Doina Bumbea
Doina Bumbea (Korean: 도이나 붐베아; 25 January 1950 – January 1997) was a Romanian painter who was abducted to North Korea in 1978. Born in Bucharest, Bumbea left Romania in 1970 and went to Italy, where she studied fine arts and became a painter. There, she was contacted by a certain individual who promised her a job as gallery curator in Japan if she gave an art exhibition in Pyongyang, North Korea. Bumbea accepted and was taken there, but she was not allowed to leave the country.
Doina Bumbea | |
|---|---|
Image of Doina Bumbea taken from her Facebook page, administered by her living brother | |
| Born | 25 January 1950 Bucharest, Romania |
| Died | January 1997 (aged 46–47) Pyongyang, North Korea |
| Spouse | James Joseph Dresnok |
It has been reported that Bumbea was kidnapped along with other foreign women to obtain wives for American defectors in North Korea and prevent them from marrying ethnic Koreans and having mixed children with them. Thus, Bumbea was forcibly married to James Joseph Dresnok, with whom she had two sons. Bumbea died in 1997 of lung cancer in Pyongyang. Later, her brother Gabriel founded an NGO in her honor and tried to contact his nephews in North Korea. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania and several Romanian officials have been made aware, but no significant response has been given in the case.