A-List Movie Star KIDNAPPED By North Korea- then Forced To Make Movies For Kim Jung Il

Barabing baraboom. The mansion was heavily guarded. First, there's a layer of thick pine trees. making it feel incredibly secluded, incredibly private, just tucked away. Then there's a layer of concrete gates, walls, barbed wire fences, and then. armed guards surrounding the entire. perimeter of this mansion. She's given a. tour of this massive estate her first. night there. "These are the bedrooms, but you'll be staying here alone, minus. the guards. So, it's your pick which.

room you'd like. Now, this is the. library and the theater. There's a tacky chandelier hanging from. every single ceiling. It felt like a. mini Las Vegas in here. Over-the-top. displays of wealth in every single room. Eun-hee's very first night in that. mansion, she was guided to a dining hall. where the entire dining table, enough to. fit 16 people, was filled with. delicacies and expensive foods from all. over the world. Fried shrimp, raw fish, beef ribs, lobster. All just for her.

Enough food to feed 100 people, but. nobody's joining her for dinner. She. would be alone. Eun-hee couldn't stomach any of it. She. took a few sips of soup, ran into her. bedroom, slammed the door shut. She. wanted to lock it, but none of the doors. in this house lock. She tried another. door. It leads to a closet that's. jam-packed with clothes. Clothing that. was perfectly tailored to fit Eun-hee's. body. It wasn't just Eun-hee wears a. medium and all the clothes are medium. It was a very much bespoke, tailored to.

fit her exact measurements. How? This is. her first time here. Eun-hee cried herself to sleep that. first night. The next morning, there. were gifts waiting for her downstairs. Every cosmetic that she ever liked, every skin care product she used back. home, makeup products, the same brand, the same item, the same shade, all there. beautifully packaged up. Every single. day Eun-hee was in that house, a new. expensive gift would come. Gowns, fur. coats, lacy hand-stitched lingerie. All.

custom tailored to fit her and only her. Bespoke dresses, cosmetics, flowers. Dinner was always another giant spread. of food that she can't stomach and. enough for 20 people, but it's just her. Eun-hee is miserable. She was one of the most famous actresses. in South Korea, and now she had been. kidnapped and held captive in a mansion. with no way to escape. She had guards. watching her every single move, attendees tending to her every single. need. Whatever she needed, anything at.

all, was at her disposal, at her. request. The only condition is. she can't leave. She was trapped in captivity for about 5. days when her helper burst in through. the door. "You've been invited to a. dinner party, you've been invited! Come. on, we must hurry and get ready.". She was dressed in a bespoke gown. perfectly tailored to her, driven in a. Mercedes. It pulls up in front of. another massive opulent building. The. door swings open, she gets out, and. standing in front of her.

is Kim Jong Il, the soon-to-be supreme leader of North. Korea. "Welcome, Madam Choi. Have you been able. to get some rest?". She stood there, shocked. Wasn't he supposed to be dead? Or barely alive? That's what South Korean news have been. reporting, but he's here, standing in. front of her, healthy as a horse, beaming. He's so proud of kidnapping. her. Why would Kim Jong Il want to. kidnap her? Why would the son of the.

supreme leader of North Korea, heir. apparent, kidnap a South Korean film. actress when all foreign films are. banned in North Korea? The great leader would tell her, "Because I want you to star in North. Korean movies.". Eun-hee smiled. But it's not a request, it was a threat. Eun-hee, top South Korean actress, would. have to act like her life depended on it. for Kim Jong Il, the soon-to-be leader. of North Korea.

We would like to thank today's sponsors. who have made it possible for Rotten. Mango to support Korea Future, whose. mission is to document and analyze human. rights violations and international. crimes committed in North Korea in order. to help support accountability and. proceedings under national and. international law in hopes to help.

provide justice for the victims. This. episode's partnerships have also made it. possible to support Rotten Mango's. growing team of dedicated researchers. and translators. We would also like to. thank you guys for your continued. support as we work on our mission to be. worthy advocates of these causes. This. is actually a revisit to an episode I. did a few years back, back when we were. still doing just audio only and no. visuals on this podcast. But when the. episode of Kim Jong Nam being killed by. two girls who thought it was a YouTube. prank, yeah, when that went up, a lot of.

you guys have been requesting this case. through our website, and we didn't want. to just upload the audio with no video. since I know a lot of you guys like the. video format. So, I went in, I took a. second look at this case, I tried to. approach it from a completely different. perspective. I did my best to make it. feel like a completely different. episode, so even if you have listened to. the previous audio only episodes, I am. hoping and I think that this will still. feel like an entirely new case. We also. did a lot of additional research. The. novel A Kim Jong Il Production, which. that was my second time reading it. Paul.

Fischer is absolutely incredible. I. mean, he is such a well-thought-out. author. Like everything that he. he put his heart and soul into that. book, and it probably has a spot on my. list of top 10 books that I've ever. read. I believe he just recently. released a new book a year or two back, so I'm going to link both in the. description. Give it a read, he's a. fantastic author, and there is so much. more detail in his work. But as always, with any episode, if there is anything. lost in translation, miscommunicated, or.

additional information that you know, please let me know down in the comments. Now, with that being said, let's get. into it. The headlines in South Korea read, "Eun-hee, famous South Korean movie. star, gone missing, and her famous film. director husband is suspect number one.". Did he do it? He would say, "No, that's nonsense.". Well, did he kill her? Did he hide her. somewhere? Does he know a secret? Does. she know a secret about him that could. take his whole career down? Was it for. the money? Or was it because he was just. done with her? Did he think his life is.

his own little movie and he can just. kidnap his ex-wife? Director Shin thought it was all. ridiculous, and anybody who believed. such a ridiculous thing was just not. very bright. But every time he tried to. tell people, reporters, press, media, friends, family, nobody believed him. The police, they raided his house. They. went through all of his personal. belongings. Things are not looking in. his favor. Reporters, police, they're. hounding him with questions, all of. which he keeps denying. "I didn't do. anything.".

"But is it not true that you cheated on. your wife, the woman who helped you. achieve your dreams?". Eun-hee was already a movie star when. they got married. He was a relatively. unknown director. She's the one that. made his career. They got married, she. starred in every single film of his, pushing him into just complete stardom, fame, and money, basically shoving wads. of bills into his pockets. And then, he. turned around, found a younger actress. to star in his movie. He cheated on his. older wife with the younger actress. He. had two kids with his mistress.

When he was the one that knew that one. of Eun-hee's biggest insecurities was. the fact that she was unable to bear him. biological children. He turned around, had an affair with a younger woman, had. two biological kids. Was it also not true that Director Shin. didn't even tell her about this affair? He waited until she woke up one morning. and read it on the papers. She was. completely blindsided and humiliated so. publicly. Is it not true that Eun-hee hit rock. bottom because she felt her husband went.

and found the two things that Eun-hee. could no longer provide, youth and. biological children? Is that not true? Director Shin would say, "But that has. nothing to do with her disappearance.". And then to pour giant crystals of salt. into the gaping open wound, did Director. Shin not recreate a movie he first made. with his wife Eun-hee as the lead? Did. he not redo it, recreate it with the. newer, younger version. of his mistress? You're saying that she went missing and.

these people are coming to the. ex-husband or husband? Ex-husband. And he's like, "I have. nothing to do with it." But they're. like, "Did you not cheat on her? Did you. not have kids with your mistress? Did. you not wait for her to find it on the. news? I mean, it's so brutal. You sound. like the prime suspect." Mhm. I mean, what he did is absolutely horrendous, but Director Shin was innocent. That's. what he keeps claiming. He has nothing. to do with his ex-wife's disappearance. But not a single person would believe. him after hearing all of that. So now, there's only one way to prove his. innocence. Go find Eun-hee and bring her.

home. The largest prison camp in North Korea. is larger than the city of Los Angeles. You can be thrown in prison in North. Korea for just about anything. One woman. was thrown into prison because she was. in charge of handing out food rations. A. higher-up in the government structure. wanted more food from her than was. allowed in his rations, surpassing his. rations, breaking the law. She told him, "No, that's breaking the law." She was. thrown in prison. Had she given him extra food, she would.

probably be thrown in prison either way. But in North Korea, your actions are not. just your own actions. Usually three. generations of a family are thrown in. prison for one person's actions. In. prison, you are condemned to hard labor. and likely death. In prison, you're. being watched non-stop. Nobody's to be. trusted. Guards in North Korean prison. camps are rewarded by how many escape. attempts they stop. So, they'll lie to. prisoners. "Hey, come here. I can help you escape. I know you were. wrongfully charged. I know a cousin who.

knows your cousin. I'm going to help you. get out of here, okay? They'll help you. They'll wait until the. very last second until that prisoner is. about to reach the gate and then boom, they'll shoot them down from the guard. post. They'll drag their dead body back. to the prison to show their higher-ups. and get rewarded with extra food. rations. Sometimes if an escapee doesn't get. killed on their attempt but is still. alive, the guards will have all the. other prisoners come outside and order. them to. walk. Walk on them.

Nonstop. Break all their bones, crush their. organs, stomp on him. Either he dies or. you all die. Once the escapee was trampled on, completely crushed until he looked like. a bag of ground meat, just limp and. jelly on the floor, the guards would. just leave him out for a few days as a. reminder to everyone, don't ever try to. escape because we are watching you. Other times guards will hang up. prisoners who try to escape and order. the rest of the group to stone them. alive. They'll have to throw heavy. stones at them. The other prisoners.

stated the skin on the victim's faces. would be completely gone. Nothing would. be left of their clothes but just some. like bloody strings. Forced terminations are very common. They will inject poison into the fetus. or if they're feeling lazy, guards will. just cut a woman open, rip her baby out. and strangle the child if they're still. alive. Sometimes they might even make you wait. Whether you feel like you're getting. away with it but they rip your life. apart when it hurts more or for the. sheer enjoyment of it but it has been. reported that forced terminations occur.

when prisoners were about 7 to 8 months. pregnant. Basically about to give birth. So it would be you would think in. everybody's best interest then if you. are not pregnant upon arriving in prison. and you do whatever it takes to not get. pregnant once you are in that prison to. not go through all of that. But there's. a catch. Female prisoners are often. ordered to wash clothes at night where. the guards would take them to be. rewarded. Yeah. So we can imagine that a lot of. female prisoners die during the process. but most people in North Korean prisons.

die from starvation. The starvation there gets so bad that. some prisoners are given less than 3 oz. of corn for an entire day, unseasoned, usually rotten, stale corn. You know. when you order a Chipotle burrito bowl. and you ask for corn salsa on your bowl. It's about a scoop of corn. That is how. much they would get for the entire day. to consume while they're doing hard. labor. It's so little that prisoners start. obsessing over consuming anything they. can get their hands on and the only. thing that they have are rats and.

cockroaches. If they're lucky, the. guards take pity on them and shove a. small cup of pig feed into the cell. It's like the crushed sand that they. feed pigs, that gets pushed into their. cell and they will eat it up. A former defector said, from the moment. you put down your spoon, you're hungry. It's all grass, no nutrition, you get. hungry. You don't even feel the food in. your stomach. All the nutrition in your. body is gone so you will end up looking. like a skeleton just right before dying. Another former prisoner said, it's in my. opinion that it's preferable to be.

beaten in prison. You know, cuz it's. possible to grit your teeth and. withstand a physical beating but to. continuously be starved is worse. During the winters it gets as cold as. -10° in North Korea but you never get. anything other than the thin shirt that. you're wearing. So with the severe lack. of nutrition, the harsh conditions, prisoners barely have the energy to live. but they need to work. They need to work. 16 hours a day. Depending on the prison, there are different types of forced. labor. So the more physically taxing and.

dangerous ones include mining, logging, construction, farming but also you could. be sent to make fake eyelashes for like. 20 hours in a single day. I mean, it. sounds easier than mining, right? But. they have quotas. They have to meet. those quotas and if you don't, you're. going to get punished. Side note, that's been a whole thing. recently. There are a ton of products. out there that are labeled made in China. but they could actually be made in North. Korean prison camps. Fake lashes and. wigs being two big examples of exports. that you will see get exported into the.

