Crossing the Line (2006)
Crossing the Line (UK) (DOC) Directed by Daniel Gordon
This story of James Dresnok, a former US Army private who defected to North Korea (then under the control of Kim il-Sung) in 1962, is directed by Brit Daniel Gordon. Born in VA, raised under horrible conditions, Dresnok spent years moving from one relative to another, and then to a series of foster homes. At 17 he enlisted, but upon returning home from the service found that his wife had become involved with another man. When she left him, a distraught Dresnok re-upped and was sent to South Korea. He was stationed along the dangerous demilitarized zone at the border between North and South Korea, a place known for long periods of boredom punctuated by brief but explosive guerrilla attacks and sniper fire. At the time the area was full of prostitutes catering to the American men, and Dresnok found himself in love with one of the local women. When he was refused leave to visit her he forged his own pass, and was caught. Facing disciplinary action and possible discharge, he abruptly walked across the land mine-filled zone to the other side. The story includes the other three Americans who defected to DPRK - Private Larry Abshier (three months earlier) Private Jerry Parrish (1963), and Sgt. Charles Jenkins (1965). The four were initially reviled in their new country, a situation exacerbated by their attempt to defect again to Russia in 1966. Refused, they underwent years of re-education, and eventually were granted citizenship and married. Evidently, however, some or all of their wives were kidnapped from other countries, and it is alleged their mixed-race children were groomed to be spies. In 1978 the four began appearing in propaganda films. Dresnok is still called Mr. Arthur by the public after a famous character he played. In 2004, due to temporarily improved relations between DPRK and Japan, it was admitted that Japanese citizens had actually been kidnapped, and that Jenkins’ wife was one of them. First, his wife was allowed to leave, and eventually Jenkins and their daughters were granted permission to visit her with the understanding that they would return. Jenkins was on the cover of Time, and wound up doing thirty days in a US prison, before being reunited with his family his family in Japan. He claimed to have endured horrible conditions and beatings (supposedly issued by Dresnok himself) during his time in the DPRK and vowed never to go back. The physically imposing Dresnok, who is in ill health (and refuses to stop drinking and smoking), calls Jenkins a liar, and still lives under the rule of The Great Leader Kim Jong Il with his second wife, two grown sons, and young son. Dresnok is something of an impenetrable wall, and one gets the feeling of never getting to to his truth, or the full truth of the wider story, but it’s a fascinating tale all the same.