This allowed North Korea to bring South Korean and other foreign nationals into Yugoslavia without undergoing intense immigration scrutiny.56As mentioned above, one of the most stunning examples of a failed North Korean abduction attempt occurred in Zagreb on July 30, 1977. North Korean Operatives Abducted A Movie Star and Her Director Husband On January 11, 1978, South Korean actress Choi Eun-hee went to Hong Kong at the invitation of Wang Dong-il, an executive of Kum Chung Productions, a Chinese movie studio. The two had met the previous year in Seoul, and Wang had proposed establishing a relationship between their studios’ acting schools. After three days of meetings, shopping, and sightseeing as a guest of the studio, Choi was introduced to a man named Lee Young-seng and a woman named Lee Sang-hee. Ms. Lee met Choi for lunch on January 12 and said she would like to introduce her to another friend afterwards. Choi agreed, and they drove to Repulse Bay where WKHUH ZDV D VPDOO ZKLWH ERDW ZDLWLQJ RQ WKH EHDFK /HH VSRNH EULHÁ\ ZLWK WKH PHQ in the boat, then turned to Choi and explained that the boat had been sent by her friend to take them to his villa on the other side of the bay. Suddenly, the men leapt from the boat and grabbed Choi, forcing her on board. She struggled, but was easily overpowered. The boat pushed off, and headed for open sea. When she frantically asked, “Where is this boat going?” she was told, “Madame Choi, we are now going to the bosom of General Kim Il-sung.”57 ACTRESS CHOI EUN-HEE WAS ABDUCTED BY KIM JONG-IL HIMSELF WHO MET HER ON ARRIVAL IN NORTH KOREA, JANUARY 22, 1978 “I arrived in North Korea around 3 p.m. on January 22, 1978. I shall never forget the day. As I followed my captors I heard people whispering, “Someone important is coming.” I didn’t care who was coming. It was none of my concern. I had been torn away from my family and friends and brought to North Korea and would probably never leave. Why should I care who was coming? I walked with my head bowed. Someone was strutting toward me. I heard a man’s burly voice. “Thank you for coming, Madame Choi. I am Kim Jong-il.” I knew the name. The South Korean press had been reporting for several years that the son of the North Korean dictator Kim Il Sung was named Kim Jong-il and that he was being groomed to be his father’s successor. He was called the “dear leader” and was one of the most powerful men in that communist society, but he was a shadowy enigma to the rest of the world because, strangely enough, even though he was being groomed as the 56
Ibid. 280-293. Choi Eun-hee and Shin Sang-ok, Jogukeun Jeohaneul Jeommeolli (Kidnapped to the Kingdom of Kim Jong-Il), Vol I. p 24. 57
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