United States to be sold to consumers. that violate US sanctions because. they're made in North Korea and North. Korea profits off of them. But we don't know, right? Is that the. okay? One survivor said there were about 160. women in her side of the prison camp. They would get lined up every night. after 16-20 hours of working and the. ones that the guards felt like didn't. perform well enough, they would get. whipped and their heads would be smashed. into the concrete walls as punishment. They would just walk up behind you and. start smashing heads into the walls. Then they get divided into groups of 50.

They're forced to sleep in the same. cell. I mean, at most they have enough. room to kind of sit with their knees. pulled up to their chest and that's how. they're supposed to sleep. One survivor said, you go to sleep and. the next morning the person next to you. is cold because they're dead. The older woman die right away. I saw a. fellow prisoner desperate from hunger. bite off half of the ear of a woman who. died and put it in her pocket to eat it. later. It's reported prisoners will be asked to. hold the top bars of their cell door and. the guards would just come and use that. person as a literal punching bag.

Another person reports being thrown into. a pottery kiln until she was knocked out. from the heat. It's like a giant oven. Then once she was passed out, they. brought her out and waited until she was. conscious and they punched out all her. teeth. She had toothpicks shoved under. her nail beds. She was forced to drink. water, copious amounts of water until. she vomited up everything. Another woman stated that she woke up. and there were two full-grown men, guards, standing on top of her stomach. She was unable to stand up for 2 weeks. after that.

Two sisters were caught trying to. escape. They were brought back to the. camp and in front of all the other. prisoners to teach them a lesson, they. were forced to lift a heavy log up in. the air until they gave up and it came. down on them. The other prisoners were. instructed to then go in and stomp on. them and break all their bones. Finally, they were taped up to a wall to be. publicly starved to death. It's like. when you watch a flower withering. Every. time another prisoner would walk past, they would see more and more bone just. protruding from the two girls until they.

were dead on the walls. Some reports even suggest that doctors. come to prisons to practice surgeries. and instead of wasting money and. resources, they will just pluck a random. prisoner who doesn't need a surgery and. practice opening them up and operating. on their internal organs without. anesthesia. We have no idea how much of these are. true and I hope most of them are not but. these are the stories of a lot of. defectors. So I just don't really see why they. would lie. One prisoner said, you quickly learn to. tell the difference between the cry of a.

man screaming out in pain or from fear. or from madness. But one thing that we can say is a bit. more confirmed are the heavy usage of. stress positions in prison. Stress. positions don't sound as bad compared to. all the other methods of torture that we. just discussed but it's it's bad. The. CIA employed stress positions on its. notorious torture programs against. terrorist. Stress positions are when you. place a detainee in a very, very. uncomfortable, unnatural position for. lengthy periods of time. Some people say.

it's more painful than breaking a bone. It causes long-term injuries without any. scars. It's mentally exhausting. It's. physically excruciating. It's. humiliating. It causes muscle fatigue. It leads to muscle spasms. Your whole. body is shaking in pain and it stings in. a very unique way. This is said to be. used to break down the mental barriers. of prisoners. There's something called. the clock torture. Prisoners will be forced to stand on a. table and they are read out loud a time. on a clock. They have to recreate it. with their bodies and then they have to.

hold that position until another time is. called. They do this for hours, like 20. hours a day. Most of them end up. collapsing in exhaustion and pain and it. could last for as long as the guards. want. What do you mean by posing out the. clock? So if it's like 10, you have to use your. body to make it look like 10. But you. can't have your legs planted. So you. know how the easiest way would be like, oh, this is three, this is, you know. But you can't do that. Mhm. They get severely beaten if they don't.

have the right read. Now, a few of the. more intense stress positions include. scale, airplane and motorcycle. The. scale position, prisoners are made to. stand on their tippy toes, knees bent, squatting. Then they have to extend. their arms fully out in front of them. and these giant cinder blocks attached. by ropes get clung onto their wrists. They have to keep the scales balanced. They cannot move. Within seconds their. entire body starts to tremble. uncontrollably. I mean, no amount of. willpower or fear is going to make this. go away.

But the guards don't care. If you move, if you make the scales unbalanced, you. will be beaten and starved and likely. thrown into solitary confinement. The airplane pose consists of a prisoner. standing on the tippy toes of one leg. The other leg is bent so they're just. balancing on one foot on their toes. Their arms have to be stretched out to. their sides like an airplane. The motorcycle pose, the prisoner is. forced on both toes squatting very lowly. down like they're sitting on an. invisible motorcycle. They have to.

extend both arms in front of them like. they're holding onto the motorcycle. handlebars. They have to maintain that position for. however long the guards want. Sometimes. it can be 20 hours a day. What makes this more sick is that a lot. of the citizens of North Korea have. never even seen an airplane or a. motorcycle. Wow. One North Korean official who worked in. the Kim residence as a maid if you will, had never even seen a banana before all. of this. So they've never seen. motorcycles. Or there's the pigeon pose. There are.

railings on the walls of the prison. about 2 ft tall. Your arms get. handcuffed behind your back. They get. attached to that 2 ft tall wall railing. It's such an awkward position that you. can't fully stand up but you also cannot. squat or sit down fully. Oh. You're half squatting. You can't. even like be doing a kimchi squat. It's very uncomfortable. You're just. kind of crunched up in a semi ball. No. food, no water for 3 days, and they say. something about that position makes you.

empty your insides from both sides. You. end up urinating and defecating on. yourself as well as vomiting up. everything. And you cannot sleep for 3 days because. your body cannot rest. One prisoner. said, "If you're hung like that, you. urinate, you defecate, you throw up, you're totally dehydrated. It was the. most painful of all tortures. It was so. painful, I thought it was better to. die.". These rules still apply when the. prisoners go to sleep. One former. prisoner turned defector said, "We were. not supposed to move when we sleep. We. have to sit crisscross applesauce, and.

we have to look down and our back. straight, head hanging down. That's how. we're allowed to sleep.". No one's allowed to move, so all you. hear is the sound of people breathing. More often than not, detainees are. forced to dig their own graves because. the chances of surviving and getting out. are slim to none. In prison number six of North Korea, one. inmate got very, very, very lucky call. He was allowed to use a shower that day. So, for the past 2 years, he had been. stuck in this prison, barely allowed to. shower, brushing his teeth with salt,

but today he was going to get longer. than the 5 minutes that he was normally. allowed. So, his trusty, which is like. an inmate who works as a teacher's. assistant, it's an inmate that the. guards trust. The trusty is watching. over him, making sure that he doesn't do. anything wrong. And for some reason, I. guess the trusty really likes him. He. let him shower a bit longer. So, while. the inmate is in there scrubbing as. quickly as possible, feeling very. vulnerable, naked in the shower, the. trusty leans up against the wall, glances around and says, "I know who you are.".

The man in the shower froze. "You're that South Korean film director, Director Shin. You're married to that. actress, Eun-hee, no?". How was this possible? All foreign. movies were banned in North Korea. Nobody in the prison, not even the. guards, knew who he was. "Did you just say that you knew my wife, Eun-hee?". "Yeah, I did.". Shin's head starts ringing. "Do you know where she is? Is she Is she. here?". "She was just here,

but now she's gone.". Before Shin could ask more questions, time was up. They had to go back to. their cells. Director Shin had been. trapped in North Korea for years looking. for his ex-wife. Some reports say they. were still married, but wife, actress. Choe Eun-hee. And now a suspicious guy. in prison is telling him he knows who he. is, he knows who his wife is, and that. his wife had been in this very exact. prison. Shin had a million questions. that he wanted to ask during the next. shower. But here's the weird thing. How did he know what Director Shin.

looked like? Even if South Korean movies were. smuggled into North Korea, Director Shin. was behind the camera. How did he recognize him by his face? Was this another trap? Was this another. setup? Some sort of test? Shin would have a lot of time to ponder. if the man could be trusted. He would. spend another 2 years in the North. Korean detention center, 16 hours a day, each day, in a stress position. 16 hours a day? In a stress position.

Hold on, time? For 2 and 1/2 years. Every single day? Every single day. Wow. There is a real-life Hunger Games, and. it's called The Mass Games. It's hosted. in North Korea. It takes place typically. once a year, every year, in the world's. largest arena, where tens of thousands. of children scream in happiness or fear. for their lives. And technically, you. can go watch. Well, maybe not you. American citizens aren't allowed to. visit North Korea, but they do accept.

tourists from other countries. The Mass. Games is actually a tourist event. All. you have to do is purchase a ticket. Some international sponsors of these. games are going to pay top dollar to see. the games up close and personal. Technically, the games aren't really. games. It's just a gymnastics. performance. There are no real games. being played. It's not football, it's. not basketball. It's a performance where. tens of thousands, if not close to. 100,000 people show up, and they show. their strength as a group. They will run. out into what looks like a giant.

football field or a soccer field. It's. actually close to 40 American football. fields all in an enclosed indoor. stadium. It's the largest arena in the. world. And these 100,000 people will form. shapes with their bodies. They're. coordinated, they're in sync, they're. dancing along to music, they're singing, but they're also forming words, and then. they're forming mosaics, they're forming. a whole play with their bodies. So, instead of having trees as props on. the side, you'll have like 10,000 people.

dressed up as a tree, and they're moving. and they're swaying because trees are. moving with the wind, and then the news. story calls for the trees to be moved to. a different side. It's crazy. The amount. of moving parts that you see, it feels. like a wave. It feels like you've. programmed them with a computer, and. they're they're computer chips, but. they're human. Not a single one of them ever steps out. of line, and not a single one of them. goes 0.2 seconds faster than the rest. It's like they share one collective. brain. And then on one side of the bleachers, there are more performers. They're in.

charge of the card screen. They're. holding a stack of colored cards. They're like these giant poster cards, probably the size of a poster board. So, think double your torso. And on beat, they can make those poster cards depict. the Kim dynasty, a person, a place, whatever mosaic they want. And it's not. cartoonish. It's almost like a real. screen. It's almost like you're watching. a human jumbotron. It looks like an LED. screen. But it's managed by individual. humans. So, every like on screen, like. every little block pixel is a human.

that's manually controlling it. And they. have to move these poster cards very. quickly, and most of them are kids. Children. Not a single colored card is. ever wrongly depicted. Not a single. person chooses the wrong colored card at. the wrong time or a second late. Again, it's like they share one collective. brain. Most of the card flippers are children, and witnesses estimate that the crowd of. children performing in the Mass Games is. close to 30,000. In total, the group of performers makes. up about 100,000 civilians, and it's all.

about a single heart society. It's like. an Olympics opening ceremony, but even. crazier. It's lengthy. There's multiple. stories in each act. There's use of. props, uniforms, spelling of words using. thousands of bodies. Thousands of kids. are in each performance. I mean, some of. them are chosen as young as 5 years old, and they train every single day of their. lives until they are deemed ready. Then. they can finally take part in a mass. game. And every year from then on, they. will perform, and they will practice for.

the next one, and perform until they. die. The kids are forced to practice over 8. hours a day, close to 13 hours a day, flipping colored cards that are larger. than their upper bodies. They have to. practice outside when the winters are in. the negative degrees, and no pages have. words, instructions, pictures, nothing. They can never get it crinkled. That. book of colored poster cards is their. Bible. They cannot ruin it. One netizen who went said, "It's like. Cirque du Soleil, but on steroids.". So, it's not a real game in the sense. that you win anything, but it's still a.

game because if you don't perform, if. you misstep, if you don't scream loud. enough, you could lose everything. One tourist described it as deafening. Each child, a sea of tens of thousands. of kids sitting 1 ft apart trying to. scream louder than all the other kids. In the end, if the kids' throats aren't. gone, if they haven't screamed enough, they are simply not honoring their. regime enough. The consequences can. involve concentration camps condemning. three future generations of yours to. years of lower-class status, and in. cases where a child messes up.

astronomically, like not flipping the. right colored card, they could be. executed. I never thought about this until I. talked to my sister the other day, and. she told me that she hates drinking. water. So, her tactic to be more. hydrated is to chug half a water bottle. every couple of hours. And I was. confused because I prefer sipping on my. water throughout the day. I actually. heard that it's better for you, but. maybe it's because I never really drink.

plain water. My water is always flavored. with Liquid I.V. Not only does it taste. fantastic, but it is much more hydrating. than water alone. One stick of Liquid. I.V. has three times the electrolytes of. the leading sports drink, plus eight. vitamins and nutrients. It's sugar-free. and with no artificial sweeteners. Instead, Liquid I.V. uses a proprietary. amino acid allulose blend. It's based on. naturally occurring sweetener with the. same sweet taste and texture of table. sugar, but without the blood sugar. spike. Liquid I.V. is also non-GMO and.

