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Speaker 1: This is an iHeart original.

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Speaker 2: On March thirteenth, nineteen eighty six, a couple burst out

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Speaker 2: of a taxi in Vienna. In front of them the

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Speaker 2: US Embassy. Only a few dozen feet stand between them

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Speaker 2: and their freedom. When they hastily push open the car door,

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Speaker 2: they don't bother to close it behind them every second counts.

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Speaker 2: A white taxi had been tailing them the whole ride.

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Speaker 2: Inside the taxi are their bodyguards. Bodyguards they have just

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Speaker 2: escaped from. The couple sprints across the pavement and hops

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Speaker 2: up the few stairs to the embassy. If a bystander

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Speaker 2: were to hit pause, freeze frames and zoom in on

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Speaker 2: the couple their arms outstretched ready to open the heavy doors,

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Speaker 2: sweat clinging to their foreheads and upper lips, they might

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Speaker 2: recognize them. This is Shin sang Ak, a famous South

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Speaker 2: Korean film director, and his wife, the award winning actress

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Speaker 2: Choi Yunhi. Here on the steps of the United States Embassy.

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Speaker 2: They are moments away from catching their biggest break yet.

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Speaker 2: For the last several years, the couple has been in

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Speaker 2: the claws of the North Korean government. Today they're making

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Speaker 2: a break for it. Their life has been so bizarre

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Speaker 2: it could be mistaken for an action movie plot a

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Speaker 2: little too on the nose for the likes of Shin

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Speaker 2: and Choi. Their story involves kidnapping, love affairs, and friendships

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Speaker 2: with unstable dictators. But before we press play and see

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Speaker 2: if they pass through the embassy doors, we need to

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Speaker 2: rewind and watch the strange series of events that led

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Speaker 2: two of the most influential figures in cinema to become

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Speaker 2: personal hostages of Kim Jong Il. Welcome back to Very

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Speaker 2: Special Episodes and I heeart original podcast. I'm your host,

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Speaker 2: Danish Schwartz and this is North by North Korea.

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Speaker 3: Thank you for joining us. I'm joined by Janishwartz. Hey,

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Speaker 3: Zarah Burnette. I'm Jason English. I kept thinking as we're

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Speaker 3: reading drafts of this one that if we were writing

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Speaker 3: depraved Kim Jong Ill fan fiction like this is the

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Speaker 3: kind of crazy stuff that we could only hope to approach.

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Speaker 1: Oh my god, he is such a mercurial, strange character

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Speaker 1: as a dictator's son, but also as like just a

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Speaker 1: Hollywood and American lover. You don't see it coming.

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Speaker 2: It's such amazing character.

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Speaker 4: This, I will say, is the one very special episode

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Speaker 4: the most where as I was reading it, I was like,

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Speaker 4: this is a movie. Oh, this is incredible. I can't

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Speaker 4: believe this story was real. I had to like fact

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Speaker 4: check this episode. As I was going where, I was like,

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Speaker 4: is Jason doing an April Fool's Day on me?

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Speaker 3: Is this too good?

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Speaker 1: Yeah? How can this be real? This is the best

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Speaker 1: love story I've never heard.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, a couple a love story?

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Speaker 1: Are you kidding me?

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Speaker 3: All right, I don't want to give too much away.

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Speaker 3: Let's get back into it. We'll discuss on the other side.

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Speaker 2: The first time Shin sang Ak laid eyes on Choi,

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Speaker 2: and he he saw her for who she truly was,

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Speaker 2: an ambitious creative force. It was nineteen fifty, three months

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Speaker 2: after the Korean Wars armistice. Both countries were still smoldering

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Speaker 2: from bombings and napalm. North Korea was run by socialist dictatorship.

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Speaker 2: Our story starts in South Korea. Shin was an aspiring

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Speaker 2: director looking for a leading lady for his upcoming film.

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Speaker 2: He'd heard of the talented and popular Madame Choi, so

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Speaker 2: he bought a ticket to see her in a play

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Speaker 2: in a city south of Seoul. In that theater, on

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Speaker 2: that unassuming evening, Shin couldn't take his eyes.

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Speaker 1: Off of her.

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Speaker 5: Chin grew up in an affluent household. His talents were

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Speaker 5: encouraged by his family. He was seen as gifted child.

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Speaker 5: He went to some of the best schools and he

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Speaker 5: was able to study painting and art in Tokyo during

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Speaker 5: the war.

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Speaker 2: This is Ravi Mangla, a writer and novelist. His most

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Speaker 2: recent book, The Observer, is a fictionalized version of Shin

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Speaker 2: and Choi's story.

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Speaker 5: And then on the other side you have Choi, who

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Speaker 5: is a very shy and reserved child, her talents not

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Speaker 5: encouraged in the same way. Thing was a place where

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Speaker 5: she found solace and where she really came alive. And

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Speaker 5: when she told her parents that that she wanted to

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Speaker 5: be an actress, that was not something that they accepted readily.

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Speaker 5: So when she was seventeen, she actually ran away to

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Speaker 5: join up with a theater troop and during the war

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Speaker 5: she was an entertainer for troops. So both she and

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Speaker 5: Shin ended up in the entertainment industry, but through two

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Speaker 5: very different channels.

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Speaker 2: As the play unfolded, Shin watched Choi give everything she

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Speaker 2: had on stage until she had nothing left.

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Speaker 5: Choi, who was suffering from exhaustion at the time, fainted

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Speaker 5: on stage, and as a story goes, Shin rushed up

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Speaker 5: to the stage, picked her up, threw her over her shoulder,

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Speaker 5: and then took her to the nearest hospital.

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Speaker 2: Shin stayed with Choi throughout her hospital visit. When she

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Speaker 2: was released, Choi told Shin about her struggles, how her

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Speaker 2: husband couldn't work, and how poor they were. Shin, having

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Speaker 2: only watched her perform in half a play, felt in

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Speaker 2: his gut that it was his destiny to meet her,

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Speaker 2: so he offered her the role in his upcoming film.

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Speaker 2: He'd pay her as much as he could. According to

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Speaker 2: Paul Fisher's excellent book A Kim Jong Ill Production, which

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Speaker 2: we'll link to in the show notes, Shin started loitering

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Speaker 2: around the theater's back door, waiting for Choi to be

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Speaker 2: done with her play. Shin always called her Madame Choi

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Speaker 2: a sign of respect. They'd wander the streets so wrapped

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Speaker 2: up in conversation they'd miss the mandatory curfew. They snuck

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Speaker 2: around like teenagers, although they were both well into their

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Speaker 2: late twenties. Shin told Madame Choi, any film I make,

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Speaker 2: I want you to be in it. Choi filed for

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Speaker 2: divorce and swiftly married Chin on March seventh, nineteen fifty four.

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Speaker 2: They'd known each other therefore less than a year. Once

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Speaker 2: they joined forces, they were unstoppable. Shin began to build

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Speaker 2: up his studio and cast Joy in nearly every film,

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Speaker 2: right when the South Korean public wanted nothing more than

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Speaker 2: to escape to other worlds.

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Speaker 6: They're so powerful, I think as a couple because Chit

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Speaker 6: is the on screen figure, right and again, she is

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Speaker 6: so unmistakable, and then Shin is able to take her

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Speaker 6: through all of these really iconic roles that really span

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Speaker 6: across the kind of feminine archetypes that you can think

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Speaker 6: of or you could come up with, right, And so

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Speaker 6: I think that that partnership is so fruitful because you

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Speaker 6: have a screen presence and then a behind the camera presence,

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Speaker 6: and they're kind of in synergy.

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Speaker 2: That's Michelle Cho, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto.

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Speaker 2: Her focus is on in film and culture.

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Speaker 6: South Green filmmaking of the early post war is described

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Speaker 6: as a golden age because there were some really iconic

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Speaker 6: films that were produced during the time that are really

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Speaker 6: sophisticated in terms of the way that they're trying to

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Speaker 6: process the changes that are happening in society.

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Speaker 2: Shin and Choi worked across genres and grew exponentially.

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Speaker 5: Shin was also an innovator. He entered films and competitions

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Speaker 5: all around the world. So this was the first time

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Speaker 5: that South Korean film was really getting out onto the

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Speaker 5: international stage, and people were seeing what was being created

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Speaker 5: in South Korea, and they were hearing stories that they

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Speaker 5: had never heard before.

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Speaker 6: There are some parts of his body of work that,

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Speaker 6: you know, people will compare directly to Hollywood films that

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Speaker 6: he likely adapted a lot of things from. So you know,

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Speaker 6: he dabbled in the Western, He made a bunch of

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Speaker 6: the these family melodramas. He made period pieces, he made

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Speaker 6: war films. He was really kind of a sponge, I think,

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Speaker 6: in terms of picking up influences esthetically and emotionally from

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Speaker 6: this kind of world cinema culture that was around him.

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Speaker 2: It's up for debate whether Shin was intentional about creating

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Speaker 2: more political and progressive stories.

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Speaker 6: A lot of Shin's films, especially during the Golden Age,

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Speaker 6: were Enlightenment films quote unquote.

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Speaker 2: One obvious example is Shin and Choi's nineteen sixty one

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Speaker 2: film The Evergreen Tree about an educated couple who tries

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Speaker 2: to instill modern schooling in a small rural town. They

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Speaker 2: become local heroes as they also fight against the colonialist

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Speaker 2: Japanese government trying to undo their teachings.

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Speaker 6: And so that has a very specific meaning in postcolonial Korea,

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Speaker 6: where it's kind of a storytelling mode that talks about

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Speaker 6: the modernization of a person, whether that's through a transformative

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Speaker 6: encounter with like an inspiring teacher or a learning experience

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Speaker 6: of a youth that then kind of forces them to

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Speaker 6: look at the world in a new way. This enlightenment

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Speaker 6: mode is really intended to teach the public how to

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Speaker 6: think of themselves as new national subjects and as new

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Speaker 6: like modern subjects. So what are modern ways of thinking, rationality,

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Speaker 6: you know, pursuit of learning, a kind of desire to

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Speaker 6: remake yourself as like a civilized human being. In this

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Speaker 6: very like progressive mode.

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Speaker 2: These stories helped Korean audiences process not only their violent

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Speaker 2: past but a hopeful future, and the films were a hit.

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Speaker 5: It received quite a lot of acclaim at the time,

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Speaker 5: but they were extremely prolific during that period, producing over

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Speaker 5: two hundred films and Shin himself directed over seventy films.

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Speaker 6: Shin films is really responsible for the popularization of cinema

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Speaker 6: as like a core aspect of popular culture in South Korea.

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Speaker 6: It was such a strong and dominant source of films

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Speaker 6: and it defined the film culture.

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Speaker 2: But Shin's films wouldn't have been nearly half as good

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Speaker 2: without his better half. Choi was more than a muse.

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Speaker 2: She was Shin's creative equal.

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Speaker 6: She is an unmistakably iconic screen presence. Shin casts her

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Speaker 6: in a couple of his most iconic films of the fifties.

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Speaker 6: I have thought quite a lot about how it's the

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Speaker 6: case that Chin he was so respected despite the fact

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Speaker 6: that she played characters who are representative of the most

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Speaker 6: kind of denigrated groups of people in South Korea.

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Speaker 2: Choi took on every kind of role imaginable, from a

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Speaker 2: confident sex worker to a chaste and dutiful widow.

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Speaker 6: So it's this constant struggle to try and reshape attitudes

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Speaker 6: around gender which is part of what makes Chi such

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Speaker 6: a remarkable figure. I have to think that the fact

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Speaker 6: of her marriage to Shin was part of what protected her.

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Speaker 6: I think because even if she played characters on screen

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Speaker 6: who lacked legitimacy. She in real life had the legitimacy

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Speaker 6: of this very powerful figure in the film industry.

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Speaker 2: According to Paul Fisher's book, Choi was paid the highest

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Speaker 2: fees of any other actress, and even more than Shin,

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Speaker 2: making Choi the bread winner in their house. Their whole

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Speaker 2: life revolved around their films. They even optimized their home

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Speaker 2: for work. They had a room where they set up

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Speaker 2: an editing bed and a large projector to sit side

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Speaker 2: by side and edit each movie together. At the height

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Speaker 2: of Shin Studios, they employed over three hundred people and

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Speaker 2: produced thirty films a year. Choi also started an acting

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Speaker 2: school and mentored younger actors. Part of their success came

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Speaker 2: from Shin's refusal to let anything get in the way

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Speaker 2: of his vision. A contemporary said Shin would have jumped

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Speaker 2: down to hell to make a film. By the early sixties,

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Speaker 2: Shin Studios was at its height. They had it all

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Speaker 2: well almost.

