Most people in America are aware how looney North Korean government can be. Their leaders, beginning with Kim Il Song, the so-called founder of the North Korean state, have done some crazy things, past and present. Kim Il Song himself was not quite as crazy as his progeny, although he did launch the attack that started the Korean War which cost him dearly. He has also carried out some horrible purges, killing and imprisoning thousands of "enemies of the state!" But his actions seem rather tame compared to his son's, Kim Jong Ill, and grandson's Kim Jong Un. The latest bizarre saga of the assassination of Kim Jong Nam is but an example of the tradition carried on by the Kim family.
Kim Jong Il, the father of Kim Jong Un and the assassinated Kim Jong Nam, was as crazy as his youngest son. He showed a wild and unpredictable, violent streak early on. As I have mentioned in other blogs, he is the prime suspect in the death of his younger brother back in 1948, who presumably drowned in the family pool. From that point on, there were series of bizarre and unexplained violent incidents that took place that were either hushed up or simply ignored. Kim Jong Il first came to the attention of the outside world when he engineered some incredibly reckless attacks on U.S. and South Korean forces. As the head of the Special Operations of North Korea, one of the titles that he held, he launched several attacks along the DMZ. He then ordered a commando raid on South Korean Blue House, the presidential palace. This was followed by the ax murder of two U.S. officers at the Panmunjom neutral site. It seemed like there was no end to his wild and crazy activities. His father, Kim Il Song, was very much disturbed by this and ordered a stop to it, forbid him to carry out any more military actions. So, at this point he switched to more clandestine activity. North Korea developed a special section in their government that specialized in one activity, kidnapping.
Being a closed society, a true "hermit kingdom," the only way that they could acquire what they needed was by force or illegal means. North Korea at that time decided to go on a campaign to develop better Japanese linguists. They are firm believers in native speakers as being the best teachers, so a rash of kidnappings of Japanese citizens took place in 1977. A total of known 13 Japanese were kidnapped by North Koreans ranging anywhere from a 13 year old girl to men and women in their 20s and 30s. These people just disappeared, as if they were abducted by aliens from outer space! The abduction of Japanese from a remote town is one thing, but the abduction of South Korea's most famous movie director and his movie star wife is another thing.
Kim Jong Il was a great movie fan and was reputed to have had one of the largest private movie libraries found anywhere. He had somewhat of an eclectic taste in films, but he primarily enjoyed Hollywood Westerns and action films as well as Japanese Godzilla movies. He was very upset over the fact that North Korea could not produce decent movies, while South Korean movies were receiving international attention, especially those made by the director Shin Sang Ok and his movie star wife Choi Eun Hee. They were the power couple of the South Korean movie industry. So, what better way to upgrade North Korean movie industry than having the best South Korean director make the movies and the top South Korean actress to act and to teach North Korean actors and actresses. In 1978, mysteriously the couple disappeared, only to reappear sometime later in photos showing them with Kim Jong Il in Pyonyang! Kim did not mistreat them, but he did keep them confined and ordered them to upgrade North Korea's movie industry. The couple did improve North Korea's movie making considerably, and Kim began to allow them more and more freedom. Finally, he allowed them to attend a film festival in Vienna, to represent North Korea, which they did. But they also managed to slip away and seek asylum at the U.S. Embassy in Vienna.
After over a decade in North Korean captivity, they managed to get away and lived out the rest of their lives in the U.S. While in the U.S., Shin managed to get back into filmmaking under a different name. He was first given credit for making a kids movie called 3 Ninjas in 1992 under the name of Kenny Kim. He proceeded to make 3 sequals in collaboration (co-directed) with John Turtletaub the movies Cool Runnings, While You Were Sleeping, and National Treasure. For those three movies, he used the name Simon Sheen.
Although we don't like to think about it, but there were some turncoats both during Korean War and Vietnam that ended up in North Korea. One misguided Marine in Vietnam crossed over to the other side and eventually ended up in North Korea. Another Army soldier voluntarily crossed the DMZ in Korea because, at the time (1970s) he believed in socialism! They both ended up making their living in North Korea teaching English. But as you may have guessed, those turncoats, particularly those of Korean War are pretty old! So, fresh blood is needed in North Korea. The most recent known American kidnap victim appears to be David Sneddon who was abducted by North Koreans while he was hiking in China close to Burmese (Myanmar) border.
David Sneddon was a Brigham Young student who went on a two year Mormon mission in South Korea. After completing his Mormon mission, he decided to travel around Asia and wanted to study Chinese. Having been in South Korea for two years, he already spoke Korean. Then in 2004 he disappeared in China. Recently, an organization that traces North Korean kidnap victims found him in Pyongyang. He is 36 years old and goes by the Korean name of Yoon Bong Soo. He is married to a Kim Eun Hae and they have two kids, a boy and a girl.... and yes, he makes his living teaching English! So far nothing has been done to try to get him back, mainly because North Korea denies of his existence in their country.
Japan has vigorously campaigned to get their kidnapped victims back and has negotiated with North Korea for years. They managed to get five of the kidnapped victim back in 2002, but eight are still in North Korea. It is really not known just how many North Korea kidnapped. There may be more Americans that we don't know about. After all, people disappear all the time! North Koreans are perfectly capable of coming to the U.S. and kidnapping some people, it is just easier for them to do that when the American victim is in Asia, closer to North Korea. There is no doubt that they kidnapped other nationalities, European and Asian, for their use. Language teaching is main objective, but they would just as easily kidnap people with other skills, as they have done with the South Korean movie director and his actress wife! Their most common targets are South Koreans, usually specialists in some field. But they are open to any nationality! They are equal opportunity kidnappers!
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