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20% off your first order when you shop. better hydration today using promo code. rotten at liquidiv.com. This is where Director Shin was dragged. soon after he was kidnapped by North. Korea. He felt completely alone watching. as he stared at the children screaming. until the veins on their neck were. bulging out until they were on the brink. of fainting until urine was trickling. down their legs because they have to. stand like that all day long.

And the smell would spread throughout. the stadium. It was a real-life Hunger. Games and director Shin felt completely. alone. But he wasn't. In the crowd was his ex-wife, Choe. Eun-hui. Trapped just like him, waiting for an. escape. They would both be kidnapped and held by. North Korea for years before they. reunited by Kim Jong-il. Do you know who the largest buyer of. Hennessy, the liquor brand, was at one.

point? North Korea? Kim Jong-il of North Korea. It is estimated that, calculated with. inflation, he spent close to $4 million. a year on just the Hennessy brand alone. Not liquor in total, just Hennessy. liquor. It's like a cognac liquor. When. he wanted something lighter, he liked. $15,000 bottles of champagne. He owned. Yeah, he had a very lavish lifestyle. He. owns multiple cars, or he did own. multiple cars. Armored Mercedes that were bulletproof,

Cadillacs, Rolls-Royces, speedboats, yachts, cruise ships, collection of. racing cars, a private helicopter. He. didn't own a plane because he always. hated flying long-term, but his favorite. method of travel was private bulletproof. train. He had a private bulletproof. train. To where like. He could just travel around North Korea. In his private Yeah. Huh. He had. 24-something resorts and villas all. around North Korea that was just made. for him. It's not a resort in the sense. that other people can visit, but resort. in the sense that they are that massive.

They look like a five-star resort. It's. estimated that he spent at least $2.5. billion building homes across the. country for himself. Every single piece of furniture in his. homes were imported from Switzerland or. France. Each clock was made handmade in. Switzerland and all his residences had. to be set at 71° whether he was there or. not, even though the electricity is. rationed in North Korea. He needs it to. be 71° in every room. Before he arrives, all the attendants.

have maybe a minute to spray his. favorite scent of perfume everywhere. If. he walks into a room and he doesn't. smell it, I'm imagining blood would be. shed. He had full-blown casinos in his. estates, ski slopes, bowling alleys, roller skating rinks. He also had one. residence where he just keeps deer as. pets. You're talking about Kim Jong-il. Yes. So, Kim Jong-il is the dad of Kim. Jong-un. Also the father of Kim. Jong-nam. Yes. Same dad. Yeah, different mothers. We're going to get into it though. Yeah.

But it's rumored that another building. was constructed three stories below. water level with thick glass. Like the. Atlantis Hotel or Underwater hotel. Yes. Just a panoramic view of underwater. life. One residence had a 165-ft long. underground swimming pool in the. residence, which most residential pools. are about 20 ft long. This was 165 ft. underground and most things that is. underground for the Kim dynasty are. bombproof. Like nuclear weapon proof is.

what they say. Kim had water slides for his. above-ground pools that make the place. look like a full-scale amusement park. and that's just one of his pools. And he just had a thing for water. Many. of his residences would sit on. artificial man-made lakes. Kim said. water made him feel calm. He even had a. party building that he called the fish. house because it had a 25-ft long. floor-to-ceiling aquarium, a large ocean. fish aquarium in the second floor. ballroom. And every party, the people in. attendance would change. They were.

always the one that Kim would favorite. and he would call them, drink with them, eat with them. And they could be. switched in and out, but one constant. was. the pleasure squad. The pleasure squad was in attendance at. every single party. The pleasure squad consisted of the most. beautiful women in North Korea. handpicked by Kim Jong-il and then. divided into three separate groups. The. entertainment group, they would come to. the fish house, they would sing and. dance at the parties. Then you had the. happiness group, they would go around. the party to each of the guests or. whoever Kim ordered them to and they.

would massage them anywhere and. everywhere they wanted. Then you had the satisfaction group, they provided sexual services to anybody. Kim wanted. Interestingly enough, Kim never touched. any of the girls at any of his parties. All three groups? All three groups. Hmm. But he would force them to sing, dance, massage and do other things at the. parties. Sometimes it's alleged that. group orgies take place at these fish. house parties and they loved playing. bizarre games like with the pleasure. squad. Allegedly there was this one game.

that they would play and if one of the. pleasure squad girls lost, they would. have their private parts hair shaved in. front of everyone. Yeah. There's a few strict criteria when it. comes to who qualifies to be a pleasure. squad girl. You cannot be taller than. 5'4" because that's how tall Kim Jong-il. is. He doesn't want them to be taller. than him. You have to be free of scars. and blemishes. You have need a soft. feminine voice and being untouched is. imperative. And you have to be between. the ages of 13 and 15.

to start. Side note, untouched girls are. specifically chosen because, and take. this with a grain of salt, but it's. believed that the Kims believed the. girls' life force or chi would be. absorbed if you were the first one to be. intimate with them. So, you take their. life spirit away from them. So, the girls are allegedly subjected to. horrendous medical tests to ensure that. they are untouched and then once they're. touched, they are trained to basically. become. sexual robot slaves. Like they are not.

allowed to have their own individual. thoughts, feelings, like they are just. to be ordered around. They are trained. for 6 months learning how to service. higher-ups in North Korea. They take. intense classes for manners, behavior, massage, intimacy, singing, dancing. Once they pass training, the girls are. forced to entertain and sleep with. whoever the leading family wants. It was. recently a scandal with Kim Jong-il's. son, the current leader, where he spent. allegedly over $2 million. in foreign lingerie for the pleasure. squad.

Because the pleasure squad seems to be a. generational thing. Like they'll create. their own pleasure squads. How did that. news even come out? Yeah. I think cuz they imported it from. Europe and maybe. Huh. No, there's no official number on how. many girls are in the pleasure squad, but it can be estimated to be about. 2,000. They never have a say in anything. that happens to them and these girls are. retired at around 20 years old because. that's just like way too old to be. attractive now and their reward, their. payment for being essentially kidnapped. and trafficked, is to be able to marry a.

military officer. But the active members will be at each. of the fish house parties usually. wearing revealing clothing, dancing, singing, entertaining, pouring glasses, flirt Whatever Kim wants, he gets. And. these parties, I mean really, they are. like the capital parties at the Hunger. Games. Do you remember when the capital. would host parties and all the elite. would take these pills that make them. throw up everything they just consumed. so that they can go back in and eat. more? Hmm. That's what these parties felt. like. At the fish house, every single.

surface, all the tables were filled with. lobsters, steak, pastries, bear feet. imported from Russia, which is a whole. thing. Bear paws are usually illegal, but they go for about $1,000 a paw. You. cook it in soup and the whole meaning is. if you eat a bear paw, you will get the. power of a bear. And usually the paws. are hacked off in front of the eater. The bear is still alive, they come in. chained and they hack off the paw. Then. the bear is now driven out and they get. tortured by being beaten with steel.

sticks until they die. The idea is that. bears are in a state of adrenaline when. they die because they're being beaten up. and the meat will become more tender. Additionally, the table is always filled. with shark fin soup, which is also. another controversial dish. A lot of. fishers will go out into the ocean, catch a shark, cut off their fins and. throw them back into the water where. they're just bleeding out and slowly. drowning because they can't swim. There. is no nutritional value in a shark fin, nor is there any taste, but some people. believe it to be a magical essence of.

life. The tables are filled with $800 to. $1,500 bottles of Hennessy. There's. large glass bottles with a yellowish. liquor inside and sitting floating. around is a venomous snake. It's called. snake venom liquor, a delicacy where. venomous snakes are infused with liquor. in the hopes that the venom's essence. will be in each sip. People describe the. aftertaste of snake venom liquor as. being a fishy chicken. Sometimes the. snakes are dunked into the liquor alive, but instead of dying, they go into. hibernation and they come alive when the.

bottle is opened. But it is considered quite a delicacy. But there are no such things as free. lunches. If Kim asks you a question at one of. these fish house parties, addresses you. during the meal, you have to jump up, stand at attention even with a mouthful. of shark fin soup and respond, "Yes, sir.". You are to stand in that position until. Kim feels like, "You know what? It's. time for you to be seated again.". Kim would be at the center of all of. this directing the party and whatever he. said, regardless of if it was joking. around or completely drunk and he's just.

talking out of his mouth, there would be. an assistant standing right behind him. writing down every single thing he says. on pen and paper and whatever he says at. that party would become an official. order and law the next day. Kim would fire or promote people for. random things. "You know how to eat. shark fin soup well? You must be a. spoiled little brat. Demoted. Send him to prison.". Just completely random, uncalled for, unpredictable. So, one minute they're a. guest Yeah. having a party, look like. they're having the time of their life.

Next minute, they're in prison. Exactly. So, they're not really a guest here. They're all like actors. No one's having. fun. I see. Sometimes in the middle of. dinner, he would scream, "Army!". Everyone would stop mid-chew, eyes go. wide, food hanging out of their mouth. They would reach under their seats, rush. to put on an army uniform that's taped. underneath their dinner seat, and they. would start jogging around in a circle. around the table until Kim tells them, "Stop. Enough.". Then they would sit back down, and soon. enough he would scream, "Navy!".

And they would reach down and grab the. navy uniform, put it on, and then just. run around in circles around the table. until he decided, "Uh, that's enough. stimulation." He liked to watch people. squirm. He would tell the female dancers to. strip completely naked and dance around. seductively. The men then were. instructed to dance with them, but if. you touch a woman, "I'll consider you a. thief.". The men would be terrified for their. lives. Allegedly, there was one time where a. man that had frequented Kim's parties, he went home and he told his wife a few.

things that he saw at these gatherings. And the wife, being a good citizen of. North Korea, felt like these parties. were immoral and it goes against what. the supreme leader would want. So, this. is when Kim Jong-il was not the supreme. leader. This is when his daddy was, Kim. Il-sung. He's the heir apparent. He's. going to take over soon, but he's not. the leader. He's not the head dog in. charge yet. So, she writes the supreme. leader a very long letter, kind, polite, about what his son was up to during his. night shifts.