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Speaker 5: There is a story that Choi said that you wanted

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Speaker 5: to have children, and Shin said, why do we need children?

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Speaker 5: Our films are our children, which gives you a look

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Speaker 5: into how single minded he often was about filmmaking.

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Speaker 2: But Choi wanted more. When she had a hard time

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Speaker 2: getting pregnant, they decided to adopt. Now they really had

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Speaker 2: it all, stratospheric careers, fame, prestige, and a family. Their

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Speaker 2: names were always mentioned in the same breath. Every day.

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Speaker 2: Shin got to peer through the camera lens and look

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Speaker 2: at his two loves at once, Choi and movies. Life

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Speaker 2: was picture perfect until someone of great importance took notice

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Speaker 2: of them. Over the border, North Korean film was going

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Speaker 2: through its own revolution, though under a very different regime.

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Speaker 2: When the thirty eighth Parallel was tattooed into maps, North

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Speaker 2: Korea isolated itself for most of the world. The exception

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Speaker 2: was those countries who were bankrolled them to stay afloat,

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Speaker 2: like China and the USSR. North Korea became an authoritarian,

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Speaker 2: socialist regime. There was no freedom of speech, movement, or expression.

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Speaker 2: Organized religion was restricted. Kim ilsung was the first great leader,

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Speaker 2: and everything and everyone served his vision. Neighbors were encouraged

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Speaker 2: to spy on one another, and history was rewritten in

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Speaker 2: the regime's favor. No one was allowed to question their leader.

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Speaker 2: Small infractions could be interpreted as an act against the state.

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Speaker 2: Resulting in relocation to the countryside. Image was everything, and

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Speaker 2: Kim Il sung knew that.

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Speaker 5: So North Korean culture at the time embraced an extreme

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Speaker 5: level of conformity. People had a strong sense of duty

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Speaker 5: to Kim's father and figures of authority, and they valued

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Speaker 5: the cove over the individual, and that was really reflected

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Speaker 5: in all of the art and cinema and materials.

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Speaker 7: Being created at the time.

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Speaker 5: Propaganda was being created to enhance the reputation of the

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Speaker 5: government and earn.

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Speaker 7: Loyalty from the populace.

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Speaker 5: So North Korean citizens of the time were restricted from

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Speaker 5: consuming Western media, and the latest films at the time

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Speaker 5: were not accessible to North Korean residents.

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Speaker 2: All films were under state control, and film is the

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Speaker 2: ideal medium for propaganda. It's easy to tell a message

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Speaker 2: on a mass scale where everyone watches together and can

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Speaker 2: watch each other.

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Speaker 6: From the beginning, the leadership in North Korea understands the

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Speaker 6: power of this medium and so wants to be able

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Speaker 6: to harness it for the sake of educating the public,

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Speaker 6: of instilling in the public a better understanding of what

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Speaker 6: the guiding ideology of the North Korean state is and

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Speaker 6: what it should be. That's the distinctive feature of mass

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Speaker 6: culture in a socialist country. And so it's entertainment. Yes,

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Speaker 6: it's showing ways for the populace to be kind of

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Speaker 6: modern and to think of themselves as new national subjects

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Speaker 6: after liberation or after the Korean War. But fundamentally it's

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Speaker 6: there to serve as an ideological vehicle.

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Speaker 2: All films are structured around the North Korean philosophy of.

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Speaker 6: Jewshe So the North Korean state ideology is called cheu

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Speaker 6: Che ideology, and it is translated as self reliance. I

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Speaker 6: think of it as a kind of paradox or tension

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Speaker 6: at the core of cheu Che ideology in the sense

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Speaker 6: that it is placing responsibility for maintaining a kind of

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Speaker 6: collective vision in the individual hands of each member of society.

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Speaker 6: And so it does this really interesting thing of balancing

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Speaker 6: out the individual and collective.

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Speaker 2: Do you say bristles at the thought of asking for help?

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Speaker 2: It states that every individual should hold their own and

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Speaker 2: every action they take is for the collective good of

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Speaker 2: North Korea alone. If the collective relies on each other,

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Speaker 2: they don't need outsiders and can avoid being dependent on

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Speaker 2: countries like they had been in the past.

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Speaker 6: But it was also a way for North Korea to

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Speaker 6: also keep itself independent or distinguishable from the Maoist communist

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Speaker 6: China and the Soviets and not get overshadowed by larger

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Speaker 6: nation states that seek to incorporate the North into whatever

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Speaker 6: their agenda might be. And I think that come directly

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Speaker 6: out of the experience of colonial occupation under Japan, and

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Speaker 6: that also shapes the way that North Korea sees what

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Speaker 6: South Korea is, which is as a puppet colony of

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Speaker 6: the United States.

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Speaker 2: Because all films were created through the lens of Jeuchet,

283
00:19:26,122 --> 00:19:29,162
Speaker 2: all of the films had nearly identical plots.

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Speaker 6: The dominant structure of North Korean films is this kind

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00:19:35,082 --> 00:19:41,242
Speaker 6: of trajectory of some individual person going through hardship, either

286
00:19:41,362 --> 00:19:46,442
Speaker 6: because of class struggle, you know, or because of some

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00:19:46,562 --> 00:19:51,602
Speaker 6: kind of injustice that they experience, and then coming to

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Speaker 6: realize through that suffering that the principles of Juche and

289
00:19:58,202 --> 00:20:01,882
Speaker 6: the stewardship of the deer leader are what offer some

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Speaker 6: kind of hope.

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00:20:03,402 --> 00:20:06,482
Speaker 5: So a de factor of North Korea had sad that

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Speaker 5: you even have to stay for the second half of

293
00:20:08,722 --> 00:20:09,722
Speaker 5: a North Korean.

294
00:20:09,442 --> 00:20:11,882
Speaker 7: Film because he knew what was going to happen. There

295
00:20:11,922 --> 00:20:12,802
Speaker 7: was no surprise.

296
00:20:13,682 --> 00:20:18,162
Speaker 2: Although these movies objectively were boring and poorly made, there

297
00:20:18,242 --> 00:20:22,402
Speaker 2: was one person who was obsessed with film, Kim Ilsong's

298
00:20:22,442 --> 00:20:24,722
Speaker 2: eldest son, Kim Jong il.

299
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Speaker 6: He is widely known to be a film buff, with

300
00:20:28,322 --> 00:20:33,722
Speaker 6: a huge collection of films in a private collection that

301
00:20:33,802 --> 00:20:37,002
Speaker 6: he gets to access because most North Koreans do not

302
00:20:37,562 --> 00:20:40,202
Speaker 6: get to see films from the West.

303
00:20:40,562 --> 00:20:44,562
Speaker 2: Although Kim Jong Eel was raised in extreme wealth and power,

304
00:20:45,122 --> 00:20:48,722
Speaker 2: his childhood wasn't a happy one, so Kim Jong.

305
00:20:48,642 --> 00:20:52,122
Speaker 5: Yel had a lonely upbringing. By all accounts, the people

306
00:20:52,202 --> 00:20:55,682
Speaker 5: he played with or was allowed to socialize with was

307
00:20:55,762 --> 00:20:59,522
Speaker 5: extremely limited, and he found solace in film. Film was

308
00:20:59,562 --> 00:21:00,922
Speaker 5: something he fell in love with.

309
00:21:01,642 --> 00:21:06,082
Speaker 2: So he submerged himself in films. He started a bootlegging

310
00:21:06,162 --> 00:21:10,202
Speaker 2: and smug ring to bring international films into the country.

311
00:21:10,642 --> 00:21:15,402
Speaker 2: He had American prisoners of war translate and voice American films.

312
00:21:15,882 --> 00:21:21,042
Speaker 2: He created his own massive secret cinema layer, air conditioned

313
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Speaker 2: and fully staffed with two hundred and fifty people all

314
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Speaker 2: for an audience of one, and.

315
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Speaker 5: As he got older, he amassed the collection of more

316
00:21:30,482 --> 00:21:33,602
Speaker 5: than twenty thousand films. He was known as a huge

317
00:21:33,642 --> 00:21:37,242
Speaker 5: fan of Elizabeth Taylor. He loved the James Bond franchise.

318
00:21:38,122 --> 00:21:40,922
Speaker 2: Kim Jong eel would rather watch movies all day than

319
00:21:41,002 --> 00:21:45,362
Speaker 2: partake in mandatory military service. He also had a bad

320
00:21:45,562 --> 00:21:49,482
Speaker 2: temperament and lashed out at people. Kim Jong il wasn't

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00:21:49,562 --> 00:21:53,642
Speaker 2: qualified to inherit the country. Kim Ilsong couldn't place his

322
00:21:54,162 --> 00:22:01,402
Speaker 2: artsy antagonistic son until a perfect situation fell into his lap.

323
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Speaker 2: One film was made. Some sources say it was a

324
00:22:06,282 --> 00:22:12,122
Speaker 2: play that risked challenging Kim ilsung's personality cult. It was

325
00:22:12,202 --> 00:22:16,962
Speaker 2: interpreted as treason. The creators were sent to the mountains,

326
00:22:17,322 --> 00:22:21,082
Speaker 2: and Kim il sung stormed into the studio office to

327
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Speaker 2: lecture the remaining studio executives. After his tirade, Kim il

328
00:22:26,722 --> 00:22:29,922
Speaker 2: sung asked the room if anyone had the courage to

329
00:22:30,122 --> 00:22:34,682
Speaker 2: lead the propaganda and Agitation department in accordance with the

330
00:22:34,762 --> 00:22:40,442
Speaker 2: party's ideologies and rules. Standing behind nearly everyone in the back,

331
00:22:41,162 --> 00:22:43,602
Speaker 2: Kim Jong ill raised his hand.

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Speaker 5: In this informal role of propaganda minister, he was allowed

333
00:22:48,402 --> 00:22:51,162
Speaker 5: to lean into his love of film craft at the

334
00:22:51,242 --> 00:22:56,842
Speaker 5: same time he was being carefully trained to take on

335
00:22:57,162 --> 00:23:01,122
Speaker 5: a leadership role at a time that his father stepped aside,

336
00:23:01,322 --> 00:23:03,922
Speaker 5: so in a way, it was a win win for

337
00:23:04,042 --> 00:23:06,122
Speaker 5: both Kim and for his father.

338
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Speaker 2: Once Kim jung il took the reins of the film industry,

339
00:23:10,682 --> 00:23:13,602
Speaker 2: he thrived by North Korean standards.

340
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Speaker 5: He even wrote a book of film criticism in nineteen

341
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Speaker 5: seventy three called on the Art of Cinema. And this

342
00:23:20,442 --> 00:23:23,242
Speaker 5: was not just a thin fifty page book. We are

343
00:23:23,282 --> 00:23:26,602
Speaker 5: talking about a four hundred page tome. And in that

344
00:23:26,642 --> 00:23:29,442
Speaker 5: book he talked about how all films should be imbued

345
00:23:29,482 --> 00:23:35,882
Speaker 5: with an ideology. It advocated for film as propaganda.

346
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Speaker 2: Kim il sung loved the films his son oversaw, but

347
00:23:40,922 --> 00:23:45,602
Speaker 2: Kim Jung Ill knew something his father didn't. These films

348
00:23:46,002 --> 00:23:50,522
Speaker 2: were bad. Although citizens were told that North Korean film

349
00:23:50,722 --> 00:23:53,922
Speaker 2: was the best in the world and leading the film industry,

350
00:23:54,522 --> 00:23:57,722
Speaker 2: Kim Jung ill had watched enough foreign films to know

351
00:23:57,882 --> 00:24:02,322
Speaker 2: that his movies were not up to snuff. Kim Ill's

352
00:24:02,322 --> 00:24:06,922
Speaker 2: song also wanted North Korean film to be internationally recognized

353
00:24:07,362 --> 00:24:10,282
Speaker 2: so the world could one day know that North Korea

354
00:24:10,682 --> 00:24:15,002
Speaker 2: is superior to every other country. But even South Korean

355
00:24:15,082 --> 00:24:18,722
Speaker 2: cinema was outpacing them, and he had to do something.

356
00:24:19,402 --> 00:24:23,322
Speaker 5: Kim Jong Yale felt that the only way that he

357
00:24:23,362 --> 00:24:26,642
Speaker 5: could fix the North Korean film industry was with better talent,

358
00:24:27,122 --> 00:24:30,202
Speaker 5: and he saw Shin sang Ok and Choi and he

359
00:24:30,762 --> 00:24:33,842
Speaker 5: in South Korea, and he wanted that for his country.

