Larry Abshier
| Larry Allen Abshier | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1943 Urbana, Illinois, United States |
| Died | July 11, 1983 (aged 40) Pyongyang, North Korea |
| Allegiance |
 United States (1943–1962) North Korea (1962–1983) |
| Service/branch |
 United States Army
|
| Years of service | unknown–1962 |
| Rank |
 Private
|
Larry Allen Abshier (1943 – July 11, 1983) was one of six American soldiers to defect to North Korea after the Korean War. He was born in Urbana, Illinois.
Private Abshier abandoned his post in South Korea in May 1962 when he crept away from his base and crossed the DMZ into North Korea. He was, for three months, the only American in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, until Private James Joseph Dresnok defected in August.
In the 2006 documentary movie Crossing the Line, Dresnok recalls waking up to see a white face looking at him. "I opened my eyes. I didn’t believe myself. I shut them again. I must be dreaming. I opened them again and looked and, 'Who in the hell are you?' He says, 'I'm Abshier.' 'Abshier? I don’t know no Abshier.'"
Abshier and three other Americans, James Joseph Dresnok, Charles Robert Jenkins, and Jerry Wayne Parrish, starred in several other propaganda films like Unsung Heroes, playing the evil Americans. Their participation in these films made them instant celebrities. Abshier and the other three became a propaganda bonanza, and carefully staged pictures were leaked outside the country of the four living in what was framed to appear as a utopian North Korea; the men always appeared successful, carefree, and happy.
Charles Jenkins wrote in his book The Reluctant Communist that Abshier had difficulty conversing in Korean but was fascinated by words and would spend hours studying high-level vocabulary from newspapers. Jenkins reported that the four were moved into a one-room house in Mangyongdae-guyok in June 1965, where they lived together for several years and were forced to read and memorize passages by Kim Il Sung. Jenkins asserted that Dresnok would bully Abshier at this time, for example, by making a mess and then demanding that Abshier clean it up. Abshier was sympathetically characterized by Jenkins as "a simple, sweet, good-hearted soul who was more than a little dumb and easy to take advantage of."
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