The letter did not go to Daddy Kim. It. went straight to Kim Jong-il, who held. another party. But this time, husband. and wife were both invited. In front of. all the guests, Kim stated that this. woman was a traitor. And he brought out a rifle. Her husband looked at her and then. looked at Kim Jong-il and said, "Can I do the honors, sir?". And he shot his wife to death. at the party. And then the party went on. Allegedly, there were several nights where giant. 6-ft long diameter balls, like giant.

balls, would be hung up in the ceiling. filled with presents. Kim would shoot at. the ball with a rifle, making it explode. presents all over the floor, and all. would fight each other for the best. presents. And most of the presents were. just like food. Kim thought it was amusing. He liked it. Meanwhile, the country of North Korea is. said to look like a war zone. No signs. of people or life in most areas. Everywhere looks like a ghost town. The. only thing that is around are pictures. of Kim Il-sung, the dad, hung up on.

every wall of every building. There's no. street lights, so at night the entire. country is pitch black. Everybody gets. sorted into a caste system called the. songbun system, and every single person. is assigned a rank. But it's not even. just based on you. It's based on your. past generations. If your parents have. tainted blood, and you know what they. consider tainted blood? If your parents before the Korean War. had owned a little store, a mom-and-pop. store, you have tainted blood because. that's a sign of capitalism, and you are.

filth. When there's food shortages in North. Korea, the food rations are concentrated. to the top of the songbun classes. The. lowers songbuns will be the first to. starve to death, and the chances of. starving to death are pretty high. The. food rations per person in North Korea. are sometimes as low as 11 oz a day for. adults. This is someone who is not a. prisoner. Prisoners can get as low as 5. oz a day. Just to give you some context, we probably eat anywhere between 48 to. 64 oz of food on average to maintain our. weight, not gain [music] weight. 11 oz.

of non-nutritious food is starvation. People were so hungry, they laid traps. for birds, rats, mice. The entire. country's frog population is extinct. because people resorted to eating all. the frogs. People dug through cow manure to find. undigested corn to eat. There were. reports of parents being thrown in. prison for eating their children, and. cannibalism stories starting to spread. During a 4-year span, it's estimated 3. million people in North Korea died from. starvation. And yet, every single citizen was gifted.

a portrait of the great leaders and a. white polishing cloth that they could be. used only for wiping these portraits. Every day, they're instructed to praise. the portraits, and if there ever is a. fire, if there's ever an earthquake, you. could lose your whole family member. You. could lose your whole house, all your. worldly belongings, but you better not. lose that portrait because every. morning, you have to wake up and thank. the great leader for the food, even. though there is no food. There is no publicly known net worth for.

the Kim family of North Korea, but we. can assume based on their position and. their spending that they are one of the. richest families in the world. Some. people estimate in the hundreds of. billions. We'll never get an accurate. figure. The Kim dynasty consisted of Kim. Il-sung, who was the very first leader. of North Korea. The citizens in North. Korea called him the great son of life. He had a few children, and after a very. dangerous game of succession, Kim. Jong-il takes over as the supreme. leader. He's the one that this whole. story is going to be about, so we're. just going to call him Kim. But he's not.

actually the current leader of North. Korea. The current leader is his son, Kim Jong-un, who took over in 2011. And. then allegedly, he had his half-brother. assassinated, but that was covered in. another video and we'll link it below. At this point in the succession games, Kim Il-sung, the founder of North Korea, is still in charge. He's got a bunch of. kids, and Kim Jong-il is probably his. heir apparent, but he hasn't solidified. it. He hasn't announced it to the world. or even to his own people. So, now that.

we're somewhat acquainted with the Kim. lineage, let's talk about their business. models because I'm not saying this, but. many, many people have said that the Kim. dynasty runs their finances like a crime. syndicate. They run their finances more. like a mafia family. A lot of the Kims' fortunes come from. gold mines, exports of goods, factories. that are set up where civilians are. forced to work for basically no money, and their products are exported to make. a profit for the Kims. Allegedly, North. Korea is a huge, huge producer of. counterfeit items, including counterfeit. cigarettes, medicine, including fake.

Viagra, counterfeit bills. Yeah, counterfeit bills is a whole thing. At. one point, they were one of the larger. counterfeiters of the US $100 bill. And the $100 bills, by the way, they're. called supernotes by the CIA cuz they. were pretty good. Some even speculate. that the Kims were involved in the drug. trade, primarily opium, cocaine, meth. So, Kim Jong-il, the son of the supreme. leader at the time, was in charge of. running a lot of these operations. And. allegedly, while he holds this very.

powerful spot, he's just not satisfied. Because there's really only one role. that Kim Jong-il wants, which is. becoming the supreme leader of North. Korea. And legend has it, he's ready for it. At. just 3 weeks old, legend has it, Kim. Jong-il was walking around the army. bases. The average child starts walking. at around 10 months or 44 weeks, but. he's 3 weeks old. At just 8 weeks old, Kim was talking. The average child. starts talking at around 15 months or 65.

weeks, but he's just 8 weeks old. And at. just 3 years old, it's stated, legend. has it, Kim Jong-il walked into a. classroom that had maps of the evil. Japan on the wall. He dipped his finger. into the ink jar. He walked up to the. map, smeared a certain part of Japan. with black ink, and the second his. finger landed on that map, violent. typhoons and hurricanes started pounding. down in Japan in that exact region. The average child does not ever do that,

but he did that at 3 years old. And at 10 years old, he was fighting on. the front lines of the guerrilla. battles. He had a gun in his hand. And. just to add another one to the list, allegedly, during his very first game of. golf, he did 11 holes-in-one. To give. you context, Tiger Woods has only had 20. holes-in-ones during his entire career. Kim had 11 during his first ever game. Yeah, now, these stories are taught. every day to the North Korean citizens. from the time a North Korean child is.

old enough to walk, which is usually not. 3 weeks, they are taught these stories. It's like being taught the ABCs, maybe. more important in North Korea, even. though it's all a lie. But it didn't. matter because a good story is a good. story. That's how Kim Jong-il felt. But. in reality, they're just stories. It's. been said by others that Kim Jong-il is. really not that special. Had he been. born to any other family, one might even. call him average. Ironically, Kim is. said to hate authority and discipline as. a kid. He was predisposed to having.

these temper tantrums, and he would. throw these huge parties. He just loved. a never-ending. good time. That's it. He didn't care. about anything else. He didn't care. about studying. He just spent his entire. day in his movie theater. All he did was. watch movies. Kim Jong-il was a. cinemaholic. He was obsessed with. movies. Now, side note, non-North. Korean-made films are completely banned. in North Korea. If you get caught. watching a film from a different. country, you will get sent to a harsh. labor camp for at least 5 years. Your.

parents will probably have to go for at. least a year just for birthing you, birthing someone who would dare break a. law. But not for Kim. One of his first. projects was actually a smuggling ring, a network to smuggle foreign movies, like from the United States, from. Europe, from South Korea, from Japan, into North Korea. He called it rescue. operation number 100. With 250. employees, he had most foreign movies. translated and dubbed into Korean. There. were translators, subtitle writers, dubbing voice actors, archivists,

administrators. He had one of the. largest private collections of movies. probably in the entire world. But is that behind Daddy's back or. Behind Daddy's back. But what about the. 250 employees working in the department? Weren't they breaking the law by. watching so many foreign films? Yeah. No. Each film was divided into like 500. different parts. There was just audio, then just visual, then both, and each. employee only got clips to translate of. each movie, so they had no idea what was. going on ever. Like it was just spliced. together. He became the head of the propaganda.

film studio, which sounds like a. position that your dad gives you when. they're like, "I don't know what else to. give you, so just like go do this, right? You get a fancy title. There you. go, my son. But it's actually a very. important role. At one point, North and South Korea were. fighting about everything. Like they. were trying to be the better country in. regards to every industry, including. filmmaking. South Korea was getting. ahead with some films that were gaining. international recognition. I mean, it. wasn't like Parasite level, but it was. still better than what North Korea was. doing at the time. Kim's dad thought Kim.

had a special eye for film. And by. special eye, I mean, he just liked. watching them like the rest of us. I. mean, I can't find any reports that he. was particularly talented at film or the. conception of storylines. But there is. one story that's told over and over and. over to the North Korean people. When Kim was seven, he was watching a. North Korean-made film with his dad. And. at the end, everyone got up and they're. clapping and everyone's cheering, and he. walked up to the producer, 7 years old, and he said, "The film showed winter.

scenes of the falling snow. [sighs and gasps]. There's snow everywhere in the scene, but not on the heads and shoulders of. the actors. And the snow is so clearly. made of cotton wool. We should try salt. next time. Also, the trick shots are not. good. I have better ways they can be. filmed.". And that is the story. Filmmaker. prodigy, the next mastermind of cinema. in the world. So Kim takes over. He. starts making movies to spread. propaganda. He created a 10 million. square foot studio in North Korea, which. is bigger than all the Hollywood studio.

lots. And working in his movie-making. department was probably the best job. that you could ever get. He created a. department store for film workers where. they could buy clothes. that are usually not available in their. rations. They could even eat chocolate. sometimes. A big part of why Kim became the next. leader of North Korea has a lot to do. with these movies. They're not great. They're not even good, but they all. praised his dad. They all praised the. current leader. I see. They got the.

public riled up and excited about the. future of the country. They were a great. tool for propaganda in the beginning. Because think about it this way, books. and lectures, they take time to absorb. It's harder, more expensive to disperse. One book a person? No, that's expensive. One book per classroom? But how do you. make sure each kid gets it and how fast. can they get through the entire book? And how do you know they're absorbing. the right message? Movies are the easiest way. The. population will enjoy it. They'll be so. thankful for quality entertainment. And.

the entire movie would just be an ad for. Kim Il-sung, the Kim dynasty, and. devotion to North Korea. Not every town. had a movie theater, so they would have. these traveling screens with projectors. to go town from town. And to make sure. everybody got the message at the end, after each movie, there would be a. criticism session where. nobody who wants to stay alive would be. criticizing anything, but rather. everyone responds to questions being. asked about the message of the movie. And this was all Kim's idea, and it. worked. Every movie showed his father as.

the greatest being that ever existed. Loyalty to Kim Il-sung and the nation. was the greatest virtue that one could. have. Kim Il-sung was quite pleased with. his son. He took his films into great. consideration when thinking about who's. going to be the next heir to the nation. But like any great film director, Kim. Jong-il would have his first movie. affair. Just like director Shin, he fell in love. with the lead actress.

And goes down. It's estimated that out of the 26. million people in North Korea, only. 30,000 people own cars, and they're all. government-issued. So you get it as a. gift from the government. Now, there are. barely any cars on the road at any given. time. So Hye-rim, let's call her Heddy. So Heddy is confused when she hears a. car honking outside her bedroom window. in the village of North Korea. Like who. the hell could possibly be outside right. now? She pokes her head out and there is. the supreme leader's son, heir apparent.

Kim Jong-il, standing next to his. armored Mercedes. Get in. Definitely an order. She grabs a jacket, runs into the backseat. The second most. powerful man in all of North Korea is. now staring at her. "No one can ever know about this, including my father, the supreme leader. You got it? I'm going to take you to the. hospital. Your sister is about to give birth to my. very first child.". What? Actress Song Hye-rim, not to be confused with her sister. Hye-rim, was pregnant with Kim's very.

first child. Kim dropped the actress's. sister off at the hospital so she. wouldn't be alone to give birth. But. there was no way he could get in there. His dad had to never know about this. This could ruin his chance at succession. because this is not an optimal marriage. By the way, the actress is married and. already has kids. The There's no way the. supreme leader of North Korea can be in. a scandalous marriage. So his dad wouldn't choose him to be the. next leader. No one can know. So he waits outside in the car, in the. dark, and he stares up at the hospital.

window, and he's anxious. He and the. actress had set up a code. If she. flicked the light a certain number of. times, that means the baby is a boy. A. different number of times, that means. the baby is a girl. He waits, and he counts the flickering. of the lights. It's a boy. A baby boy. He would be named Kim Jong-nam. Oh my goodness. How could anybody have. guessed in the next round of succession. in North Korea, Kim Jong-nam would be. killed by two girls who thought they. were filming a YouTube prank.