360
00:24:34,082 --> 00:24:37,162
Speaker 5: He wanted it in such a literal way he was

361
00:24:37,322 --> 00:24:39,522
Speaker 5: willing to go to extreme lengths to get it.

362
00:24:52,002 --> 00:24:56,682
Speaker 2: Despite the meteoric success of Shin Studios, Shin and Choi

363
00:24:56,882 --> 00:25:02,082
Speaker 2: made movies during a time of increased censorship and authoritarian

364
00:25:02,202 --> 00:25:06,722
Speaker 2: rule by the South Korean government, but Shin did what

365
00:25:07,002 --> 00:25:10,162
Speaker 2: he had to do not to let anything get in

366
00:25:10,162 --> 00:25:11,322
Speaker 2: the way of his films.

367
00:25:12,402 --> 00:25:17,242
Speaker 5: Shin and Choi were able to rub shoulders with the

368
00:25:17,282 --> 00:25:21,562
Speaker 5: country's cultural and political elite. They had a good relationship

369
00:25:21,602 --> 00:25:23,002
Speaker 5: at the time with General Park.

370
00:25:23,882 --> 00:25:27,882
Speaker 2: The current leader of South Korea was General Park, who

371
00:25:27,962 --> 00:25:32,642
Speaker 2: had seized power via coup in nineteen sixty one. Park

372
00:25:32,882 --> 00:25:37,602
Speaker 2: wanted to show the world that South Koreans embraced modernism

373
00:25:37,682 --> 00:25:42,562
Speaker 2: and were culturally sophisticated, not like those tyrant socialists in

374
00:25:42,602 --> 00:25:46,602
Speaker 2: the North. General Park and his wife also had a

375
00:25:46,762 --> 00:25:50,482
Speaker 2: close personal relationship with Shin and Choi.

376
00:25:50,802 --> 00:25:54,402
Speaker 5: And for that reason he allowed Shin and Choi with

377
00:25:54,682 --> 00:25:57,642
Speaker 5: a great deal of artistic license, at least in the

378
00:25:57,682 --> 00:26:01,042
Speaker 5: early going, because he wanted South Korea to be recognized

379
00:26:01,042 --> 00:26:05,682
Speaker 5: on the international stage. He wanted that cultural recognition from

380
00:26:05,722 --> 00:26:06,722
Speaker 5: the Western world.

381
00:26:08,202 --> 00:26:13,402
Speaker 2: In the nineteen seventies, tensions rose between North and South Korea.

382
00:26:14,042 --> 00:26:19,922
Speaker 2: General Park became more authoritarian, he started limiting the rights

383
00:26:19,962 --> 00:26:21,922
Speaker 2: and freedoms of South Koreans.

384
00:26:22,802 --> 00:26:26,162
Speaker 6: So from nineteen seventy two onwards kind of shows this

385
00:26:26,322 --> 00:26:30,482
Speaker 6: censorship regime growing and kind of being much more involved

386
00:26:30,682 --> 00:26:35,442
Speaker 6: in trying to well first take out anything that could

387
00:26:35,442 --> 00:26:41,042
Speaker 6: potentially be perceived as political viewpoints. The guiding principle to

388
00:26:42,042 --> 00:26:45,242
Speaker 6: all of his initiatives and the way that he's able

389
00:26:45,282 --> 00:26:48,162
Speaker 6: to convince the Korean public to go along with it

390
00:26:48,202 --> 00:26:51,802
Speaker 6: is this anti communist stance that everything that he's doing

391
00:26:51,842 --> 00:26:56,042
Speaker 6: to restrict the liberties and freedoms of South Koreans is

392
00:26:56,122 --> 00:26:59,762
Speaker 6: absolutely necessary in order to fend off the threat of

393
00:26:59,802 --> 00:27:04,882
Speaker 6: North Korea. But my sense is that Shin made some

394
00:27:04,962 --> 00:27:09,162
Speaker 6: of his best films in South Korea and kind of

395
00:27:09,202 --> 00:27:13,642
Speaker 6: experienced a lot of growth and really reached the peak

396
00:27:13,642 --> 00:27:17,562
Speaker 6: of his career when he had a pretty friendly relationship

397
00:27:17,602 --> 00:27:20,802
Speaker 6: with the government. There's a sense that you know, Shin

398
00:27:20,922 --> 00:27:25,002
Speaker 6: films and Shin Studios was getting along really well with

399
00:27:25,602 --> 00:27:28,762
Speaker 6: the Pukjangi administration until it didn't.

400
00:27:29,642 --> 00:27:33,522
Speaker 2: Now, South Korea was becoming as tight lipped as an

401
00:27:33,682 --> 00:27:37,842
Speaker 2: estranged brother to the North, especially in the arts.

402
00:27:39,162 --> 00:27:39,522
Speaker 7: Parks.

403
00:27:39,562 --> 00:27:44,602
Speaker 5: Regime became much stricter around ideas in film and music

404
00:27:44,842 --> 00:27:49,242
Speaker 5: and art, and there were extremely rigid censorship boards that

405
00:27:49,282 --> 00:27:52,122
Speaker 5: would review films over and over again to make sure

406
00:27:52,162 --> 00:27:54,842
Speaker 5: that the content was nothing that could be seen as

407
00:27:54,922 --> 00:27:59,442
Speaker 5: controversial or out of step with South Korea and the

408
00:27:59,482 --> 00:28:00,922
Speaker 5: South Korean government at the time.

409
00:28:01,482 --> 00:28:06,242
Speaker 6: So anything that could be even in the slightest way

410
00:28:06,242 --> 00:28:11,442
Speaker 6: interpreted as criticism of the government is a no go. Clearly,

411
00:28:12,282 --> 00:28:18,282
Speaker 6: he is really interested in policing what people see in

412
00:28:19,202 --> 00:28:20,922
Speaker 6: film and television.

413
00:28:22,562 --> 00:28:27,442
Speaker 2: Regardless of politics. Shin always managed to use his political

414
00:28:27,482 --> 00:28:31,442
Speaker 2: connections to get his movies made. No matter the content,

415
00:28:32,122 --> 00:28:35,602
Speaker 2: Shin began to believe that he was above the rules.

416
00:28:36,122 --> 00:28:40,642
Speaker 2: He continued to follow his artistic inclinations even if they

417
00:28:40,722 --> 00:28:45,242
Speaker 2: went against the censorship laws. Every other time he'd broken

418
00:28:45,282 --> 00:28:48,282
Speaker 2: the rules, he would just go and chat with his

419
00:28:48,362 --> 00:28:51,722
Speaker 2: government friends. But times were changing.

420
00:28:53,242 --> 00:28:57,362
Speaker 6: In a screening of a film, a new film, Shin

421
00:28:57,762 --> 00:29:01,682
Speaker 6: had refused to take out a romantic scene, so a

422
00:29:01,722 --> 00:29:07,802
Speaker 6: scene where characters kiss, and that so angered the censorship

423
00:29:07,842 --> 00:29:12,442
Speaker 6: office that Shin Film's like finally lose his favor with

424
00:29:12,602 --> 00:29:14,602
Speaker 6: the Pakshani administration.

425
00:29:15,522 --> 00:29:20,442
Speaker 2: This time, Shin's justifications fell on deaf ears at the

426
00:29:20,482 --> 00:29:25,202
Speaker 2: censorship bureau. He was also stripped of his film license.

427
00:29:25,962 --> 00:29:28,642
Speaker 2: That wasn't all he lost during this time.

428
00:29:29,282 --> 00:29:33,362
Speaker 5: About this time, the time that Chin Studios was beginning

429
00:29:33,402 --> 00:29:37,562
Speaker 5: to decline and running into struggles with the censorship boards,

430
00:29:38,042 --> 00:29:42,322
Speaker 5: was also the time that Shin and Choy's relationship was

431
00:29:42,722 --> 00:29:46,522
Speaker 5: facing a lot of difficulties in friction. So in the

432
00:29:46,562 --> 00:29:49,962
Speaker 5: early nineteen seventies, Shin struck up an affair with a

433
00:29:50,002 --> 00:29:52,962
Speaker 5: younger actress and this became a public scandal.

434
00:29:53,482 --> 00:29:56,642
Speaker 2: Up until now, Choi had always looked the other way

435
00:29:56,762 --> 00:30:01,842
Speaker 2: when Shin had dalliances with other women. They were usually flings,

436
00:30:02,082 --> 00:30:10,202
Speaker 2: nothing serious, But this time was different. One morning home alone,

437
00:30:10,722 --> 00:30:14,242
Speaker 2: Choi picked up a film magazine and saw her husband's

438
00:30:14,362 --> 00:30:18,762
Speaker 2: name in a headline. Ice ran through her veins as

439
00:30:18,802 --> 00:30:23,682
Speaker 2: she scanned through the article. According to the news, Shin

440
00:30:23,962 --> 00:30:27,682
Speaker 2: had just become a father. He had had an affair

441
00:30:27,842 --> 00:30:32,322
Speaker 2: with a much younger actress, and she gave birth to

442
00:30:32,442 --> 00:30:37,122
Speaker 2: Shin's son. Affairs were one thing but a love child.

443
00:30:37,602 --> 00:30:41,122
Speaker 2: When Shin knew, Choi was crestfallen that she couldn't give

444
00:30:41,162 --> 00:30:44,482
Speaker 2: birth on her own. They tried to make it work,

445
00:30:44,642 --> 00:30:48,922
Speaker 2: but then the actress gave birth to a second child.

446
00:30:49,682 --> 00:30:55,682
Speaker 2: This was unforgivable, and Choi separated from Shin. Now Shin

447
00:30:55,882 --> 00:31:00,722
Speaker 2: had no wife, no career, no studio, no art to make.

448
00:31:01,362 --> 00:31:05,202
Speaker 2: The whole life he'd built began to unspool like a

449
00:31:05,322 --> 00:31:09,402
Speaker 2: film a reel tumbling to the ground. Due to the

450
00:31:09,442 --> 00:31:14,402
Speaker 2: decline of shin studios, Choi's acting studio and career took

451
00:31:14,442 --> 00:31:19,922
Speaker 2: a hit two life faded from technicolor to black and

452
00:31:19,922 --> 00:31:24,802
Speaker 2: white for both of them. Time went by, it looked

453
00:31:24,882 --> 00:31:28,482
Speaker 2: like there was no way for this former powerhouse to

454
00:31:28,642 --> 00:31:35,442
Speaker 2: regain their relationship or creative status. Until one unsuspecting day

455
00:31:35,562 --> 00:31:41,522
Speaker 2: in nineteen seventy seven, Choi received a curious visitor, a

456
00:31:41,802 --> 00:31:45,722
Speaker 2: Hong Kong businessman asked if she would be interested in

457
00:31:46,002 --> 00:31:50,682
Speaker 2: directing a film in China. It was a strange request,

458
00:31:51,162 --> 00:31:55,642
Speaker 2: but Choi needed a break from South Korea. Choi packed

459
00:31:55,682 --> 00:31:58,882
Speaker 2: a bag and flew to Hong Kong, where the Chinese

460
00:31:58,962 --> 00:32:03,082
Speaker 2: businessmen whined and dined her. When she tried to mention

461
00:32:03,242 --> 00:32:09,042
Speaker 2: the film, the men changed the subject. This unnerved her.

462
00:32:10,042 --> 00:32:14,202
Speaker 2: On her penultimate morning, men with sloppy long hair put

463
00:32:14,282 --> 00:32:18,082
Speaker 2: a bag over her head and threw her into a boat.

464
00:32:20,442 --> 00:32:22,882
Speaker 5: She described being held in the hall of a cargo

465
00:32:22,962 --> 00:32:26,842
Speaker 5: ship and feeling incredible fear. She had no idea what

466
00:32:27,042 --> 00:32:30,362
Speaker 5: was going on, but had been coerced onto this boat

467
00:32:30,402 --> 00:32:33,402
Speaker 5: and now does not know what the future holds, what

468
00:32:33,522 --> 00:32:35,002
Speaker 5: is in front of her, what is happening.

469
00:32:35,602 --> 00:32:40,322
Speaker 2: For six days, Choi felt unmoored as the waves undulated

470
00:32:40,362 --> 00:32:44,562
Speaker 2: beneath her. She barely ate. When the boat anchored, she

471
00:32:44,762 --> 00:32:48,682
Speaker 2: was transferred to a smaller vessel. Toi was brought up

472
00:32:48,722 --> 00:32:52,122
Speaker 2: on deck and then brought on shore a little ways

473
00:32:52,162 --> 00:32:56,122
Speaker 2: away from the main port, still wearing the same outfit

474
00:32:56,362 --> 00:33:00,122
Speaker 2: she was kidnapped in. A man in a large coat

475
00:33:00,362 --> 00:33:02,722
Speaker 2: approached her with a huge smile.

