In the Korea Times, historian Robert Neff has a good article published about the 1982 defection of Private First Class Joseph White to North Korea that I recommend everyone read:
A propaganda leaflet of PFC White’s defection to North Korea. Robert Neff Collection.
On August 28, 1982, at about 2 a.m., the sound of a single gunshot shattered the silence of the Panmunjeom region of Korea’s Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
Gunfire along the DMZ was not uncommon, and while it was alarming, none could have imagined that it signified the unthinkable ― the defection of an American soldier to North Korea.
The incident occurred at Guard Post Oullette, one of the most forward American positions at that time in South Korea. PFC Joseph T. White, a member of the 1st Battalion of the 31st Infantry Regiment, was alone at his post when he shot off the lock of one of the gates leading into the 2.5-mile-wide DMZ, and made his way into one of most heavily fortified and mined zones in the world.
White was equipped with an M-16 with an attached grenade launcher, ammo, night-vision goggles, operating instructions for radio equipment and some unclassified information on radar and sensor systems, but all of these were left behind except his weapon and ammo.
Robert Neff from the Marmot’s Hole has posted an interesting article in the Korea Times about the 1982 defection of PFC Joseph White to North Korea. PFC White would remain in North Korea for only three more years until he supposedly died while drowning in a river. The reason for PFC White’s defection has been a matter of controversy for years.
Here is the theory from the article that I would put money on:
There is another theory. One American soldier claims that White fell in love with a North Korean agent in a club in the village of Bongilchon and that she disappeared on the same day White did. Allegedly she either guided him to the North Korean positions or she met him in the North.
PFC White was an introvert and when he enlisted in the military and was posted in Korea; he became a big fan of the ville culture. PFC White probably never had such attention showered on from women before and enjoyed the attention from the Korean women in the ville so much that he even wrote letters home to his mom about it. I don’t think it is too far fetched of an idea that a woman is the reason he defected.
I have seen soldiers do many stupid and criminal things due to juicy girls in the ville, so the possibility that PFC White defected due to juicy girl is definitely plausible to me. Anyway interesting read and I encourage everyone to check it out.
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