Kim staring at the comedian, the. comedian staring at Kim Jong-nam, the. kid, the kid staring back and forth from. the comedian to his father, back to the. comedian, and then bursting into tears. "He's a fake dad. He's a fake.". Kim looked upset. "Take him away.". The comedian was dragged out by the. guards. Kim Jong-nam, Kim's first son, had a favorite South Korean comedian, and he requested his dad to see him live. rather than on TV. But that wasn't. really feasible. So Kim ordered his men. to find someone across the nation that.

resembled this comedian, give them. plastic surgery against his will, and. then train him to talk like the comedian. and have the same mannerisms, and then. give a live performance. Either way, that comedian was going to. die because no one knows about Kim. Jong-nam's existence at this point. He gets brought in, and Kim Jong-nam. knows it's not the real one. He catches. on. And that's when Kim thought to himself, "That was annoying. I should have just. kidnapped the real one.". It's not like this was new to them. North Korea actually went through a.

kidnapping phase, a kidnapping era, if. you will. All around the world, civilians who had no affiliations with. their own government even. They're not. high-ranking. They're not high-security. clearance positions. Just random normal. civilians would go missing. In each. case, authorities assumed that they ran. away or some sort of seedy individual. was out lurking, kidnapping, and killing. them, or some other bad thing had. happened to them. But no, it was Kim. Jong-il. Kim Jong-il loved a good. kidnapping storyline. He learned it from. all the James Bond movies he watched. I'm not even kidding you. There are.

reports that Kim Jong-il believed James. Bond movies were docu-dramas. Yeah. So all these secret spies holding. people hostage, kidnapping people, assassinations, money heist, he thought. they were all dramatized recreations of. things that happened in the West. And he. felt left out, so he's like, "I'm going. to do the same thing. I'm going to. kidnap people.". Later he said, "Well, I didn't kidnap. people. My men did. My men were. overzealous in their patriotism, so they.

kidnapped people from Japan, South. Korea, London, Copenhagen, Oslo, Hong. Kong, Macau, Beirut." It's reported that. South Korea had the most abductions from. North Korea. China and Japan are likely. second and third. Probably the most. notable kidnapping, and the one that. made people go, "What?" was when five high school. students went missing on the beach off. the coast of South Korea. All five kids. vanished. Authorities chalked it up to a. very sad, very unfortunate drowning at. sea incident with the teenagers who. clearly didn't know better. With the. exception of their loved ones. Their. loved ones are like, "No, my my kids are.

out there somewhere.". The whole world moved on. 20 years. later, the five high school students. were now middle-aged and discovered to. be in a spy school in North Korea. They. were taken by North Korea for the sole. purpose of training North Koreans. Training North Koreans? What does that. mean? There's a lot of North Korean. spies acting as locals in countries all. over the world. Mhm. So how do you North Korea? I mean, you. look at pictures, you look at the way.

they dress, you look at the way they. talk. It's nothing like how you would. expect someone in China, Japan, or South. Korea to talk. Mhm. So they kidnap. locals, and they make them train North. Koreans. Cadence, culture, speaking, memes, clothing choices, even how to use. a credit card, everything has to be. taught to these North Korean spies. They. get a fake identity, then they get sent. to live in these countries. acting like a local. According to first-hand accounts, there. is at least one confirmed spy school in. the mountains of North Korea. The spy.

school is said to have large-scale. models of Seoul and different cities. around the world that are pretty. precise. It's said that the facilities. have tunnels that are underground that. are 40 ft tall that are bomb-proof. They have scales and models of buildings. all around the world that are very. important, like the Blue House, which is. the White House of South Korea. And each. kidnapped foreigner would serve the. North Korean regime and have very big. parts to play in Kim Jong-il's grand. scheme of control and power. And. director Shin and actress Uni would have.

one of the biggest roles to play. There's a famous mountain in the Korean. peninsula. Every Korean knew about this. mountain, but the peninsula was divided, and Mount Paektu was now in North Korea. This is allegedly where Kim Jong-il was. born. At the height of winter, temperatures are in the negatives. Kim's. mom is trying to stay warm in a little. cabin in the woods, and she's about to. give birth. There's this angry storm. raging, just calming down on them. relentless, but the minute that Kim. Jong-il is born, the thunderstorm stops. abruptly. A double rainbow appears right.

in front of the cabin and it's so. bright. The colors of this double. rainbow are so intense it looks like the. Lucky Charms packaging and a new star. appears in the sky that very day to. celebrate. This is the same thing as like those old. school Chinese legend? Yeah. The sky. clears up and. Exactly. The baby was so healthy that. when Kim Jong-il first opened his mouth. and cried all the fighters in the. mountains could hear it. They came out. of their tents and they started bursting. into tears crying.

That log cabin where Kim was born was. preserved and most citizens were. expected to regularly visit and educate. themselves. Director Shin and actress. Eun-hee both had to go. Separately, of. course. I don't know if I should use. this word but it was goofy. Yeah, it was goofy. The log cabin was. supposed to have withstood decades of. storms just crashing down on the harsh. mountainside, two wars, but why did it. look brand new? It didn't even just look. brand new. It felt like a prop. Like you. know the difference between a real cabin. and a cabin that you would find in.

Disneyland? Like there's just something. off about the dimensions and the wear. and tear. It just is confusing. That's. what it looks like. It looked like a. prop for an amusement park. But director. Shin and actress Eun-hee were separately. brought and trying to convince their. teachers this is this is yeah, no I. believe it now. This makes sense. This. is where he was born. Both of them at first had tried fighting. the indoctrination but it just wasn't. working. They would be brought to. museums where there would be paintings. that depicted the Americans and what the.

Americans did to North Koreans. There's. literally pictures of Americans skinning. North Korean children alive, burning the. babies in a bonfire, turning them into. s'mores, scalping them, taking off their. skin off their heads and then putting it. on their own heads while they're all. breathing and just out of pure like. hedonistic joy. They also showed. pictures of Americans surrendering to. North Korea hanging white flags out. their windows because Kim Il-sung was. such a great battler. He won the war. against the Americans. And yet there. were also framed New York Times articles.

that praised the Kim family. Side note, you know how you can get. those gag gifts of fake newspaper. articles? Mhm. Those were the ones on. the wall in the museums of North Korea. And director Shin and actress Eun-hee. are like, wow. Okay, um great. When the. two weren't going on field trips they. were forced to read multiple hours a. day, sing songs that praised the Kim. dynasty, they were forced to write love. letters to the Kims. It would read along. the lines of our father, our leaders. undefeated in hundreds of battles,

leaders who refuse to kneel before the. US imperialists, light of our people, etc. etc. etc. for 10 pages long. They. were told, not everyone is privileged. enough to write to the Kims. You should. feel thankful. They said you could walk around North. Korea and you could say something as. simple as, good morning, and someone. would respond, yes it is a beautiful day. thanks to the inspired teachings of our. beloved revolutionary leader who has. filled our hearts with the truth. It is. a good morning indeed. Director Shin and Eun-hee were also told. that the South Korean people were. starving and miserable, that it was.

better to be in North Korea than the. South. The South Koreans are living hell. with traffic accidents, collapsing. buildings, 120 people disappear every. single day. It's it's a place filled. with criminals. American soldiers shoot. at South Korean soldiers as target. practice. They run them over for fun. They essay mothers and daughters in the. dark alleyways. American soldiers are. taking little South Korean boys in as. intimate slaves on their camps. Everything reeks of American sewage. Americans just everywhere and the. South Koreans have to clean it up.

Clearly, these two have lived in the. South and knew that none of this was. true. They could easily argue otherwise. but why bother? Indoctrination leaves. very little room for good questions and. open conversations. So once Kim Jong-il feels like both of. them, Eun-hee and Shin, have separately. been fully indoctrinated, it was time to. reunite them after years of being in. North Korea separated. Eun-hee was sitting at the table at. another one of those fish house parties. There's nothing exciting or thrilling. about watching everyone run around the.

table whenever Kim feels like he's. lacking stimulation. So she's sitting. there just staring at her food but. definitely something is in that air that. night. Kim looks pleased with himself. I. mean he usually did but more so tonight. And another guest comes up to Eun-hee, grabs her elbow and says, today will be. the happiest day of your life. Eun-hee's looking like, I highly doubt. it, okay? Cuz I haven't felt happiness. in years. She just stares down at her food for the. rest of the evening and then they all. start screaming, look up, look up, the.

special guest is here, look who it is. Eun-hee slowly lifts her head thinking. it's another some sort of general or. some sort of North Korean actress. She. turns her head to the entrance. and there. was a very very thin, very frail man. that she half recognized as her husband, director Shin. And it looked like his soul had been. ripped out of him. And for a moment. Eun-hee had so many feelings. She was.

devastated because what the hell is he. doing here? Why why does he look like. that? Is he okay? And there was a guilty side of her that. felt. happy that she's no longer alone and. that made her feel guilty all over again. and she slowly walked up to him because. she felt like she was approaching a. ghost, like a a sick joke that's not. real. But he lifted his hand to touch her face. and they embraced and sobbed into each. other's arms.

[music]. Everyone in the room thought that they. were so happy to be reunited. So they.

clapped and cheered and Kim Jong-il got. up and he laughed like it was one of the. best silly little April Fools' pranks. that he's ever played and he pulls. director Shin to one side of him, actress Eun-hee to one side, and forces. a picture. And he smacks them on the. back and says, relax. This isn't going. to end up in the South Korean papers. This is not? Yeah. Oh. They both sit back down at the tables. Eun-hee watches Shin. as director Shin laughs and jokes about. movies with Kim.

Shin crinkles his eyebrow and watches. Eun-hee as she speaks pleasantly with. all the other guest. And they all both look like they're at. home, at ease with their lives. And they. try to stare into each other's eyes and. analyze. What if. what if one of them had been. successfully brainwashed? After dinner, Kim thought it was. reasonable that the two stay in the same. villa because he wants them to remarry. He wants them to have a wedding ceremony. to celebrate this reunification. It's a.

whole thing. But not that Eun-hee and. Shin are complaining. Like they had been. alone in this foreign country for years. without anybody. They want to be around. each other. But they're also nervous. because they don't know if one of them. is a Kim Jong-il supporter now. So once. they shut that door to their room with. the guards outside, there's just. silence. And then Shin looks at Eun-hee. Eun-hee looks at Shin. Shin looks at her. and says, have you been brainwashed? And the two bust out laughing and. there's tears just streaming down their.

face. I mean there's just so much to. tell each other but they would have to. do it bit by bit in unsupervised walks. around the back or sometimes they would. go to the bathroom, turn on all the. faucets and whisper in a corner because. every house in every room of every place. in North Korea is likely bugged. Eun-hee told her ex-husband about how. she was kidnapped. She had gone to Hong. Kong for a movie deal. Ever since their. divorce with, you know, everything going. on, their businesses had started to fall. apart because they were no longer the. power couple in the movie industry. Opportunities were few and far between.

and Eun-hee got this call that a Hong. Kong-based investor wanted her to direct. a film but needed to have an in-person. meeting with her. Eun-hee thought, yeah, okay, fine. Maybe it's too good of an. opportunity. but she needed it. So she's like, remember the movie deal I. told you about? I should have listened. to you. Director Shin was actually the. one that told her it was alarming and. that she was likely being scammed but. she didn't believe him. She thought that. he's just jealous because he's getting. ripped apart in the papers about how he. cheated on Eun-hee and has this younger. mistress and he he just doesn't like the.

idea of her succeeding without him. So. she goes to Hong Kong. The investor gets. her personal tour guide. Let's call her. Lily. Lily was a middle-aged woman who. brought along her 12-year-old daughter. and the two of them would just show. Eun-hee around Hong Kong really wooing. her. They're hanging out around the. shore when a motorboat comes up to them. in the water. Eun-hee thought it was. just kind of dangerously close but it. all happened so fast. Foreign men in. really long, really bizarre wigs jump. out, grab the group, throw them onto the.

motorboat. Eun-hee's convinced that. she's being robbed or these are like. pirates. They're now speeding faster. into the deep water. Eun-hee needs to do. something for everybody's sake. She. looks up and Lily, her guide, is. incredibly calm. She's smoking a. cigarette enjoying the breeze. W- w- w-. what's going on? Everything's going to be all right, Eun-hee. Did Eun-hee know that she was being. kidnapped by North Korea? Eun-hee would later say, yes. The wigged men knew her name. How do you guys know my name?

Because we're Chosen. Huge context here. In South Korea we. call ourselves like Hanguk saram, like. Hanguk, right? Mhm. Which is a Korean person but in. North Korea they call themselves Chosen. Chosen-jun. Chosen, yes. Yes, it was like olden day, yeah. That's what Korea was called before. Yes, but now it's like Hanguk saram, right? And it's like it's the difference. of someone going, I'm American versus. I'm a frontiersman. It's like very. bizarre. The boat had all the different. national flags of neighboring countries. so that they could switch it out.

depending whose waters they were on. That's when Eun-i knew everything had. been thoroughly mapped out, if you will. That meant her being taken to North. Korea was all part of some some sort of. weird bigger plan and she wanted nothing. to do with it. She tried to jump off the. boat into the ocean, but one of the. long-haired men they grabbed her, slammed her back down and she was. dragged into a cabin where she was. drugged into a slumber for 8 days. She. would periodically wake up and she would. feel the boat swaying and she would.

stare up and there would just be a. portrait of Kim Il-sung staring down at. her. Shin, director Shin, saw the same. painting staring at him on the boat. He. told Eun-i that he had gone to Hong Kong. looking for her because the last time he. heard from her was, "Hey, I'm going to. Hong Kong for this movie deal." and then. she vanished and then all the press, police, and reporters thought that he. had something to do with it. He found. out that Lily, that woman who was giving. her a tour of Hong Kong, was actually a. North Korean citizen. Not only that, there was a man named Mr. Kev. Mr. Kev.

had lived in Hong Kong for years and had. worked with Shin Films for years now. He. was the one that told Eun-i that he. knows an investor who wants to work with. her. So, now he's helping director Shin. look for Eun-i. He was a North Korean spy living in Hong. Kong. For years? For years. He worked with them for. years, but he was a spy. He was a spy. [sighs]. Wow, you can't trust anyone, huh? No. When director Shin went to Hong Kong. to look for Eun-i, he was the only one. that helped and ultimately he's the one. that facilitated his kidnapping, which. happened that just the same. Motorboat,

four men in atrocious long-haired wigs. jumped at him, threw a bag over his. head, but it was more like a sack. They. rolled it down all the way, covered his. whole body, they cut a slit where his. nose is, almost cutting him on the face. They sprayed chloroform inside. He was. in and out of sleep during his trip to. North Korea. When he arrived, his house was. beautifully stocked. All of his favorite. cosmetics, favorite skin care brands. back in home, clothing perfectly. tailored, like perfectly tailored. 32-in. sleeves, 16 and 1/2-in collars.