476
00:33:03,762 --> 00:33:06,682
Speaker 1: Thank you for coming, Madam Chroi. You must be.

477
00:33:08,042 --> 00:33:10,522
Speaker 7: Welcome. I am Kim Jong il.

478
00:33:13,562 --> 00:33:18,242
Speaker 2: Choi musters the strength to not faint. The North Korean

479
00:33:18,482 --> 00:33:22,842
Speaker 2: dictator's son is standing before her, talking to her by

480
00:33:23,042 --> 00:33:27,602
Speaker 2: her name. People in North Korea hadn't even heard Kim

481
00:33:27,682 --> 00:33:31,442
Speaker 2: Jong Il's voice. Yet someone whipped out a camera and

482
00:33:31,642 --> 00:33:36,482
Speaker 2: took a photo. Choi tried to hide, the camera clicked,

483
00:33:37,082 --> 00:33:41,202
Speaker 2: and the photo is the large, smiling silhouette of Kim

484
00:33:41,362 --> 00:33:47,682
Speaker 2: Jong Il. Madame Choi, after a life of having her

485
00:33:47,722 --> 00:33:51,882
Speaker 2: picture taken, buried her chin and nose into her scarf.

486
00:33:52,482 --> 00:33:56,162
Speaker 2: The rest of her face is hidden under large sunglasses.

487
00:33:57,362 --> 00:33:59,522
Speaker 7: So it's a bit of a whirlwind for Choi.

488
00:34:00,202 --> 00:34:03,522
Speaker 5: Once she arrives in North Korea, she is brought to

489
00:34:03,642 --> 00:34:04,962
Speaker 5: luxury accommodations.

490
00:34:05,762 --> 00:34:09,082
Speaker 2: Choi is taken to to a villa, which is really

491
00:34:09,202 --> 00:34:13,802
Speaker 2: a tacky yet glamorous house. Arrest, her handlers walked her

492
00:34:14,002 --> 00:34:18,682
Speaker 2: under gaudy chandeliers to her new rooms. Her passports and

493
00:34:18,922 --> 00:34:23,402
Speaker 2: South Korean identity card are taken. Her new bedroom is

494
00:34:23,522 --> 00:34:27,842
Speaker 2: filled with clothing tailor to her body, along with makeup

495
00:34:28,002 --> 00:34:32,162
Speaker 2: she used to use. They had been expecting her. When

496
00:34:32,162 --> 00:34:35,402
Speaker 2: she went to shut the door, she noticed the doors

497
00:34:35,642 --> 00:34:39,402
Speaker 2: didn't lock. She will soon find that none of them do.

498
00:34:39,642 --> 00:34:44,682
Speaker 2: Inside this prison palace, her days are no longer her

499
00:34:44,682 --> 00:34:49,202
Speaker 2: own and are structured around her quote re education.

500
00:34:50,002 --> 00:34:54,082
Speaker 5: She's introduced to a private tutor who immediately begins talking

501
00:34:54,122 --> 00:34:56,642
Speaker 5: to her about the life and achievements of Kim Ilsong.

502
00:34:57,162 --> 00:35:00,562
Speaker 5: She's isolated on board and being held in these luxury

503
00:35:00,562 --> 00:35:01,642
Speaker 5: accommodations for.

504
00:35:01,642 --> 00:35:04,322
Speaker 7: Reasons that she doesn't understand. She doesn't know.

505
00:35:04,242 --> 00:35:06,682
Speaker 5: Why she has been brought to this country, what they

506
00:35:06,682 --> 00:35:10,642
Speaker 5: want of her. But she's almost like a you know,

507
00:35:11,042 --> 00:35:16,162
Speaker 5: an animal in a cage, just being paraded around and

508
00:35:16,882 --> 00:35:18,522
Speaker 5: has no autonomy of her own.

509
00:35:19,442 --> 00:35:24,122
Speaker 2: During her re education, Choi learns fast not to question

510
00:35:24,282 --> 00:35:28,402
Speaker 2: what she's taught about North Korea, no matter how fanciful

511
00:35:28,522 --> 00:35:32,202
Speaker 2: and highly unlikely. Now in the belly of the beast,

512
00:35:32,722 --> 00:35:37,922
Speaker 2: Choi must do her best acting. Yet there's a phone

513
00:35:38,042 --> 00:35:41,282
Speaker 2: in her room where Kim jong il has a private

514
00:35:41,402 --> 00:35:45,562
Speaker 2: phone line for just Choi. He frequently calls her up,

515
00:35:45,682 --> 00:35:49,642
Speaker 2: asking if she's doing anything like it's a genuine question.

516
00:35:50,442 --> 00:35:53,802
Speaker 5: Kim jong il is very excited by the arrival of Choi.

517
00:35:54,282 --> 00:35:57,962
Speaker 5: He has been isolated his whole life in his love

518
00:35:57,962 --> 00:36:03,002
Speaker 5: of cinema, and in Choi he has somebody who he respects.

519
00:36:03,042 --> 00:36:06,282
Speaker 5: He respects her opinion. He wants to know her thoughts

520
00:36:06,282 --> 00:36:09,802
Speaker 5: and perspective on art and entertainment. This seems a very

521
00:36:09,802 --> 00:36:15,482
Speaker 5: one sided relationship that Kim has almost forced somebody to

522
00:36:15,722 --> 00:36:18,762
Speaker 5: be his friend. He has the friend that he always wanted.

523
00:36:19,282 --> 00:36:23,402
Speaker 2: At times, Kim Jung il calls her teacher Choi, given

524
00:36:23,402 --> 00:36:26,522
Speaker 2: that she was well into her fifties by now.

525
00:36:26,602 --> 00:36:31,162
Speaker 5: So Choi's behavior at the time is heavily watched over,

526
00:36:32,002 --> 00:36:35,722
Speaker 5: and she has people instructing her on how to behave

527
00:36:36,082 --> 00:36:38,682
Speaker 5: and act. She does not have a lot of freedom

528
00:36:39,562 --> 00:36:42,602
Speaker 5: to do the thing she wants to say the things

529
00:36:42,602 --> 00:36:46,882
Speaker 5: she wants. She has been taught to be totally obedient

530
00:36:46,922 --> 00:36:47,922
Speaker 5: at this time.

531
00:36:48,362 --> 00:36:51,442
Speaker 7: So while Kim admires her.

532
00:36:51,522 --> 00:36:55,602
Speaker 5: Opinions and wants her perspectives on things in a larger sense,

533
00:36:56,082 --> 00:36:59,602
Speaker 5: she's extremely limited in what she can say into.

534
00:36:59,882 --> 00:37:03,402
Speaker 2: As Choi spent more time with Kim, she saw that

535
00:37:03,482 --> 00:37:07,402
Speaker 2: he had all the trappings of a dictator's son. He

536
00:37:07,482 --> 00:37:12,162
Speaker 2: had lavish parties surrounded by yes men and women. Choi

537
00:37:12,482 --> 00:37:15,922
Speaker 2: was invited to the parties, often as if she had

538
00:37:15,962 --> 00:37:17,402
Speaker 2: an option to decline.

539
00:37:18,002 --> 00:37:22,682
Speaker 5: So he loved parading Choi around as arm candy, as

540
00:37:22,882 --> 00:37:26,562
Speaker 5: a prize or a trophy that he had acquired.

541
00:37:27,402 --> 00:37:32,882
Speaker 2: Choi's disappearance didn't go unnoticed in South Korea. Shin had

542
00:37:32,962 --> 00:37:36,322
Speaker 2: known she was going to Hong Kong and was growing

543
00:37:36,442 --> 00:37:40,202
Speaker 2: concerned he hadn't heard from her, so he called a

544
00:37:40,242 --> 00:37:43,882
Speaker 2: friend and was told to go there himself. When he

545
00:37:44,002 --> 00:37:48,322
Speaker 2: arrived in Hong Kong, he learned about her disappearance and

546
00:37:48,522 --> 00:37:51,842
Speaker 2: that all of her luggage was left in her hotel room,

547
00:37:52,402 --> 00:37:54,882
Speaker 2: which gave the impression she would return.

548
00:37:55,522 --> 00:37:59,762
Speaker 5: This was not somebody who had escaped, so Shin believed

549
00:37:59,922 --> 00:38:03,482
Speaker 5: that she had been kidnapped or something awful had happened.

550
00:38:03,562 --> 00:38:06,242
Speaker 5: And keep in mind they had children. They had children

551
00:38:06,242 --> 00:38:07,922
Speaker 5: who were wondering where their mother was.

552
00:38:08,602 --> 00:38:11,282
Speaker 2: Hin had to go to the United States for a spell,

553
00:38:11,642 --> 00:38:17,082
Speaker 2: but returned to Hong Kong to investigate, and unfortunately he

554
00:38:17,202 --> 00:38:18,562
Speaker 2: met a similar fate.

555
00:38:19,362 --> 00:38:22,562
Speaker 5: Chin came to Hong Kong and he ended up being

556
00:38:22,602 --> 00:38:25,162
Speaker 5: betrayed by a friend who is an agent for the

557
00:38:25,162 --> 00:38:26,242
Speaker 5: North Korean government.

558
00:38:26,762 --> 00:38:30,642
Speaker 2: His kidnapping was a repeat of his wife's. His days

559
00:38:30,722 --> 00:38:34,802
Speaker 2: were broken up into hours of ideological training, lunch, and

560
00:38:35,002 --> 00:38:37,802
Speaker 2: a nap. The latter half of his day was spent

561
00:38:37,962 --> 00:38:43,362
Speaker 2: watching North Korean films that Kim Jong Il specifically requested

562
00:38:43,402 --> 00:38:47,642
Speaker 2: he watch. For some reason, the films were so bad.

563
00:38:48,042 --> 00:38:53,722
Speaker 2: Shin preferred the ideological training, unlike Choi, who used her

564
00:38:53,802 --> 00:38:58,722
Speaker 2: acting chops to survive. Shin only knew action. He was

565
00:38:58,762 --> 00:39:03,002
Speaker 2: not used to someone else directing his life. He tried

566
00:39:03,002 --> 00:39:06,922
Speaker 2: to escape twice. When he was recaptured the second time,

567
00:39:06,962 --> 00:39:10,162
Speaker 2: I'm the North Korean to throw him in a packed

568
00:39:10,322 --> 00:39:11,362
Speaker 2: detention center.

569
00:39:11,922 --> 00:39:14,762
Speaker 5: He was kept in that detention center for over three years,

570
00:39:14,802 --> 00:39:17,282
Speaker 5: where he was in a cell so small he could

571
00:39:17,282 --> 00:39:22,682
Speaker 5: barely lie down. He was forced to undergo extreme re education,

572
00:39:23,242 --> 00:39:25,642
Speaker 5: and he lost a great deal of weight. His health

573
00:39:25,682 --> 00:39:27,522
Speaker 5: suffered quite a bit during that time.

574
00:39:28,202 --> 00:39:31,762
Speaker 2: With nothing to do, all Shin could do was think.

575
00:39:32,642 --> 00:39:36,922
Speaker 2: He relived and rewatched every mistake he had ever made

576
00:39:36,962 --> 00:39:41,122
Speaker 2: in his life, his affairs, his children, his career, and

577
00:39:41,242 --> 00:39:45,802
Speaker 2: hurting choy and mixed in this stew of regret, he

578
00:39:45,882 --> 00:39:50,402
Speaker 2: began to mentally re edit all of his films as

579
00:39:50,442 --> 00:39:53,922
Speaker 2: he stared at the same spot in his cell every day,

580
00:39:54,442 --> 00:40:00,842
Speaker 2: he redirected his movies in his head, played them on repeat, reshoot, retrimmed,

581
00:40:00,922 --> 00:40:05,322
Speaker 2: and reorganized each one to have a stronger impact. If

582
00:40:05,362 --> 00:40:09,682
Speaker 2: only he could get one more chance. Then, one day,

583
00:40:10,002 --> 00:40:15,042
Speaker 2: after years of living in a deplorable detention center, Shin

584
00:40:15,282 --> 00:40:18,402
Speaker 2: was released and told to get ready to meet the

585
00:40:18,482 --> 00:40:23,922
Speaker 2: dictator's son. Over the same three years, only the seasons

586
00:40:24,162 --> 00:40:28,122
Speaker 2: changed for Choi. When she asked to be reunited with

587
00:40:28,202 --> 00:40:31,362
Speaker 2: her family, she was told she would see them once

588
00:40:31,482 --> 00:40:35,762
Speaker 2: the two Koreas reunite. As the world continued to spin

589
00:40:35,842 --> 00:40:40,002
Speaker 2: around the sun, she quietly celebrated each of her children's

590
00:40:40,002 --> 00:40:44,122
Speaker 2: birthdays to herself. She often went into her bathroom and

591
00:40:44,202 --> 00:40:47,442
Speaker 2: turned down the faucet so no one could hear her weeping.

