In 1962 a U.S. solider sent to guard the peace in South Korea undertook an extraordinary journey, at the height of the Cold War he deserted his unit and walked across the most heavily fortified area on Earth and defected to an alien communist state, North Korea.

The existence of an American defector living in the hearth of the Cold War enemy was denied for decades by both the United States and North Korean governments. It has taken over forty years for outsiders to be granted permission to talk to and interview Private First Class James Joseph Dresnok.

A coveted star of the propaganda machine, this man has ingratiated himself in a system that perpetuates hatred of the U.S. and subordinates the individual to the state and the leader. Who was this man, where had he come from, what possessed him to turn his back on America and defect to the North Korean communists and live under their protection to this day?