Filling the closet. When he sat down for dinner, a woman. came up and placed a singular bowl of. cold noodles in front of him. Eun-i got a whole feast, but he got a. singular bowl. She bent down and said, "We heard cold. noodles are your absolute favorite.". Is it though? Yeah. Hm. Director Shin tried to escape North. Korea into China twice. Yeah, Eun-i never tried to escape. She. was just depressed. She was locked up. and depressed. She never tried to. escape. Sometimes the most she would do.

is just scream in the direction of South. Korea at the top of her lungs. Yeah, but director Shin, he's trying and. both were risky decisions, both horribly. planned. One time he stole a guard's. Mercedes that was parked outside the. house that he was locked in. Okay, so. the only reason he was able to steal the. car was because so little people drive. cars in North Korea. So little people. even know how to drive. So little people. have access to be near a car and even if. you steal a car per se, where would you. sell it without getting caught? Where. would you even put that car? As a.

result, everyone just kind of left their. keys in the cars when they got out. The guard left his key in the car. Shin. escaped out of the house, started. driving as fast as he could in the. direction of China. He ends up crashing. into a ditch because there's not a lot. of well-made roads in North Korea. He. realized he's not heading towards China. He took the wrong direction. He's. heading towards South Korea. So, his new. plan now is to jump into the Imjin River. and swim to South Korea, which really. bad plan, by the way. Like this only.

works in the movies. Imjin River is. nicknamed the River of the Dead because. so many bodies get swept down into the. South Korea from there. It runs from. North Korea to South Korea across the. DMZ line. So, for those unfamiliar, there's what's. called the DMZ parallel in the middle of. the Korean Peninsula. It separates South. and North Korea and it's 165 mi long, 2. and 1/2 mi wide. It's no man's land. It's filled with land mines. It's filled. with armed guards on both sides. You run, they shoot. Thankfully, he.

didn't get into the water and instead he. found a train. He snuck up the side of. the train. He got to the top and he's. like, "This is actually heading in the. opposite way. So, now we're going back. to China." He ends up falling asleep on. top of the train and was caught. He was thrown in prison. Once he got. out, he immediately started planning. another escape. This time he wanted to. play mind games. He found a hole in the. wall of the house that he was trapped in. and he thought, "You know what? If I. just hide in this wall for as long as. possible and the officers are out there. searching for me, they're going near the.

borders of China and South Korea, then I can sneak out. Then I can run and. they won't be looking for me. They won't. expect it.". But like what. what was they doing again? They were. filming movies, no? Or. Not yet. They're being indoctrinated. Oh, that's this was this period. They. were just trying to brainwash it and. they were Okay, got it. They're just. trapped in a house with anything that. they want. If they want something. expensive that doesn't risk escaping or. communicating with the outside world, they would get it. Uh-huh. You want 25.

lobster tails for every meal? You could. get it. Kim Jong-il was willing to do. whatever they wanted as long as they. took their little lessons, they got. indoctrinated, they didn't try to. escape, and then he would task them with. making movies because Kim Jong-il is. very paranoid. He does not want to give. them any sort of camera gear or anything. until he can trust that they're on North. Korea's side. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, so. he's trying to escape at that point. Yeah. And this lasted for years, you. were saying. Years. Yeah. With his second escape, which was. very quickly after the first one, he was. jailed and this time for 2 years. He was.

confident that he was never going to get. out of that prison, so he carved into. his jail cell wall, "Shin Sang-ok died. here.". We have a really big trip coming up this. summer and what you guys might know.

about, if you watch my vlogs, I don't. even know when it's going to be, but you. can say that I'm pretty nervous. My. sister-in-law is going to get married. and I'm going to be meeting a lot of. Chinese family members that I have yet. to meet. I feel like my Mandarin is good. for the Chinese family members that live. in America. I don't know if it's on the. level yet to go to China. So, I've made. it my goal to use Rosetta Stone every. single day until then. My goal is to. Well, honestly forever because it's so. fun. My goal is to be able to hold a. full conversation in Mandarin by this.

summer and Rosetta Stone helps not only. keep me accountable, but also motivated. The way that Rosetta Stone teaches you a. language is so immersive and intuitive. There are no English translations, so. you learn to speak, listen, and think in. that target language and the whole. process is very gradual. You don't even. feel like you're learning, but you are. So, first you learn some basic words, then phrases, and then sentences and. Rosetta Stone is designed with long-term. retention in mind, but it's also made to. feel like a game. Listen, I've tried.

practicing Mandarin on my own, but the. last thing that I want to do at the end. of a very long day is memorize grammar. Rosetta Stone has me looking forward to. my learning lessons. The sound effects. that come with getting a question right. is so satisfying. It definitely. scratches an itch in my brain. It's like. the instant dopamine boost that I need. My biggest struggle is pronunciation. I. cannot ask my husband to help me. pronounce a new word every single day. because I'm way too embarrassed, but. that is exactly why I love Rosetta. Stone's true accent feature. It gives me. feedback on my pronunciation in the.

comfort of my own privacy, so I don't. have to embarrass myself. He actually. compliments my pronunciation nowadays, which I am very proud to say. Rosetta. Stone also offers 25 different. languages, including Korean, Japanese, Arabic, French, German, and so many. more. You can download the Rosetta Stone. app for your phone or you can use it on. your desktop browser. There's even the. option to download lessons offline, so. you can take your new language practice. anywhere. Don't put off learning that. language. There's no better time than. right now to get started. For a very. limited time, Rotten Mango listeners can.

get Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership. for 50% off. Visit. rosettastone.com/rotten. That's 50% off unlimited access to 25. language courses for the rest of your. life. Redeem your 50% off at. rosettastone.com/rotten. today. A few days ago, I was complaining to my. husband about how I wanted to watch this. new K-drama and it was only available on. one streaming platform because of course. it was. So, I told him, "I'm going to. sign up for it." and I asked, "Can you.

please remind me to cancel my. subscription before the end of the. month?" because I'm always so forgetful. of these things and he's like, "Honey, you already have a subscription for that. website." And I would have been stressed. if this happened long time ago because. canceling subscriptions is like an. Olympic sport. I don't know why, but. also that's like money just practically. down the drain because it's so difficult. to cancel a subscription and then you. don't end up doing it and then another. month renews. But let me tell you why. I'm not stressed at all anymore because. I use Rocket Money. Rocket Money is a.

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you don't use. Cancel your unwanted. subscriptions by going to. rocketmoney.com/rotten. That's rocketmoney.com/rotten. rocketmoney.com/rotten. [music]. [music]. But Shin didn't know that that level of. torture was just the beginning. That was. the start. Because there is something. worse than prison for director Shin and.

actress Eun-hee. It's bad movies. A bad movie is a bad movie and all the. North Korean movies that they were. forced to sit and watch together felt. like a separate kind of torture. They. were the same stories repackaged in. different fonts. So repetitive, so. surface level, so. bad. How many times can the Kim family. be heroes and everyone die for the. nation and for the Kims? How many times? Why is everyone always crying for the. savior Kim and how great he is and how. much they want to die for him? Not only.

that, just watching the way it's filmed, the angles, the props, the effects, it's. driving director Shin up the wall. He's. going crazy. There's no common sense in. North Korean movies, no efficiency, nothing. It's a money pit. If there's a. scene in someone's office, then there's. another scene outside on the street, which is a set, then another scene back. in the office. The production team in. North Korea would film in chronological. order of the movie scenes. So they would. build the office set, film 2 seconds, break it down, move it out the way, then. build the street set, film 2 seconds,

break it all the way down, build up the. office set again, film 2 sec instead of. filming both office scenes in the office. set in one go. Actors and actresses would just randomly. be sent to prison in the middle of. filming and instead of finding a. replacement or trying to fix the movie, they would just cut out all their parts. and release the movie as is. So like most of the movie doesn't even. make sense. It's Swiss cheese of a storyline. When there were Western characters in. the movies because remember every movie. is about how bad everyone, mainly the. US, is, a Korean actor would have to.

wear a white powder all over their face. and body, wear a wig, and talk in a. really dumb sounding Korean accent. If there are any diplomats who came to. visit North Korea, like real diplomats, and had children that looked like. foreigners, Kim Jong-il would be like, "Can I borrow. your kid for an hour?". What does that mean? And they would be. brought to the movie set for like a day. and they would be forced to change into. like a thousand different wigs and. costumes and play the evil foreigner. villain. What? Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. There's no foreigners because North. Korea is completely homogeneous. Yeah.

Yeah. So they would take. a diplomat's kids? Yeah. And film them in a movie? Yeah. And I guess the diplomat didn't. care because it's not like movies are. coming out in North Korea. Wow. And I guess it's also how do you say no. to Kim Jong-il, right? Okay. Yeah. Huh. Yeah. It South Korea, Japan, America. always had to be depicted in rain at. nighttime, no sunshine allowed. I mean, side note, they also only had one street. for each country. So any scene in South.

Korea, regardless of time or context, was filmed on the same street every. single time. All the characters from. those countries had to have. disabilities. Yeah. Yet, citizens of North Korea were told. that the film industry in their country. was quickly becoming the most advanced. in the entire world and because they. didn't have access to any foreign films. to compare them to, they loved it. They agreed. This was world-class. Kim knew it's very. easy to convince his people though, but.

what about the rest of the world? They. all laughed at his movies and regardless. of how much he hates the West and he. really, really thinks they're evil, he. just wants their approval. That's why he. kidnapped actress Eun-hee and director. Shin to make better movies like their. life depended on it. Because, you know, it did. So he wants to make movie and release it. to the world. Yes. Is it still about the same type of. concept or is he trying to be more? Now. he wants to just create the best movies.

He wants to create American level. movies, but he doesn't know how. Mhm. He. does want some elements of propaganda. He wants to show North Korea in a good. light in all the movies, but it doesn't. have to be as propagand-y as the ones. he's currently making because it's not. just for his people. Mhm. It They were. in a very strong battle for soft power. and exports. North Korea and South Korea. were in one of the longest export. battles and one of it is culture. Exporting culture is. an economy, honestly. Okay.

Now, Shin and Eun-hee had earned Kim's. trust and their plans were to make the. best movies that they could, not even. for Kim, but honestly for the North. Korean people. So this is when they're reunited, you're. saying? Yeah, after they're reunited, they're. like forced to watch these North Korean. movies and Kim is finally telling them, "This is why I brought you here cuz. you're going to make me movies. Now, you. love North Korea, I love North Korea, let's make some movies. I'm going to. give you a crazy budget every year. Do. what you want.". All the while, these two are planning.

their escape. And the first step of escape is. insurance. They need proof that they. were kidnapped and did not willingly. defect to North Korea, which sounds. crazy in 2024 that someone would. willingly defect to North Korea, but it. just happened recently when we talked. about the Auto case. Remember? Uh-huh. A US soldier ran through the DMZ line to. North Korea recently in 2023. But back. then, it was even more believable. People were still kind of deciding which. side they wanted to be on, like which. side of South or North Korea. And this. is when tensions were even higher.

because North and South Korea, for any. South Korean to have unsupervised. contact with a North Korean citizen, even if that citizen was their own. brother or sister or mother, it didn't. matter, it would be considered treason, which is one of the highest punishable. crimes. Even if these two escaped North Korea, they could be trading one prison for. another. They might get arrested for. treason in South Korea and thrown in. jail for the rest of their lives. They. might not be believed. So they needed. proof, absolute, irrefutable proof.

