Joseph T. White

Joseph T. White
Born November 5, 1961
St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Died August 1, 1985 (aged 23)
Ch'ongch'on River, North Korea (officially)
Allegiance  United States (1961–1982)
 North Korea (1982–1985)
Service/branch  United States Army
Years of service ??? — 1982 (Defected)
Rank Private
Unit 1st Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment

Joseph T. White (November 5, 1961 – August, 1985) was a United States Army private who defected from a U.S. border site, which monitored DMZ movement to North Korea on August 28, 1982.[1] 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 last of the six known Americans to defect after the end of 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 in which White 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."

Prior to White's defection, Charles Jenkins was the last U.S. soldier to cross the demilitarized zone into North Korea. (Roy Chung, who deserted after Jenkins but before White, did not cross the DMZ but instead defected to East Germany and later arrived in North Korea.) 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 Ch'ongch'on River earlier that year in August. Despite the family's requests, White's body was never returned; the letter did mention that White's body was never recovered from the water. The story of the letter conflicts with Jenkins' account of White's fate.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Asia Times Online :: Korea News - Joseph White's walk in the dark