592
00:40:48,122 --> 00:40:53,002
Speaker 2: Her days were spent writing long congratulatory letters to both

593
00:40:53,082 --> 00:40:56,602
Speaker 2: Kim Jong il and his father, thanking them for showing

594
00:40:56,642 --> 00:41:00,682
Speaker 2: her the light and superior ways of North Korea. In

595
00:41:00,722 --> 00:41:03,682
Speaker 2: the moments when she put down her pen, she continued

596
00:41:03,722 --> 00:41:07,122
Speaker 2: to rack her brain as to why she was here.

597
00:41:10,002 --> 00:41:14,642
Speaker 2: One unsuspecting night, She's invited to another one of Kim's

598
00:41:14,802 --> 00:41:19,482
Speaker 2: lavish parties. When she arrives, she notices that there's something

599
00:41:19,642 --> 00:41:24,042
Speaker 2: extra about this party. There are more people, more food,

600
00:41:24,242 --> 00:41:29,082
Speaker 2: louder music, and everyone is congratulating her for reasons she

601
00:41:29,202 --> 00:41:33,522
Speaker 2: doesn't understand. In all of the merriment, the guest of

602
00:41:33,642 --> 00:41:39,642
Speaker 2: honor walks in the music stopped. A woman grabbed Choi

603
00:41:39,762 --> 00:41:42,402
Speaker 2: by the arm and began to bring her over to

604
00:41:42,442 --> 00:41:46,882
Speaker 2: the guest of honor. A thin and frail man Choi's

605
00:41:46,962 --> 00:41:50,362
Speaker 2: heart drops to her stomach. It takes her a moment

606
00:41:50,522 --> 00:41:54,522
Speaker 2: to recognize him, but she knew this man, she knew

607
00:41:54,602 --> 00:41:56,002
Speaker 2: him very well.

608
00:41:56,602 --> 00:41:58,802
Speaker 5: That's the first time that they are seeing each other

609
00:41:58,842 --> 00:42:02,482
Speaker 5: in about five years, so it's hard to imagine just

610
00:42:02,722 --> 00:42:07,322
Speaker 5: the shock of seeing a ghost, someone that you weren't

611
00:42:07,362 --> 00:42:09,962
Speaker 5: sure was a lie, that you had no idea where

612
00:42:09,962 --> 00:42:13,122
Speaker 5: they were, and somebody who you had built a life with.

613
00:42:13,602 --> 00:42:17,082
Speaker 5: They are suddenly appearing in this foreign land at a

614
00:42:17,082 --> 00:42:20,682
Speaker 5: party by Kim Jong Il, and I think there was

615
00:42:20,722 --> 00:42:24,162
Speaker 5: a sense of relief to know that one another was

616
00:42:24,202 --> 00:42:24,642
Speaker 5: all right.

617
00:42:25,402 --> 00:42:29,362
Speaker 2: Choi was left standing in front of Shin. The room

618
00:42:29,682 --> 00:42:33,882
Speaker 2: went quiet. Kim Jong Il looks from one to the other.

619
00:42:34,442 --> 00:42:37,402
Speaker 2: He tells them to hug each other. For heaven's sake,

620
00:42:37,882 --> 00:42:42,322
Speaker 2: Why are they both just standing there? Then Choi rests

621
00:42:42,322 --> 00:42:45,602
Speaker 2: her head on Shin's shoulder the way she used to,

622
00:42:46,162 --> 00:42:50,122
Speaker 2: and feels the familiar groove of his collarbone, the safety

623
00:42:50,202 --> 00:42:54,722
Speaker 2: of his chest. Despite the bankruptcy and the affairs and

624
00:42:54,802 --> 00:42:59,202
Speaker 2: the love children and now kidnapping, the world falls away

625
00:42:59,722 --> 00:43:02,562
Speaker 2: and they hold on to each other for dear life.

626
00:43:03,242 --> 00:43:08,602
Speaker 2: The room irrupts in applause when Johng Ill announces that

627
00:43:08,682 --> 00:43:13,762
Speaker 2: mister Shin will be his film advisor. The party continued

628
00:43:13,922 --> 00:43:18,802
Speaker 2: for hours. When the party was over, they were driven

629
00:43:18,882 --> 00:43:23,122
Speaker 2: back to another prison palace. They would be living together

630
00:43:23,282 --> 00:43:25,282
Speaker 2: again with their handlers.

631
00:43:25,362 --> 00:43:25,842
Speaker 7: Of course.

632
00:43:26,522 --> 00:43:30,802
Speaker 2: When they arrived, they entered their private bathroom. Choi turned

633
00:43:30,802 --> 00:43:34,842
Speaker 2: on the faucets, and they tentatively began to recap the

634
00:43:34,922 --> 00:43:40,162
Speaker 2: last five years. At first, Shin was apprehensive of Choi,

635
00:43:40,802 --> 00:43:44,122
Speaker 2: she seemed to have good relations with the North Koreans

636
00:43:44,162 --> 00:43:48,522
Speaker 2: while at the party. Then Choi equipped why the movie

637
00:43:48,562 --> 00:43:52,762
Speaker 2: director can't even recognize acting when he sees it and laughed.

638
00:43:53,562 --> 00:43:56,962
Speaker 2: Regardless of their past, at least they weren't alone anymore.

639
00:43:57,482 --> 00:44:00,522
Speaker 2: The last thing they discussed while the water was still

640
00:44:00,642 --> 00:44:07,842
Speaker 2: running was outlining not a movie but an escape. The

641
00:44:07,882 --> 00:44:12,082
Speaker 2: next morning, Kim Jong Il put them to work.

642
00:44:12,202 --> 00:44:13,202
Speaker 7: For six months.

643
00:44:13,562 --> 00:44:17,242
Speaker 5: He had them watch four five films a day and

644
00:44:17,322 --> 00:44:21,322
Speaker 5: critique them. He gave them access to his entire film library,

645
00:44:21,642 --> 00:44:26,282
Speaker 5: and he engaged them in deep conversations about film and art.

646
00:44:26,762 --> 00:44:31,082
Speaker 5: So now he has two friends and he is absolutely

647
00:44:31,402 --> 00:44:32,002
Speaker 5: over the moon.

648
00:44:32,802 --> 00:44:36,642
Speaker 2: And Choi and Shin finally learned the real reason they

649
00:44:36,642 --> 00:44:41,282
Speaker 2: were kidnapped. First, Kim believed making movies would help fund

650
00:44:41,322 --> 00:44:46,682
Speaker 2: the economy. Despite these opulent parties, the regime was actually

651
00:44:46,762 --> 00:44:51,322
Speaker 2: in decline. The North Korean economy hadn't bounced back enough

652
00:44:51,362 --> 00:44:55,122
Speaker 2: to repay the loans they had received from China and

653
00:44:55,322 --> 00:45:01,002
Speaker 2: the USSR. Kim Jong Il wanted to maintain his lavish lifestyle.

654
00:45:01,722 --> 00:45:05,642
Speaker 2: Amongst many of his devious plans to boost the economy,

655
00:45:06,122 --> 00:45:10,482
Speaker 2: Kim Jong Il bill believed that film revenue from international

656
00:45:10,482 --> 00:45:12,762
Speaker 2: distribution could be one way.

657
00:45:13,482 --> 00:45:17,602
Speaker 5: And Kim Jong Il's goal is to have North Korean

658
00:45:17,642 --> 00:45:21,722
Speaker 5: cinema recognized on an international scale, and he knows a

659
00:45:21,762 --> 00:45:25,642
Speaker 5: propaganda film is not going to be what creates that

660
00:45:26,402 --> 00:45:31,082
Speaker 5: fame and recognition from you know, from both the East

661
00:45:31,242 --> 00:45:31,922
Speaker 5: and the West.

662
00:45:32,522 --> 00:45:35,922
Speaker 2: Kim Jong Il wanted to be on par with Hollywood

663
00:45:35,962 --> 00:45:40,482
Speaker 2: and Western films. Choi and Shin were left to square

664
00:45:40,642 --> 00:45:47,002
Speaker 2: with a leader of a hermit country who wanted international attention. Now,

665
00:45:47,122 --> 00:45:51,402
Speaker 2: Shin and Choi began the balancing act of outlining scripts

666
00:45:51,922 --> 00:45:57,962
Speaker 2: and planning their escape. The couple researched and prepared for

667
00:45:58,002 --> 00:46:01,722
Speaker 2: their films around the country. They had bodyguards with them

668
00:46:01,922 --> 00:46:05,562
Speaker 2: everywhere they went, and in these tours around the country,

669
00:46:05,802 --> 00:46:08,962
Speaker 2: Shin and Choi vi did a rare department store that

670
00:46:09,082 --> 00:46:13,442
Speaker 2: sold Western items and managed to purchase a tape recorder.

671
00:46:14,042 --> 00:46:17,562
Speaker 2: Shin realized he could use it to his advantage. They

672
00:46:17,562 --> 00:46:20,722
Speaker 2: could record Kim and get him to admit that he

673
00:46:20,802 --> 00:46:24,522
Speaker 2: had planned to kidnap them, and that's just what they

674
00:46:24,642 --> 00:46:29,762
Speaker 2: do secretly at a meeting with him. This was obviously

675
00:46:29,962 --> 00:46:35,442
Speaker 2: incredibly risky behavior. Recording the North Korean party leaders is

676
00:46:35,562 --> 00:46:39,682
Speaker 2: a death sentence, but the couple can't have the outside world,

677
00:46:40,162 --> 00:46:45,442
Speaker 2: especially South Korean leaders, thinking they came here willingly. Choi

678
00:46:45,682 --> 00:46:49,642
Speaker 2: kept the recorder in her bag. She reached down and

679
00:46:50,122 --> 00:46:54,882
Speaker 2: as quietly as she could, pressed record. As Kim Jong

680
00:46:54,922 --> 00:46:59,882
Speaker 2: ale began monologing, He discussed the problems with North Korean

681
00:46:59,962 --> 00:47:04,762
Speaker 2: films and his knowledge of international films. He also admitted

682
00:47:05,242 --> 00:47:09,442
Speaker 2: that he plotted to kidnap them without prompting. He thought

683
00:47:09,522 --> 00:47:12,802
Speaker 2: he could only get to Shin if he captured Choi first.

684
00:47:13,482 --> 00:47:17,762
Speaker 2: They kept up their appearances, laughing and smiling at Kim's

685
00:47:17,842 --> 00:47:22,922
Speaker 2: jokes as they recorded. When the meeting finished, Shin and

686
00:47:23,162 --> 00:47:26,522
Speaker 2: Choi played back the tapes with the faucet running in

687
00:47:26,562 --> 00:47:30,362
Speaker 2: their bathroom. With this tape, they could prove they didn't

688
00:47:30,522 --> 00:47:35,242
Speaker 2: defect to North Korea, but in the immediate term, Shin

689
00:47:35,442 --> 00:47:39,042
Speaker 2: and Choi's first task was to make a movie for

690
00:47:39,282 --> 00:47:44,602
Speaker 2: Kim Il Sung's birthday April fifteenth. It was late October.

691
00:47:44,962 --> 00:47:46,482
Speaker 2: They had six months to go.

692
00:47:47,962 --> 00:47:51,122
Speaker 5: What was so fascinating for me is that any act

693
00:47:51,162 --> 00:47:54,282
Speaker 5: of creation, any book you write or film you make,

694
00:47:54,642 --> 00:47:58,082
Speaker 5: it is such a deeply personal act. It's an act

695
00:47:58,122 --> 00:48:03,482
Speaker 5: that requires safe mental, physical, and psychological space. So the

696
00:48:03,562 --> 00:48:08,722
Speaker 5: idea of creating something under duress, having your life being

697
00:48:08,842 --> 00:48:12,082
Speaker 5: almost dangled over you while you were making a film

698
00:48:12,562 --> 00:48:16,122
Speaker 5: is such a strange and foreign concept that very few

699
00:48:16,122 --> 00:48:17,602
Speaker 5: people have ever experienced.