Kim Jong-il was 41 years old and. considered the heir apparent and the. North Korean public had not even heard. his voice yet. No intelligence agency in. the entire world had heard Kim's voice. If director Shin and Eun-hee wanted. asylum anywhere in the world, they. needed something everyone wanted. Recordings of Kim's voice. Because that would be wanted by the CIA, the Feds, the CIA of South Korea, everyone who had the political power to.

grant asylum and safety would do. anything for those tapes. That was their. insurance plan. They were going to get. the first ever audio recording of Kim. Jong-il's voice and expose the hermit. kingdom to the rest of the world. The ruler of the paranoid nation. Now, just to give you some context of how. dangerous their plan is, Kim kept paranoia alive in his country, but he was equally as paranoid. It's. alleged that he had tunnels running. under the entire country that doubled as. bomb shelters and that's how he liked to. travel the most. He His bulletproof.

train was a gift from Joseph Stalin. himself. He would avoid American spy. satellites, that's what he said he was. doing. He was not someone who liked to. be tracked, watched, or listened to. So they couldn't rush this. They had the. tape recorder from all their filming. gear that they were given to start. making some movies and they took the. time to rehearse. Like they would. rehearse their movie lines. Treat it. like a movie. We're just acting, right? Don't let the nerves get to you. They. trained day after day to perfect their. body movements. Okay, sit down at the.

dinner table. Eun-hee would reach into. her crossbody bag for the lipstick and. click, the tape recorder would be. running. She would place the bag on her. lap away from his view, but not too far. or too closed that his voice would be. muffled. It was a game where the stakes. are as high as they get. It's life or. death. There's no in between. There are no rewards in North Korea, only punishments. So if a family member. defects or dies by the entire family. gets thrown into a concentration camp. If you rescue your children in a house.

fire and let your Kim family portrait. burn, concentration camp. If you don't. mourn the death of any of the Kims. enough, concentration camp. If you fall. asleep at a meeting where any of the. Kims are present, death. If you read any. Western novel in North Korea, death. If. you watch a K-drama, death. One of North. Korea's biggest actresses at the time. was a woman named Eun-hee. We're going. to call her Wendy. Now, Wendy was known. as the people's actress. Everybody loved. her. Every film she was in, Kim Jong-il. had a hand in and the public ate it up.

She was married to another director that. worked on the movies and the only. problem was Wendy was a hopeless. romantic and she had some pretty. dangerous affairs. She just seemed. awfully lonely, you know, and clearly. her husband is just not helping with. that feeling, so she just keeps looking. for some sort of connection or bond with. other people and they would convince her. that it's love and they would sleep with. her and then they would walk away. She was just very an easy and quick. person to fall in love and in a country.

where even holding hands publicly is. highly frowned upon, one affair would. lead to the end of her life. An affair. with a Korean man from Japan. His dad is a very wealthy Japanese. businessman. He funded the Kim regime. for years now and his son was being sent. to North Korea to work and he falls in. love with Wendy. He stays relentlessly. pursuing her. He does not give up and. for a while Wendy's fighting back. She. doesn't want it. But he's also. charismatic and caring and he's seen the. world. I mean, what could they do? They.

couldn't get intimate at each other's. homes or at hotels because hotels check. permits. There was nothing. The only. option was his Mercedes. So they drove it out to the park and in. the dark they were intimate. They had. the engine running, the windows closed. It's wintertime. They fall asleep in. each other's arms. The next morning, the. wealthy businessman's son was found dead. in the car from carbon monoxide. poisoning. Wendy was also in the car. unconscious, but still alive. She was rushed to the hospital. She was.

saved. She had a husband and children. and the affair with the Japanese. businessman's son not only complicated. things for the Kims because he was a. huge funder of the Kim dynasty, but it. just it was a very messy public. situation. And worse than that, Wendy had another man on the side. Kim Jong-il. Mhm. She had cheated on Kim Jong-il and. he was not one to let it slide. After. Wendy fully recovered from the hospital,

all of her friends and family were. driven to a shooting range with a. stadium. It was packed with 5,000 people. and they were told, "Just you wait. It's. going to be a big show.". They waited in silence until they saw a. woman wearing a prisoner's outfit, which. side note, it's rumored that these. outfits in North Korea are designed with. theatrics in mind. Meaning, if someone. starts bleeding in one of these prison. costumes or these uniforms, the blood. soaks and spreads across the fabric. faster. Making it very visually intense. Mhm. Anyway, a woman is pulled out with.

a bag over her head and she's tied to a. wooden pole in the center of the. stadium. So, the stadium right now is. filled with people? 5,000 people. Okay. There are ropes around her chest, ropes. around her knees. The bag is taken off. her head and there is Wendy screaming. for help. When her husband and friends. and children realize it's her, they. start screaming in the crowd. And almost as quickly as it registered, the firing squad fire a single shot to. her chest. The bullet rips through the.

rope unleashing the top half of her body. and it causes all of her weight to lunge. forward as if she's bowing to an. audience. Then the next bullet goes straight to. her head. It was winter time and a defector once. said that you see a lot of steam coming. from point-blank executions of the head. during the winter time. So, there was a. lot of steam. Then one more shot is given to the legs. to break the ropes holding the lower. half of Wendy's body and she will fall. to the floor of the podium.

The guards will put her in a bag, take. her into the mountains and let the wild. animals rip her apart. And three lucky children after this, the. stadium doors open and the children run. in and only three lucky children will. get to run out with the bullet casing. Cuz that's a souvenir. So, they send a bunch of kids in there. and they they're rushing to find the. bullet. Yeah. The ones that were used to kill Wendy, a. woman that they had seen on the screen. countless times, the people's actress.

Kim Jong-il's mistress. Someone very close to Kim described him. as being, "You know, he's somewhat. likable. That's the thing. He has an. ability or rather a talent at making. people feel at ease when he wants to. When he's happy, Kim Jong-il would treat. you so, so well, but when he's angry, he. can make every window in the house. shake. The contradictions in his. personality can be so confusing and. incomprehensible. He's romantic, yet. extreme, harsh and ultimately, he's very. dangerous.". Even for actress Eun-hee, she said that.

sometimes he would treat her like an. elder with respect, like she was the. master teaching him something about. film. Other times, he would loudly talk. about all the young actresses Eun-hee's. ex-husband director Shin was rumored to. have slept with while they were married. Another said he always craved power. He. always organized everything in secret. and executed his plan in secret because. that's his specialty. Even with his dad, when his dad was in. charge, the films made it seem like he. was this subservient son who was fully. devoted and worshipping Kim Il-sung, his.

dad, right? But in reality, he was just. scheming. He just wants to be the head. That's it. And he did this by. dismantling his dad's entire inner. circle. He would plant listening devices. in all of his dad's closest official. homes and offices. At first, he would. try to buy them. He would listen to them. talking about their favorite foreign. cars, foreign women. Whatever it was, he. would buy it. And if they still didn't. turn, then he would blackmail them. Or. he would just Korean barbecue them. That's when people are strung up like a.

hog by their wrists and ankles and held. over a bonfire until they agree to do. something or they confess to doing. something that they probably didn't even. do. He did this slowly to cut off all the. tentacles of his dad's octopus until his. dad was just left with him. His dad. didn't even really see it. He felt like. Kim was his son, the only one that he. could trust. But Kim was smart. This This is who Eun-hee and Shin are. trying to outsmart, Kim Jong-il.

In order to make good movies, Shin and. Eun-hee told him they have to go to. Europe. You know, they're only allowed to go to the. communist countries in Eastern Europe, but and with 20 guards at the time and. connecting hotel rooms with those. guards, but at least they're getting out. of North Korea. Each time they passed by. any sort of American embassy in Eastern. Europe, Eun-hee wanted to sprint. She. wanted to make a run for it, but Shin. would stop her. They need the perfect. moment and right now surrounded by 15. guards is not the moment. Do you know. how many other guards could be. undercover right now watching us? We.

don't know, okay? It's not time. So, for years, they went back and forth. from Eastern Europe to North Korea and. they just kept making movies. They. didn't even make movies for Kim. They. did it for the North Korean people. Whatever they made, the people of North. Korea would watch it. They loved it. This was their only source of. entertainment and their whole thing was. to take the propaganda out of it and. they wanted to make the most basic. movies that every other country has made. a million times. A movie about love between two people.

because North Korea didn't have that. They only had movies about love between. the civilian and the Kims, the dynasty. So, they want to make movie about just a. regular love. And do they like that? Did. Kim Jong-il like that? Yes, because he. said it's just like the European movies. We're getting closer to be. internationally recognized. He only liked it because he wants to be. internationally acclaimed for his films. They said that Kim would do anything for. these movies. They were given 8.5.

million dollars a year for their movie. filming budget and that's not including. all of the staff that they have at their. disposal because they can choose anyone. from North Korea to work for them for. free. Sky is the limit. Eun-hee later. joked, "When we needed a fan to simulate. wind, we reached out to Kim and he would. send us a helicopter. If we reached out to to get fake snow, Kim would fly the entire crew to Mount. Paektu where it was still snowing.". One movie had a train explosion and. director Shin was talking to Kim about. it and said, "Yeah, if we could get this.

very specific special effects scale. model to blow up." But Kim was like, "Why not just a real train to blow up?". It's much easier. I got a bunch of. those. The next day, a fully functioning. train was delivered to Shin loaded with. explosives. They genuinely did get sucked back into. movie making and they felt like there. was a purpose. The couple's movies were. the first time many North Korean. civilians saw themselves as individuals. They would make a total of seven films. Each one loved by North Korea. They're.

finally getting this escape. They have. musicals, sci-fi movies, martial arts. movies. Pulgasari was their last film. with North Korea and it's the North. Korean version of Godzilla. I mean, there's still an underlying. undertone of propaganda and everything, but it's an escape. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Are those even. available anywhere? Do we know? Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Really? It's a Yeah, they loved it and they just. made hit after hit and Kim is so. pleased. I mean, they're still failing.

to gain a strong international audience, but that's going to take time. All that. mattered was they're getting closer. And then the time came. A Japanese film. critic and a friend of the couple was. visiting Budapest at the same time that. director Shin and Eun-hee were filming. in Budapest. How did they find out? They. still communicate with film cuz they're. trying to get into these international. film shows, so they have to talk to film. critics. They have to talk to these. award hosts and stuff. Highly monitored. Highly monitored. There's like a guard. breathing down their neck right next to.

them with probably a gun pointed at. them. The couple gave the excuse of. wanting to meet up with him to try and. get him to review their North Korean. movies and try to get international. attention, primarily in Japan. And the. guards okayed it after they talked to. Kim. So, the film critic was going to. meet them in their hotel room. They. opened the door to him. The guards are. in the next room over with the. connecting door. "Welcome. Come in.". They loudly make their pleasantries. "Oh, how it's been so long. So good to. see you. So nice to How many years has. it been?" And they drag him to the.

corner of the hotel room and they start. shoving a tape recorder and photos into. his pockets. "This is absolutely a. secret between you and us. Please keep. these things for 6 months and if you. don't hear from us again after that. time, give everything to the Japanese. and Korean news media. Go.". Their friend looked worried, but they. didn't have the time or the luxury to. explain everything in detail. It would. be in those tapes. They hugged him. goodbye and pushed him out the hotel. room door. The tapes had recordings of Kim Jong-il. talking about how he kidnapped them.

Mhm. Okay. And now they had 6 months to. escape or else that would be all over. the news. And if they don't escape, that means. they would be dead. Yeah. That's so interesting. What does that 6. months do? I don't know. I guess they were scared. Mhm. Okay. needed a timeline of like when it needs. to be released. Yeah, I see. I see. Okay. 5 months had passed since they saw the. film critic in Budapest and it was all. over the news. Director Shin and actress.

Eun-hee both missing from Hong Kong, kidnapped by the North. Audio tapes were. secretly sent to relatives in Seoul and. it's reported that under North Korean. coercion, Shin and Eun-hee are making. movies to be presented to Kim Il-sung as. a birthday gift. The film slanders the. Republic of South Korea along with. several other top officials. Okay. Shin is staring at his guards. It's game over. They're going to die. Every international news headline read, "Kidnapped by North Korea, abducted to. North Korea, North Korea's operation. against the South through films.".

