Screening: Crossing the Line

This is the story of Comrade Joe, the last American defector to North Korea, who became a coveted star of the North Korean propaganda machine, but then disappeared from the face of the known world. He later found fame acting in North Korean films, typecast as the evil American.

In 1962, a U.S. soldier sent to guard the peace in South Korea deserted his unit, walked across the most heavily fortified area on earth and defected to the Cold War enemy, the communist state of North Korea.

Now, after 45 years, he uses Korean as his daily language, has three sons from two wives and has lived in North Korea twice as long as he has in America. At one time, there were four Americans living in North Korea. Today, just one remains. Crossing the Line is the story of Comrade Joe, the last American defector in North Korea, told for the first time.