700
00:48:17,682 --> 00:48:20,802
Speaker 7: What is that like? How do you make art that

701
00:48:20,922 --> 00:48:22,642
Speaker 7: is being coerced.

702
00:48:22,802 --> 00:48:25,882
Speaker 2: Under duress or not? Shin couldn't help but feel like

703
00:48:25,962 --> 00:48:28,562
Speaker 2: himself again when he got behind the camera.

704
00:48:29,242 --> 00:48:33,282
Speaker 5: Kim respected Shin enjoy so much that he allowed them

705
00:48:33,682 --> 00:48:36,322
Speaker 5: a level of creative control that he had never allowed

706
00:48:36,322 --> 00:48:39,562
Speaker 5: for any North Korean director. He was not micromanaging in

707
00:48:39,602 --> 00:48:42,762
Speaker 5: the same way, and he trusted their vision. He had

708
00:48:42,802 --> 00:48:45,842
Speaker 5: seen the way that they had catapulted the South Korean

709
00:48:45,882 --> 00:48:48,842
Speaker 5: film industry, and he wanted the same thing for North Korea.

710
00:48:49,322 --> 00:48:52,322
Speaker 5: And he knew that he was not able to helicopter

711
00:48:52,482 --> 00:48:55,722
Speaker 5: over them in the same way if those were the

712
00:48:56,202 --> 00:49:00,082
Speaker 5: aspirations that he had in North Korea. He's given a

713
00:49:00,122 --> 00:49:03,082
Speaker 5: great deal of license to create what he wants and

714
00:49:03,162 --> 00:49:05,442
Speaker 5: given all the resources to create.

715
00:49:05,162 --> 00:49:07,482
Speaker 2: It even leaving the country.

716
00:49:08,162 --> 00:49:12,442
Speaker 5: Kim's desire for cultural superiority and international recognition is so

717
00:49:12,642 --> 00:49:15,922
Speaker 5: great that he begins breaking his own rules. So Shin

718
00:49:16,002 --> 00:49:18,802
Speaker 5: and Choi were allowed to travel internationally, and they were

719
00:49:18,802 --> 00:49:23,162
Speaker 5: allowed to travel on the communist side of the Iron Curtain.

720
00:49:23,602 --> 00:49:26,362
Speaker 5: All of this is happening in the climate of the

721
00:49:26,402 --> 00:49:27,482
Speaker 5: Cold War at the time.

722
00:49:28,282 --> 00:49:31,402
Speaker 2: Under Kim Jong Il's request, they set up shop in

723
00:49:31,482 --> 00:49:36,722
Speaker 2: eastern Europe and started rolling. Shin had officially jumped down

724
00:49:36,762 --> 00:49:43,162
Speaker 2: to Hell in order to make a film. Six months later,

725
00:49:43,282 --> 00:49:47,922
Speaker 2: their first film, Emissary of No Return, delighted Kim Jong

726
00:49:48,002 --> 00:49:53,762
Speaker 2: Ill and global audiences, even winning an international award. Kim

727
00:49:53,842 --> 00:49:58,002
Speaker 2: Jong Il showered Toy and Shin with gifts and gave

728
00:49:58,082 --> 00:50:01,242
Speaker 2: them full control over future films.

729
00:50:01,402 --> 00:50:04,362
Speaker 5: And that means money is no object. If he wants

730
00:50:04,522 --> 00:50:08,002
Speaker 5: a thousand extras, Kim Jong yiel will deliver them. He

731
00:50:08,562 --> 00:50:13,002
Speaker 5: routinely would send members conscripted in the army to serve

732
00:50:13,042 --> 00:50:16,722
Speaker 5: as extras in Shin's films. He wanted a train to

733
00:50:16,842 --> 00:50:20,322
Speaker 5: explode in one of his films, so Kim Jong yeale

734
00:50:20,362 --> 00:50:24,562
Speaker 5: delivered a train filled with dynamite. So whatever Shin wanted,

735
00:50:24,642 --> 00:50:27,922
Speaker 5: whatever Choi wanted, Kim delivered for them.

736
00:50:28,122 --> 00:50:32,962
Speaker 6: It's like that scale of production was possible in the

737
00:50:33,002 --> 00:50:36,242
Speaker 6: North Korean context because he had all of the resources

738
00:50:36,282 --> 00:50:38,562
Speaker 6: of the government behind him.

739
00:50:38,602 --> 00:50:42,882
Speaker 2: Over the next three years, Shin and Choi pumped out

740
00:50:43,122 --> 00:50:47,522
Speaker 2: six more films, and in the strangeness of this time,

741
00:50:48,042 --> 00:50:52,282
Speaker 2: Choi and Shin fell back into a similar rhythm that

742
00:50:52,402 --> 00:50:56,802
Speaker 2: mirrored their previous life. They began to fall back in love.

743
00:50:57,482 --> 00:51:02,522
Speaker 2: Their days were filled with writing, editing, coaching, acting, and directing.

744
00:51:03,082 --> 00:51:08,202
Speaker 2: Like in their early days, the North Korean public loved

745
00:51:08,482 --> 00:51:12,682
Speaker 2: all of their films. With each success, Chin asked for

746
00:51:12,802 --> 00:51:17,082
Speaker 2: a bigger staff and imported goods from East Germany. The

747
00:51:17,162 --> 00:51:20,602
Speaker 2: couple could travel as much as they wanted within the

748
00:51:20,642 --> 00:51:22,442
Speaker 2: walls of the Iron Block.

749
00:51:23,602 --> 00:51:26,122
Speaker 5: So they were able to travel to places like Moscow

750
00:51:26,282 --> 00:51:31,242
Speaker 5: and Czechoslovakia and enter their films in competitions. Like Kim,

751
00:51:31,482 --> 00:51:34,162
Speaker 5: Shin and Choi had a lot of cognitive dissonance at

752
00:51:34,162 --> 00:51:38,282
Speaker 5: this time, they are being granted the freedom that they

753
00:51:38,282 --> 00:51:42,122
Speaker 5: were yearning for. In South Korea, they have the ability

754
00:51:42,162 --> 00:51:44,242
Speaker 5: to make the films of their dreams.

755
00:51:44,922 --> 00:51:48,162
Speaker 2: When Choi and Shin were in Eastern Europe and the USSR,

756
00:51:48,362 --> 00:51:52,522
Speaker 2: they demonstrated pride in their work, which made the Western

757
00:51:52,562 --> 00:51:57,002
Speaker 2: world question their whole story about them being kidnapped.

758
00:51:57,562 --> 00:52:01,002
Speaker 5: This is also the first time that South Korea is

759
00:52:01,082 --> 00:52:04,122
Speaker 5: seeing Choi and Shin. They did not know what happened

760
00:52:04,122 --> 00:52:06,682
Speaker 5: to them or where they went, and this creates a

761
00:52:06,682 --> 00:52:08,442
Speaker 5: ton of speculation.

762
00:52:08,042 --> 00:52:10,282
Speaker 7: And rumor in South Korea at the time, and.

763
00:52:10,282 --> 00:52:14,762
Speaker 5: What most people believe was that they defected, that they defected.

764
00:52:14,282 --> 00:52:15,282
Speaker 7: To North Korea.

765
00:52:15,722 --> 00:52:21,082
Speaker 5: So now Shin and Joy, formerly leading lights, formerly stars

766
00:52:21,282 --> 00:52:24,602
Speaker 5: of South Korean cinema, are now persona on Grada. They

767
00:52:24,642 --> 00:52:28,282
Speaker 5: are now widely despised by the South Korean public.

768
00:52:29,042 --> 00:52:32,442
Speaker 2: The Western world started doubting their loyalties.

769
00:52:33,042 --> 00:52:36,722
Speaker 6: And I think that, yeah, Shin, there are a lot

770
00:52:36,722 --> 00:52:41,282
Speaker 6: of questions about what his political ideologies actually were and

771
00:52:41,362 --> 00:52:45,522
Speaker 6: how he really felt about one regime or another, and

772
00:52:45,562 --> 00:52:48,362
Speaker 6: I think we'll never be able to know that for sure. Yes,

773
00:52:48,442 --> 00:52:51,922
Speaker 6: it's a kidnapping, was it a defection. There's not a

774
00:52:51,922 --> 00:52:54,522
Speaker 6: lot of clarity. So Shin gets to make his big

775
00:52:54,842 --> 00:53:00,962
Speaker 6: you know, spectacles, and Kim gets his kind of tool mouthpiece.

776
00:53:01,842 --> 00:53:05,642
Speaker 2: Shin and Troy maintained that escape was always in the

777
00:53:05,682 --> 00:53:09,082
Speaker 2: back of their minds, no matter how gratifying the art

778
00:53:09,202 --> 00:53:10,002
Speaker 2: process was.

779
00:53:10,682 --> 00:53:13,922
Speaker 5: So in one hand they're very satisfied. On the other hand,

780
00:53:14,442 --> 00:53:17,642
Speaker 5: they are still captive. They can't see their children, they

781
00:53:17,642 --> 00:53:22,162
Speaker 5: can't travel to many parts of the world, and they

782
00:53:22,242 --> 00:53:25,802
Speaker 5: knew that this was not a long term or sustainable situation.

783
00:53:26,682 --> 00:53:29,842
Speaker 2: The height of their fame in North Korea was their

784
00:53:29,922 --> 00:53:35,162
Speaker 2: monster movie Paul Gasari, a North Korean ripoff of Godzilla.

785
00:53:35,722 --> 00:53:38,802
Speaker 5: This was the most expensive film that North Korea had

786
00:53:38,842 --> 00:53:43,002
Speaker 5: ever produced. It included thousands of extras and was a

787
00:53:43,122 --> 00:53:46,722
Speaker 5: huge hit. Kim Jong Yel loved it, and due to

788
00:53:46,762 --> 00:53:49,082
Speaker 5: the success of that, they were able to make a

789
00:53:49,122 --> 00:53:52,442
Speaker 5: pitch for an even larger film. They wanted to make

790
00:53:52,482 --> 00:53:55,722
Speaker 5: an epic about Genghis Khan, and they knew that they

791
00:53:55,722 --> 00:53:59,242
Speaker 5: would need more financing for this, so Kim allowed them

792
00:53:59,242 --> 00:54:02,762
Speaker 5: to go to Vienna to meet with financiers for this

793
00:54:02,882 --> 00:54:06,762
Speaker 5: speculative project, and that's where they hatch theirs.

794
00:54:18,922 --> 00:54:23,122
Speaker 2: In nineteen eighty six, Shin and Choi cashed in all

795
00:54:23,162 --> 00:54:26,682
Speaker 2: of their chips. They convinced Kim Jong Ill to let

796
00:54:26,722 --> 00:54:31,202
Speaker 2: them set up their European studio in Vienna. At the time,

797
00:54:31,402 --> 00:54:36,722
Speaker 2: Austria was explicitly neutral in the contest between East and West,

798
00:54:37,162 --> 00:54:40,162
Speaker 2: so being in Vienna could give them enough wiggle room

799
00:54:40,482 --> 00:54:45,162
Speaker 2: to slip under the Iron curtain altogether. Shin and Choi

800
00:54:45,362 --> 00:54:49,242
Speaker 2: arrive at their hotel in the city center with their bodyguards.

801
00:54:49,882 --> 00:54:53,762
Speaker 2: When their bodyguards aren't looking, Shin slips a piece of

802
00:54:53,802 --> 00:54:57,402
Speaker 2: paper to a hotel employee. It says who they are,

803
00:54:57,922 --> 00:55:01,642
Speaker 2: that they're kidnapped by the North Koreans, and to please

804
00:55:01,922 --> 00:55:04,642
Speaker 2: send help from the US embassy.

805
00:55:05,362 --> 00:55:09,122
Speaker 5: Normally, whenever Shin and Choi left the country, they would

806
00:55:09,202 --> 00:55:13,882
Speaker 5: have guards and minders and people making sure that they

807
00:55:13,882 --> 00:55:17,202
Speaker 5: didn't escape. But over time it became a little bit

808
00:55:17,202 --> 00:55:23,242
Speaker 5: more lax, and they created the pretense or lie of

809
00:55:23,282 --> 00:55:27,362
Speaker 5: a journalistic interview. So Shin and Choi made up a

810
00:55:27,402 --> 00:55:30,522
Speaker 5: story about an interview with a journalist so they were

811
00:55:30,562 --> 00:55:33,842
Speaker 5: able to gain some privacy from their bodyguards.