Shin and Eun-hee waited for the call to. be killed. Kim Jong-il. [music]. would not keep them alive after this, no. matter how well their movies are doing. And the phone rang. They're sweating. They pick [music] it. up, and it's Kim. "Take care of this. You need to handle. it. Maybe you guys need to go to Eastern. Europe more. Make sure everyone knows. that you're not being held against your. will. Convince them.". Turns [music] out, Kim Jong-il records. every single one of his conversations. He was under the impression that someone. on his side had leaked the tape.

Oh my god. And that Shin and Eun-hee. were fully on his side. Oh my god. Whether that's what he truly believed or. it's just what he wanted to believe. because he didn't want to know that he. was betrayed by the people that he. needed, it's unclear. But Shin and Eun-hee would live to see. another day. Side note about these transcripts, he. does have a very high-pitched voice, and. he talks rapid-fire fast. Like he's just. shooting out whatever's on his mind and. then not really finishing his thought. and then going on to the next one, and.

it's very high-pitched. So, there are. speculations that he didn't have a. leadership voice, which is why his. father hid his voice for so long. Could be a thing. I mean, there are. people that say there is such a thing as. presidential voices, but we do have a. few clips. All the audio clips were not. released. I believe they're held by the. CIA. We have some transcripts, but it's. fascinating. [snorts]. what kind of top secret is someone's. voice going to do, right? I think maybe. they can track him through his voice.

Track him? know. I'm sure the CIA has a million. things that they could do with his voice. that we probably can't do with his. voice. I'm not sure. Um yeah, okay. So, he he talks very fast-paced, and he does. in one clip briefly bring up South. Korea. And he says, "We're on a lower. level, to speak honestly. South Koreans. try very hard to get things done. Here, people are different. Things are given. to them. North Korean actors aren't. improving. They have no acting skills at. all. Hard work is the key to success. It's difficult to talk about this. I.

mean, we have to admit that we're. falling behind. We have to acknowledge. that we're behind. I'm in the position. to say it. If others say it, they will. be in trouble for criticizing the. system. I'm the only one who can say. this. And I can tell only two of you. There is nothing challenging when a film. is made here. The crew don't try a. single new thing. They can't improve. They repeat scenes that we've already. made." He also tries to convince them. that if they talk to outsiders, they. should tell them that they like it here. "Say that there's no freedom in the. South, no democracy, that it's only. anti-communism. You came here to find. real freedom. That's what you should you.

should be saying. Freedom of expression. We want our film industry to become even. more advanced than that of advanced. countries. I think I think that would. sound good, natural. Well, better than. saying that you were forcefully dragged. here, right?". [laughter]. This was the clip. Yeah. Mhm.

After all that, Shin and Eun-hee put on. a show, trying to convince the world. that they were not forcibly brought to. North Korea. They spoke about how much. money there is in the film industry. there, how much support they've been. getting, how little censorship that they. face. They became publicly regarded as. traitors by the world. But that's what it took to stay alive.

Nobody questioned it. They were forced. to say these things, but nobody. questioned it. And a lot of it has to do with Eun-hee's. past. So, the actress, there were rumors that. Eun-hee always wanted to defect to the. North because she, during the Korean. War, was forced to sleep with North. soldiers, is the allegation. She did. work as an entertainer of the northern. camps. We don't know if she was forced. to sleep with them, right? Rumors were brutal, and then she moved. over to the South, fled to the South,

and then she was placed into the. southern armies. And then there were. rumors that she cozied up to a. high-ranking American general and became. his mistress. Everyone said, "She's. always been a flip-flopper. So, of. course she would defect to the North.". Every bad thing about the couple started. resurfacing, like the fact that Eun-hee. was At first, she married a very famous. cameraman, and she was 20 years old. He. was 41. Yeah. And during the war, he was. enlisted to fight. He became injured, disabled, and then she left him for a. younger, hotter, more successful.

director, Shin. Left him high and dry. And of course, a person like that would. defect to the North. Nobody cared for. any of the other details, like the fact. that her former husband cameraman would. beat and R-word her regularly, that she. was constantly covered in blood and. welts, while expecting her to keep the. house, work 20 hours a day to make. money, or the fact that if she did have. intimate relations with any soldier or. general from any side of the war, it was. R-word because she never consented to. it. She was an A-list actress at this point, but she would take on back-to-back.

plays, sleeping just an hour a night. every single night. This is after the. war, right? And she's already made it, but she has no money. Her husband just. blows all her money, and she's. sleep-deprived, doing nothing. One day, she's on stage, midway through the play, she dramatically faints. Not in the script. [music]. The other actors are shocked. They don't. know what to do. They're confused. Director Shin was in the audience, and. he jumped up from his seat onto the. stage, picked her up, and ran all the. way to the nearest hospital. Eun-hee said he had a beautiful smile,

and he looked like he had no concerns or. difficulties in life. And he looked at her and he said, "Do. you want to star in my movie?". It's interesting because it's hard to. say if they love each other more or if. they love each others movie-making. abilities more. Both were genuinely. obsessed with the craft of movies. I. think neither of them gave a flying fork. about the fame. So, together, they go. on, they marry, they go on to create. Shin Films, which is a big a freaking. deal. It was the only film studio in all. of South Korea. The winning formula was. Director Shin would produce and direct a.

film that his wife Eun-hee would star. in. The first few movies were Yeah, okay. They were met with skepticism. because they were known as like a. morally corrupt couple at the time. But. she was just so good. It was undeniable. It was an elevated form of a movie. People hated them, but would still go. watch their movies because it's a good. movie. And then slowly they kept. watching more and more, and then the. hatred just went away, and the audiences. are just eating it up to the point where. this couple, they're the power couple. They're being invited to the Blue House.

to rub shoulders with the then. president/dictator at the time. It was a. lot. And Director Shin made the. biggest-budget films, and he paid his. wife Eun-hee with the largest fees ever. paid to a Korean actress. And everything Shin Films created, Eun-hee was an equal partner. Like they. were ahead of their time. Oh. Director Shin would tell Eun-hee. every day, "Any film I make, I want you. to be in it.". And Eun-hee said, "That is how he said I. love you." Side note, Eun-hee was unable. to conceive, and she did adopt two kids,

a son and a baby girl, and she really. loved being a mom. Shin said about his. wife, "It was my destiny to meet her.". And it's kind of hard to pinpoint where. Shin Films self-destructed. It could. have been when Director Shin cheated on. his wife. I mean, that was kind of the. beginning point of the decline. It could. have also been when the president or. dictator of South Korea started becoming. a very strong enthusiast of censorship. But Shin Film was on the decline. I will. say the censorship in South Korea got. really wild. It got to the point where.

if a character in a movie even. complained a bit too passionately about. the weather, like, "Ah, the weather. sucks." They would censor the movie, claiming the movie promoted antisocial. behavior. Director Shin didn't like any of that, okay? So, he just kept making movies. that he liked. He didn't listen. And. adding to that problem is that Director. Shin is an all-in kind of guy. If he had. a new movie in mind, he would spend the. entire company's yearly budget and. payroll on this new movie. without even thinking about the risk. He's like, "Well, it's going to work.

out." And most of the time, it did. Until it didn't. They were always on the verge of filing. for bankruptcy. They're like one toilet. paper roll being used too quickly away. from losing it all. But ultimately, a 3-second kiss would be. his undoing. In his new movie, he had a. couple making out, and the woman was. topless in that scene. The government. ordered, "Absolutely not. That needs to. be taken out." But he kept it in. He violated public moral codes, and he. was stripped of his movie-making. license. He was ruined for life. He.

ruined his life. And this time, he had. ruined Eun-hee's life, too. This time, Shin's promising, while they're being. held captive by North Korea making. movies, "I'm not going to let it happen. again, Eun-hee. I'm not going to ruin. your life. I'm going to get you out of. here.". And the perfect chance came in Vienna. They're trying to get their version of. Godzilla, Pulgasari, to be accepted into. Western film festivals. So, they're. running around Vienna, and they had. already spotted the American Embassy. earlier that trip, and they're ready to. leave at any given time, as long as they.

find the perfect chance. So, they do it. [music] They told the. guards that they're meeting with a. Japanese film director, and they're. going to meet him in front of the hotel. The guards are waiting in the lobby. They're like looking out the window, making sure everything's okay. The. Japanese film director gets out of the. taxi, and instead of closing the door, the two shove him back into the taxi, get in, lock the doors, and they scream. at the taxi to take them to the American. Embassy. That's crazy. They were in that. taxi for 5 minutes. It felt like 5.

hours. When the taxi turned the corner. and the embassy was finally in view, they slammed open the door, and started. making a run for it. Eun-hee said. they're running as fast as they can, but. it feels like a slow-motion scene in a. movie. She said that's all she could. think about. This feels like slow. motion. This feels like slow motion. When they finally reached the embassy. door, it's locked. They shoved each. other out the way to get inside first. [laughter].

But they both made it before the North. Koreans could get to them. And they had. done it. They were finally free, and. they had a bag full of tapes to share. with the CIA and a very wild story. The CIA informed the couple that they. had to go into witness protection for a. while because Kim allegedly put a hit. out on their heads. In exchange for. telling the CIA everything that they. know about their time in North Korea, the couple were granted citizenship and. asylum in the United States.

Are they still alive or They both. passed. Wow, what a life. Yeah. Even in America, Shin still tried his. hand at films. He signed a deal with. Disney, but the movies performed. horrendously, and. it just didn't go well. Yeah, and they. never felt at home. They never made. money. They were living in pretty much. poverty in America. They moved back to. South Korea, where again, they were. living pretty much in poverty. And even. in South Korea, some people don't even. believe that they were truly kidnapped.

Mhm. Some people think they defected, and then they didn't like it, and then. they changed their minds. Wow. But Eun-hee shakes her head and. says, "The most important thing to me is. for people to finally accept that the. truth is the truth. That's my last. wish.". Kim Il-sung, the founder of North Korea, died. There were reports of citizens of. North Korea fleeing themselves off the. rooftops to join their leader, but also. reports of entire families and. generations of families being arrested. and killed shot on sight because they. were not, quote, showing genuine. displays of grief during his funeral.

In early 2011, director Shin passed. away. He was remarried to Choi Eun-hee. when he passed, and it destroyed her. when he died. She said, "When we first. divorced, I could still hate him and. miss him, but at least I knew he was out. there living in the world somewhere. But. now he's gone, and there's nothing left. Death is a very cruel thing.". Later that year, Kim Jong-il died, and. his son, Kim Jong-un, would take over as. the supreme leader of North Korea. And. in 2017, Kim Jong-nam, Kim Jong-il's.

first son and Kim Jong-un's. half-brother, would be killed by two. girls who thought they were filming a. YouTube prank video that I will link. below. And in 2018, Choi Eun-hee, the. actress, passed away. And now, foreign movies are considered. one of the biggest threats to North. Korea. The smuggling of foreign movies. is a huge network, and at one point, one. of the top movies smuggled in was. Skyfall, James Bond. Another one was. Desperate Housewives, and a North Korean.

defector said, "After watching that, people were confused. They always. thought Americans were these war-loving, violent criminals, but they're just. having affairs and living their lives.". Desperate Housewives? Do you know what that was about? We saw. it with, um, Eva Longoria, I think. Oh, I think so. Okay, okay, okay. So, it's a. very goofy. Yeah, it's like a very. goofy, domestic Mhm, mhm. And more. recently, Squid Game was smuggled in. One North Korean citizen told a black. market smuggler that a lot of him and.

his friends watched it, and they felt a. lot of parallel in their own lives. They. could relate to the show. And that was opening up their eyes to. what kind of country they live in. And that is the story of the actress and. the director that Kim Jong-il kidnapped. to make movies for North Korea. What are your thoughts on this case? I mean, it's so. bizarre, honestly. But also, I'm so. freaked out by my search history for. this one, so.

I'm worried about Yeah. Yeah. But let me know your thoughts in. the comments. Please stay safe, and I'll. see you guys on Sunday for the next one. Bye.