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 consists of Americans via train or plane from China, some with temporary lodging and stay.
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]
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]
July 10, 1950...More than 60 members of the Republic of Korea National Assembly join the N Korean cause., for bibliography, see [1].
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...
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| Pre-Korean division |
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