During the summit between the leaders of the United States and North Korea in Singapore in 2018, President Donald Trump was shown a North Korean promotional video that intrigued many American reporters. The film depicted North Korea in a surprisingly positive light, despite its reputation as a dictatorial state with a single-party rule. North Korean cinema has consistently celebrated the prowess and intelligence of its leaders, particularly under Kim Jong-il, who was infatuated with the film industry. Kim’s obsession with cinema reached such extremes that he orchestrated the kidnapping of South Korean director Shin Sang-ok and his actress wife Choi Eun-hee to help develop North Korea’s film industry.

In the late 1960s, Kim Jong-il, the heir apparent of North Korea’s dictatorship, developed a keen interest in creating propaganda films for his father and the country. He was so captivated by the world of cinema that he ordered covert operations to obtain illegal copies of international films banned in North Korea, much to the dismay of his father, Kim Il-sung. Kim Jong-il amassed a collection of over 15,000 films, including James Bond and Rambo series. Fortuitously, during this period, his father began to delegate more responsibilities to him, appointing him as the head of the Motion Picture and Arts Department in North Korea’s propaganda division.

Once in charge, Kim Jong-il’s films focused on the struggle against Japan, featuring his father, Kim Il-sung, and his comrades in Manchuria during the 1930s. Although these films pleased his father, Kim Jong-il was dissatisfied, as he wanted to produce films that could compete internationally and participate in global festivals. He was frustrated with the skill levels of his team compared to their Western counterparts and was envious of the South Korean film industry, which he deemed superior. During this period of discontent, Kim Jong-il became aware of South Korean director Shin Sang-ok, who had achieved notable success with over 60 films by 1978. Shin’s career was threatened after the South Korean government shut down his studio, leading Kim Jong-il to believe that Shin was the only director who could rescue North Korea’s film industry. Kim ordered a complex plan to kidnap Shin and his estranged wife, actress Choi Eun-hee, to force them to develop North Korea’s film industry.

The plan began with sending a fake invitation to Choi, offering her a position to manage a performance academy in Hong Kong. Choi, who was facing difficulties with her own government and was seeking employment, accepted the offer. Upon her arrival, a North Korean agent led her to a speedboat where she was abducted by a group of men and taken to North Korea. As anticipated, Shin began searching for his missing ex-wife and traveled to Hong Kong to find her. He too was drugged and kidnapped by a group of agents. After his arrival in North Korea, Shin attempted to escape several times, leading to his imprisonment in a labor camp where he survived on a diet of grass, salt, and rice, alongside ideological indoctrination. Meanwhile, Choi lived in isolation, unaware of Shin’s fate. After four years in captivity, Kim Jong-il was convinced that Shin was ready to start making films. He ordered the release of both Shin and Choi and arranged a meeting where neither was aware the other was also held in North Korea. They were overjoyed to see each other alive.

During the meeting, Kim Jong-il secretly outlined his plan to the couple. He wanted them to produce communist propaganda, claiming they had come to North Korea to escape government oppression in the South. Shin agreed to cooperate and was immediately put to work directing Kim’s propaganda films. Shin and Choi also married, as recommended by Kim Jong-il. Shin later described his period in North Korea as one of profound disdain for communism, though he pretended to be loyal in hopes of escaping the desolate regime one day.

While in captivity, they were lavished with gifts and lived in the best conditions North Korea could offer. Despite the good treatment, they were unhappy. Shin Sang-ok remarked that living well in North Korea while others were not free was not happiness but pain. Nevertheless, during his time as a director, he made seven films in two years and three months, working day and night with only a few hours of sleep. Kim Jong-il did not force them to make films that overtly promoted the state and its leader; he only wanted films good enough to be showcased at international film festivals. A few of these films were featured in Eastern film festivals. Their last project was Godzilla, King of the Monsters, released in 1986. The film depicted a medieval Korean peasant uprising through the story of a little girl who pricks her finger while sewing, causing her blood to bring a rice dragon toy to life, which fights for the peasants and destroys the emperor’s palace. Despite its peculiar story, Kim was very enthusiastic about the film. To create its special effects, Kim employed tactics he had used before, deceiving the Japanese special effects team, who thought they were working on a film in China.

When released, the film was a ridiculous and disjointed affair, with the monster being a rubber puppet, and the emperor’s character resembling Kim himself. Although the film’s message was that the dictator represented capitalism, it was a hit in North Korea. Kim Jong-il sought international distributors to spread his propaganda worldwide. Negotiations began with distributors in Austria, and later that year, Shin and Choi traveled to Vienna to meet them and discuss another film. Once there, they escaped with the help of a Japanese journalist and film critic friend. They evaded North Korean agents and made their way to the U.S. embassy, where they were granted political asylum. They recounted their abduction and years in North Korea, while the North Korean government issued a statement denying the kidnapping and asserting that Shin and Choi had defected voluntarily and stolen a significant amount of North Korean money meant for film financing. Kim Jong-il was furious, ordering the removal of the film from all cinemas and the suppression of all films made by the couple. The film was not seen outside North Korea until it was internationally released in 1998, during a rare period of greater openness by the North Korean government.

As for Shin and Choi, they lived in the United States until 1999, where Shin worked in the film industry for many years. They then returned to South Korea, where Shin passed away in 2006, and Choi Eun-hee died in April 2018.