812
00:55:34,482 --> 00:55:38,922
Speaker 2: Shin then calls an old friend, a Japanese reporter Inoki,

813
00:55:39,082 --> 00:55:42,682
Speaker 2: living in Vienna, and tells him to be ready the

814
00:55:42,722 --> 00:55:46,922
Speaker 2: next day with a car waiting outside their hotel. Shin

815
00:55:47,162 --> 00:55:50,482
Speaker 2: then tells their bodyguards that they had an interview with

816
00:55:50,562 --> 00:55:54,682
Speaker 2: a journalist which could help convince the Western world that

817
00:55:54,722 --> 00:56:00,762
Speaker 2: they were in North Korea by choice. Wink wink, nuge nudge.

818
00:56:00,922 --> 00:56:04,362
Speaker 2: The next morning, Shin and Choi have the bodyguards over

819
00:56:04,442 --> 00:56:09,082
Speaker 2: for breakfast in their hotel room to make appearances. Then

820
00:56:09,322 --> 00:56:14,402
Speaker 2: at twelve thirty, Shin and Choi go outside to meet Aenoki.

821
00:56:14,722 --> 00:56:20,482
Speaker 2: They notice their bodyguards idling outside. Shin spots Anoki standing

822
00:56:20,522 --> 00:56:24,682
Speaker 2: by a taxi. Shin and Choi, as casually as they can,

823
00:56:24,762 --> 00:56:29,162
Speaker 2: muster walk down the street at a seemingly normal pace.

824
00:56:29,922 --> 00:56:33,882
Speaker 2: Then once they get close to the car, Shin shoves

825
00:56:34,002 --> 00:56:37,522
Speaker 2: both the reporter and his wife into the taxi, slams

826
00:56:37,562 --> 00:56:41,482
Speaker 2: the door, and they book it. In the car, Shin

827
00:56:41,602 --> 00:56:45,042
Speaker 2: tells Anoki they have been kidnapped by the North Koreans

828
00:56:45,242 --> 00:56:48,562
Speaker 2: and need to make it to the American embassy. As

829
00:56:48,762 --> 00:56:53,042
Speaker 2: Shin tries to spit out the situation, Choi notices in

830
00:56:53,082 --> 00:56:56,482
Speaker 2: the rear view mirror that a white taxi is making

831
00:56:56,602 --> 00:57:00,002
Speaker 2: every turn. As they do it, they tell their driver

832
00:57:00,162 --> 00:57:02,802
Speaker 2: to go around in circles to try to lose the

833
00:57:02,842 --> 00:57:07,762
Speaker 2: taxi the taxi's radio speakers come on. The white taxi

834
00:57:07,882 --> 00:57:12,522
Speaker 2: is calling to ask where they went. Inoki handed their

835
00:57:12,562 --> 00:57:16,402
Speaker 2: taxi driver wads of cash and told their driver to

836
00:57:16,682 --> 00:57:19,722
Speaker 2: lie to the other taxi tell them they went the

837
00:57:19,802 --> 00:57:23,362
Speaker 2: other way. They were only a few minutes away from

838
00:57:23,402 --> 00:57:26,922
Speaker 2: the embassy. Finally they arrived at the bottom of a hill.

839
00:57:27,322 --> 00:57:30,002
Speaker 2: There's too much traffic for the taxi to go through,

840
00:57:30,442 --> 00:57:33,522
Speaker 2: so Choi and Shin jump out of the car and

841
00:57:33,922 --> 00:57:38,482
Speaker 2: sprint towards the embassy and burst through the doors. The

842
00:57:38,522 --> 00:57:42,402
Speaker 2: couple pants and sweats and tries to explain who they are.

843
00:57:43,082 --> 00:57:46,602
Speaker 2: American diplomats escort them outside and bring them to a

844
00:57:46,642 --> 00:57:50,802
Speaker 2: safe house. When they enter the safe house, Choi cries

845
00:57:51,242 --> 00:58:01,722
Speaker 2: and falls into her husband's arms. International papers blew up

846
00:58:02,162 --> 00:58:06,442
Speaker 2: when the news broke about Shin and Choi. In public accounts,

847
00:58:06,482 --> 00:58:10,442
Speaker 2: the North Korean claimed that Chin and Choi had come

848
00:58:10,482 --> 00:58:14,762
Speaker 2: to North Korea voluntarily and were now kidnapped by the

849
00:58:14,962 --> 00:58:19,402
Speaker 2: South Korean government. Who knows what Kim Jong ill thought

850
00:58:19,522 --> 00:58:20,642
Speaker 2: after they escaped.

851
00:58:21,282 --> 00:58:23,882
Speaker 5: So this is the first time that Chin and Choi

852
00:58:24,042 --> 00:58:27,242
Speaker 5: can tell their own story, and they are brought to

853
00:58:27,282 --> 00:58:31,362
Speaker 5: the United States and they are held in protective housing

854
00:58:31,682 --> 00:58:33,562
Speaker 5: in Virginia for several years.

855
00:58:34,002 --> 00:58:39,042
Speaker 2: Now, after decades of making fiction stories and propaganda, all

856
00:58:39,082 --> 00:58:41,442
Speaker 2: they cared about was telling the truth.

857
00:58:42,042 --> 00:58:44,322
Speaker 5: This is a time that they began writing their memoirs

858
00:58:44,602 --> 00:58:49,522
Speaker 5: and telling the true story behind their kidnapping. And fortunately

859
00:58:49,522 --> 00:58:52,282
Speaker 5: for Chin and Choi, they had been recording a lot

860
00:58:52,322 --> 00:58:55,602
Speaker 5: of their conversations with Kim. There were many people who

861
00:58:55,682 --> 00:58:59,562
Speaker 5: believe that they had voluntarily defected, and because of this

862
00:58:59,682 --> 00:59:03,602
Speaker 5: recordings that in many cases Choi had captured holding the

863
00:59:03,642 --> 00:59:06,002
Speaker 5: recorder in her purse. They were able to set the

864
00:59:06,082 --> 00:59:06,722
Speaker 5: record straight.

865
00:59:07,362 --> 00:59:12,602
Speaker 2: They eventually moved to Los Angeles, a filmmaker's dream. This

866
00:59:12,922 --> 00:59:17,242
Speaker 2: was the third time Shin tried to rebuild Shin Studios

867
00:59:17,282 --> 00:59:22,602
Speaker 2: from scratch, but they couldn't catch a break. Hollywood operated

868
00:59:22,842 --> 00:59:26,322
Speaker 2: much differently than the film industry in Korea.

869
00:59:27,642 --> 00:59:31,122
Speaker 5: They found it much more difficult than they expected, and

870
00:59:31,682 --> 00:59:34,842
Speaker 5: Shin did have a little bit of success. He directed

871
00:59:34,922 --> 00:59:38,522
Speaker 5: three films. People may know them as a Three Ninjas franchise.

872
00:59:38,802 --> 00:59:42,322
Speaker 5: He directed them under the alias of Simon Sheen, so

873
00:59:42,522 --> 00:59:44,602
Speaker 5: when you look at the credits, it's not Shin sang

874
00:59:44,602 --> 00:59:47,482
Speaker 5: ok on there. But these were small hits. They were

875
00:59:47,522 --> 00:59:50,282
Speaker 5: low budget films that had a fair amount of success,

876
00:59:50,722 --> 00:59:53,282
Speaker 5: but it wasn't what Shin wanted to do. He wanted

877
00:59:53,322 --> 00:59:57,642
Speaker 5: to make epics, He wanted to make artistic masterpieces, and

878
00:59:57,682 --> 01:00:01,322
Speaker 5: he was forced to make sequels for children's films, so

879
01:00:01,362 --> 01:00:03,002
Speaker 5: it was not his ideal situation.

880
01:00:03,842 --> 01:00:08,202
Speaker 2: When Shin and Choi talked to Hollywoo with producers about

881
01:00:08,242 --> 01:00:12,162
Speaker 2: turning their own lives into a movie, the producers were

882
01:00:12,282 --> 01:00:17,562
Speaker 2: hesitant to have three Asian leads. In nineteen ninety nine,

883
01:00:17,762 --> 01:00:21,802
Speaker 2: Shin and Choi returned to South Korea and lived out

884
01:00:21,842 --> 01:00:25,642
Speaker 2: the rest of their lives together. Looking back, there seemed

885
01:00:25,722 --> 01:00:29,362
Speaker 2: to be conflicting feelings about their time in North Korea.

886
01:00:30,042 --> 01:00:34,242
Speaker 2: Although they insisted that they were kidnapped, was it really

887
01:00:34,442 --> 01:00:35,362
Speaker 2: all that bad?

888
01:00:36,122 --> 01:00:39,202
Speaker 5: Shin regarded his time in North Korea as a real

889
01:00:39,282 --> 01:00:43,522
Speaker 5: artistic flourishing so the film run Away, for instance, he

890
01:00:43,602 --> 01:00:47,322
Speaker 5: considers his masterpiece. He considers a film that he made

891
01:00:47,482 --> 01:00:48,842
Speaker 5: while in captivity the.

892
01:00:48,802 --> 01:00:52,642
Speaker 7: Best film that he had ever made. So he left

893
01:00:52,842 --> 01:00:53,122
Speaker 7: with a.

894
01:00:53,082 --> 01:00:56,562
Speaker 5: Certain measure of reluctance if he could somehow take that

895
01:00:56,722 --> 01:01:01,682
Speaker 5: artistic freedom, that amount of resources that he had been

896
01:01:01,762 --> 01:01:05,202
Speaker 5: given in North Korea and bring that to a place

897
01:01:05,242 --> 01:01:07,322
Speaker 5: where he could live his life freely. I think that

898
01:01:07,362 --> 01:01:09,362
Speaker 5: would have been the ideal situation for him.

899
01:01:10,002 --> 01:01:13,042
Speaker 2: When they returned to South Korea, they did go through

900
01:01:13,162 --> 01:01:17,722
Speaker 2: questioning by the government and in the media. People wanted

901
01:01:17,762 --> 01:01:22,242
Speaker 2: to make sure they hadn't willingly defected. Shin died in

902
01:01:22,282 --> 01:01:26,082
Speaker 2: two thousand and six and Choi passed twelve years later.

903
01:01:26,762 --> 01:01:32,122
Speaker 2: Obituaries written by American and South Korean papers referenced the kidnapping,

904
01:01:32,562 --> 01:01:36,762
Speaker 2: solidifying the story that they had been abducted. Although they

905
01:01:36,762 --> 01:01:40,682
Speaker 2: didn't exactly go out with a bang, their wider impacts

906
01:01:40,722 --> 01:01:43,442
Speaker 2: are still felt in South Korean cinema.

907
01:01:43,842 --> 01:01:46,722
Speaker 6: I think that Shin's work, and then you know his

908
01:01:46,922 --> 01:01:50,682
Speaker 6: partnership with Chin, the way that they again ranged across

909
01:01:50,682 --> 01:01:54,562
Speaker 6: so many different genres and showed that they could adapt

910
01:01:55,242 --> 01:02:00,762
Speaker 6: story forms and settings like in dementia in Western to

911
01:02:01,242 --> 01:02:06,602
Speaker 6: the Korean context and make really compelling films. It's basically

912
01:02:06,962 --> 01:02:10,162
Speaker 6: exactly what the South Korean film industry has become famous

913
01:02:10,202 --> 01:02:13,442
Speaker 6: worldwide for doing. They were ahead of their time, and

914
01:02:13,522 --> 01:02:18,682
Speaker 6: so I think that his influence it can't be overstated.

915
01:02:18,722 --> 01:02:24,002
Speaker 6: It's recognizable everywhere in the South crane industry, and then

916
01:02:24,162 --> 01:02:28,362
Speaker 6: across the region too. I think Asian cinema is part

917
01:02:28,402 --> 01:02:29,122
Speaker 6: of that as well.

918
01:02:32,602 --> 01:02:33,882
Speaker 3: What a story.

919
01:02:34,042 --> 01:02:36,642
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness, Paul Gasari, come on now, Oh my.

920
01:02:36,642 --> 01:02:38,002
Speaker 2: God, this love story.

921
01:02:38,042 --> 01:02:42,082
Speaker 1: I can't believe they came together. And the daring escape.

922
01:02:42,082 --> 01:02:44,842
Speaker 1: Were you kidding me? The foot chase? Oh you're so

923
01:02:45,002 --> 01:02:46,442
Speaker 1: right down up top? This is a movie.

924
01:02:46,642 --> 01:02:47,842
Speaker 2: It's like you could see it.

