25333-9. refJenkins. registration. 115–116.
6. News: Choe. Sang-hun. North Korea Says It Detained U.S. Tourist Seeking Shelter There. February 6, 2018. The New York Times. April 25, 2014. In 1962, Pfc. James Dresnok, who was stationed in South Korea, walked across the demilitarized zone in broad daylight. A court-martial for forging a pass had been looming at the time he defected. Once in the North, he joined Pvt. Larry Allen Abshier, who defected three months earlier. In December 1963, Specialist Jerry Wayne Parrish also defected....
7. News: Kaiman. Jonathan. Meet Charles Robert Jenkins, an American detained by North Korea for 40 years. February 6, 2018. Los Angeles Times. August 13, 2017.
8. News: Ramzy. Austin. Charles Jenkins, 77, U.S. Soldier Who Regretted Fleeing to North Korea, Dies. February 6, 2018. The New York Times. December 12, 2017.
9. News: Ritchie. Joe. Ahn. Jaehoon. South Korean, Who Joined U.S. Army, Reportedly Defected to North Korea. February 6, 2018. The Washington Post. September 13, 1979.
10. News: U.S. Now Says Soldier Went Over to the North Koreans Voluntarily. February 6, 2018. The New York Times. United Press International. September 3, 1982.
11. News: Raford. Antoinette. Fraser. Simon. US soldier held by North Korea after crossing border.. July 18, 2023. BBC News. July 18, 2023.
12. News: Bae . Gawon . North Korea to 'expel' US soldier Travis King, who crossed from South, state media reports . 27 September 2023 . CNN . 27 September 2023.