Name Joseph White Rank Private | ||
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Died August 1, 1985, Chongchon River, North Korea | ||
Years of service 1981 — 1982 (Defected) | ||
Joseph T. White (November 5, 1961 — August 1, 1985) was a United States Army soldier who defected to North Korea on August 28, 1982.
Career
A member of 1/31st Infantry, he shot the lock off one of the gates leading into the Korean Demilitarized Zone and was witnessed by fellow soldiers walking through the DMZ with a duffle bag full of documents he stole from the site to include the layout of mines which were buried on the South Korean side of the DMZ. He surrendered to North Korean troops. He was the first American soldier to request asylum in North Korea since January 1965 and the fifth since the Korean War.
North Korean authorities refused a request by UNC representatives to meet White and ask him about the reasons for his defection. North Korean authorities released a video of White, in which he denounced the United States' "corruptness, criminality, immorality, weakness, and hedonism," affirming he had defected to demonstrate how "unjustifiable [it was] for the U.S. to send troops to South Korea", before leading a chant in homage to North Korean leader Kim Il Sung.
Prior to White's defection, Charles Jenkins, in 1965, was the last U.S. soldier to cross the demilitarized zone into North Korea.[1] Jenkins wrote in his memoirs that he never met White, but once saw him on state television at a press conference soon after the defection. He also wrote that plans were in the works for White to share housing with one of the other American defectors, but it eventually fell through. According to Jenkins' government minders, White suffered an epileptic seizure of some form and was left paralyzed. Following that, Jenkins heard nothing more about him.
In February 1983, White's parents received a letter from their son, stating that he was happy in North Korea and working as an English teacher. Then, on November 5, 1985, the day of White's 24th birthday, his parents received a letter penned by a North Korean contact of White, stating that their son had died by drowning in the Ch'ongch'on River earlier that year in August, and his body was not recovered.