925
01:02:48,282 --> 01:02:50,882
Speaker 3: Yeah, so, Zaren, I know you knew this story because

926
01:02:50,922 --> 01:02:55,122
Speaker 3: you and Elizabeth covered this on Ridiculous Crime. Is there

927
01:02:55,242 --> 01:02:57,322
Speaker 3: any other color that we had to leave out of

928
01:02:57,322 --> 01:02:57,922
Speaker 3: this version?

929
01:02:58,282 --> 01:03:00,042
Speaker 1: I would just the only thing that we've fixated on

930
01:03:00,122 --> 01:03:01,842
Speaker 1: in the story that we kind of didn't cover in

931
01:03:01,882 --> 01:03:06,122
Speaker 1: this version was the abductors themselves were a funny group,

932
01:03:06,162 --> 01:03:07,962
Speaker 1: and that nobody could ever get the number right, so

933
01:03:08,002 --> 01:03:10,002
Speaker 1: always like it was like three to four guys. We

934
01:03:10,162 --> 01:03:12,682
Speaker 1: just kept laughing about how humans have a hard time

935
01:03:12,722 --> 01:03:14,882
Speaker 1: counting past three. You get to like four, I know

936
01:03:14,922 --> 01:03:17,042
Speaker 1: it's three or four, maybe five, I don't know. So

937
01:03:17,402 --> 01:03:20,042
Speaker 1: the idea that these abductors, who we pointed out, they

938
01:03:20,042 --> 01:03:22,442
Speaker 1: both get abducted, but they get abducted in such strange ways,

939
01:03:22,482 --> 01:03:24,242
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden you show up in North Korea,

940
01:03:24,682 --> 01:03:27,042
Speaker 1: Like how bizarre is that? Is a life moment like,

941
01:03:27,082 --> 01:03:29,042
Speaker 1: so I would say that was the part that we

942
01:03:29,122 --> 01:03:31,242
Speaker 1: fixated on. But other than that, it's the exact same

943
01:03:31,282 --> 01:03:34,242
Speaker 1: story and it's so beautiful that I loved this rendition

944
01:03:34,282 --> 01:03:36,322
Speaker 1: because we spent more time on the love story. I

945
01:03:36,402 --> 01:03:39,122
Speaker 1: love this love story. This made me so happy totally.

946
01:03:39,162 --> 01:03:41,162
Speaker 1: And by the way, the love story I'm talking about

947
01:03:41,282 --> 01:03:44,762
Speaker 1: is Kim jong Ill and Paul Gasari the monster. That's

948
01:03:44,762 --> 01:03:45,402
Speaker 1: what I meant.

949
01:03:46,482 --> 01:03:48,962
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, that's the real romance of this episode.

950
01:03:49,082 --> 01:03:51,282
Speaker 1: Also, by the way, Paul Gasari I kept noticing, but

951
01:03:51,362 --> 01:03:53,362
Speaker 1: this time I didn't notice it before. Sounds all like

952
01:03:53,362 --> 01:03:56,082
Speaker 1: Paul Gasol the form of basketball players. I kept picturing

953
01:03:56,122 --> 01:03:59,242
Speaker 1: a Paul Gasol inside the Godzilla style monster suit. So

954
01:03:59,282 --> 01:04:00,202
Speaker 1: that was just fun for me.

955
01:04:00,282 --> 01:04:02,962
Speaker 3: I knew this story because going way back and the

956
01:04:03,202 --> 01:04:07,362
Speaker 3: Mental Floss magazine print. Oh yeah, someone had written this

957
01:04:07,442 --> 01:04:12,282
Speaker 3: as a feature about Kim Jong Ill and the filmmakers

958
01:04:12,282 --> 01:04:15,322
Speaker 3: he kidnapped and the Godzilla movie. He always wanted to

959
01:04:15,322 --> 01:04:17,482
Speaker 3: make something like that, And I remember the night that

960
01:04:17,602 --> 01:04:22,562
Speaker 3: Kim jong Ill died, we had a meeting, like frantic

961
01:04:22,602 --> 01:04:24,802
Speaker 3: phone meeting about like, wow, we should put something up

962
01:04:24,842 --> 01:04:28,522
Speaker 3: about Kim Jong Ill. What do we got and then like, well,

963
01:04:28,642 --> 01:04:31,122
Speaker 3: I guess this is as good as story as any.

964
01:04:31,682 --> 01:04:35,202
Speaker 3: Not sure how to talk about a brutal dictator on

965
01:04:35,242 --> 01:04:38,282
Speaker 3: his death, but this felt like, well, people should know

966
01:04:38,362 --> 01:04:40,602
Speaker 3: this story. So I'm glad we continue to get this

967
01:04:40,722 --> 01:04:43,482
Speaker 3: story out to more people in more elaborate ways.

968
01:04:43,522 --> 01:04:45,522
Speaker 1: And that is a proper perspective for a dictator is

969
01:04:45,562 --> 01:04:46,802
Speaker 1: to kind of poke fun at them.

970
01:04:46,842 --> 01:04:50,362
Speaker 3: Any very special characters on either of your radars.

971
01:04:50,002 --> 01:04:52,922
Speaker 4: I will do the Godzilla monster. Oh yeah, good, call

972
01:04:53,042 --> 01:04:54,322
Speaker 4: the monster itself yeah.

973
01:04:54,402 --> 01:04:56,962
Speaker 1: And following in that, I picked the filmmaker, but not

974
01:04:57,242 --> 01:04:59,282
Speaker 1: when he was in either South or North Korea, but

975
01:04:59,442 --> 01:05:01,522
Speaker 1: when he was in America and known as Simon Sheen

976
01:05:01,602 --> 01:05:04,202
Speaker 1: and he directed the Three Ninjas franchise. I had no

977
01:05:04,282 --> 01:05:06,402
Speaker 1: idea that the director of the Three ninjasranchise had once

978
01:05:06,442 --> 01:05:08,722
Speaker 1: been kidnap by Kim Jong Il. I was like, oh man,

979
01:05:08,762 --> 01:05:10,402
Speaker 1: this changes the whole movie.

980
01:05:11,242 --> 01:05:15,322
Speaker 3: How about their friend and Nooki, the Japanese journalist, She's

981
01:05:15,402 --> 01:05:18,682
Speaker 3: just like, helps bribe the cab driver, I mean that guy.

982
01:05:18,802 --> 01:05:19,922
Speaker 4: Got them out.

983
01:05:20,282 --> 01:05:23,522
Speaker 3: Yeah, and the cab driver, because cab driver is going

984
01:05:23,562 --> 01:05:25,562
Speaker 3: about his day and this jumps into your cab.

985
01:05:25,602 --> 01:05:28,322
Speaker 1: That was and you're an international intrigue. This one was

986
01:05:28,362 --> 01:05:30,442
Speaker 1: interesting on casting, by the way, because I had a

987
01:05:30,522 --> 01:05:32,602
Speaker 1: prizing number of Korean actors that I wanted to cast

988
01:05:32,642 --> 01:05:34,042
Speaker 1: in this. I thought it was gonna be a challenge,

989
01:05:34,082 --> 01:05:36,202
Speaker 1: but I was like, oh, man, for Kim il sung,

990
01:05:36,282 --> 01:05:38,522
Speaker 1: you gotta go with Choi Min sick from Old Boy

991
01:05:38,602 --> 01:05:42,242
Speaker 1: from the Chi Parkers Old Boy, right, he can nail it.

992
01:05:42,282 --> 01:05:44,602
Speaker 1: And then for Kim Jong il the Son, I thought,

993
01:05:44,842 --> 01:05:46,602
Speaker 1: have a little more fun with this. You go Bobby

994
01:05:46,682 --> 01:05:49,442
Speaker 1: Lee from Mad TV or the co host of podcast

995
01:05:49,482 --> 01:05:51,802
Speaker 1: Bad Friends. I thought Bobby Lee would be great. And

996
01:05:51,842 --> 01:05:54,842
Speaker 1: then for the South Korean director Shin Song Oh, I

997
01:05:54,882 --> 01:05:57,642
Speaker 1: was thinking John cho He was in Cowboy Bebop and

998
01:05:57,722 --> 01:05:59,562
Speaker 1: so I thought he's kind of the cool version of

999
01:05:59,562 --> 01:06:01,282
Speaker 1: what you want for that and Elsie he could play

1000
01:06:01,282 --> 01:06:03,602
Speaker 1: a lover. And then for his wife, the South Korean

1001
01:06:03,642 --> 01:06:07,642
Speaker 1: actress Choi yun yi Kim yun jin who played son

1002
01:06:07,762 --> 01:06:10,082
Speaker 1: on the TV show Lost If you remember that at all,

1003
01:06:10,162 --> 01:06:11,842
Speaker 1: so I thought she would be great. She has the

1004
01:06:11,922 --> 01:06:14,922
Speaker 1: right vibe that I could not really cast Paul Gasari

1005
01:06:15,042 --> 01:06:17,162
Speaker 1: other than the Paul Gasol inside the suit. So that's

1006
01:06:17,162 --> 01:06:17,722
Speaker 1: all I got.

1007
01:06:18,282 --> 01:06:21,202
Speaker 4: You know, I love that you pulled John Choe because

1008
01:06:21,202 --> 01:06:24,562
Speaker 4: I'm like, team put John Choe in more romantic comedies.

1009
01:06:24,962 --> 01:06:27,922
Speaker 4: John cho it was in a very short lived TV

1010
01:06:28,042 --> 01:06:31,002
Speaker 4: show called Selfie that no one watched but me, but

1011
01:06:31,042 --> 01:06:33,002
Speaker 4: it was sort of like a rom com TV show,

1012
01:06:33,282 --> 01:06:35,762
Speaker 4: and I'm like, this man needs to be a romantic lead.

1013
01:06:35,842 --> 01:06:37,722
Speaker 4: And now that he is like a little older, like

1014
01:06:38,242 --> 01:06:41,082
Speaker 4: making the director, let's see that relationship.

1015
01:06:41,562 --> 01:06:44,802
Speaker 1: I'm so into that call also for a very special character.

1016
01:06:45,282 --> 01:06:47,522
Speaker 1: I also like the US Prisoners of War having to

1017
01:06:47,562 --> 01:06:50,762
Speaker 1: do voiceover work and translating the plots of Elizabeth Taylor films.

1018
01:06:50,802 --> 01:06:51,642
Speaker 1: I thought that was just.

1019
01:06:51,602 --> 01:06:54,802
Speaker 3: Great, some good roles for the film version, which definitely

1020
01:06:54,882 --> 01:06:56,202
Speaker 3: now has to happen.

1021
01:06:58,722 --> 01:07:01,842
Speaker 8: Very special episodes is made by some very special people.

1022
01:07:02,202 --> 01:07:05,562
Speaker 8: Today's episode was written by Adrian Bain and edited by

1023
01:07:05,682 --> 01:07:07,162
Speaker 8: Carmen Borka Korea.

1024
01:07:07,242 --> 01:07:08,722
Speaker 1: At Wondermedia Network.

1025
01:07:09,882 --> 01:07:12,882
Speaker 8: The show is hosted by Danis Schwartz, Zaren Burnett, and

1026
01:07:13,002 --> 01:07:17,722
Speaker 8: Jason English. Our producer is Josh Fisher. Editing and sound

1027
01:07:17,762 --> 01:07:23,282
Speaker 8: design by Chris Childs. Additional editing by Mary Doo, mixing

1028
01:07:23,322 --> 01:07:27,722
Speaker 8: and mastering by Chris Childs. Original music by Elise McCoy.

1029
01:07:28,442 --> 01:07:32,362
Speaker 8: Back checking by Austin Thompson Show logo by Lucy Quintonia.

1030
01:07:33,282 --> 01:07:36,602
Speaker 8: The executive producer is Jason English. If you want to

1031
01:07:36,602 --> 01:07:39,442
Speaker 8: email the show, can reach us at Very Special Episodes

1032
01:07:39,482 --> 01:07:43,482
Speaker 8: at gmail dot com. Very Special Episodes is a production

1033
01:07:43,642 --> 01:07:44,682
Speaker 8: of iHeart.

1034
01:07:44,282 --> 01:07:51,362
Speaker 2: Podcasts and thanks for listening. Could you do us a

1035
01:07:51,402 --> 01:07:55,002
Speaker 2: quick favor? If you are enjoying Very Special Episodes, go

1036
01:07:55,082 --> 01:07:59,082
Speaker 2: subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast platform and

1037
01:07:59,282 --> 01:08:03,162
Speaker 2: give us a rating on Apple or Spotify. It all helps.

1038
01:08:03,562 --> 01:08:04,602
Speaker 2: We'll see you next time.