The Lovers and the Despot Page #2

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Rissient:
The suspicion

was that he was dead.

The suspicion that he could have

been killed by the Korean CIA.

(speaking Korean)

(boat engine whirs)

(tape recorder clicks)

Shin Sang-ok:

(speaking Korean on tape)

(singing Korean opera)

Choi:
(speaking Korean)

(opera continues)

(applause)

(tape recorder clicks)

Shin Sang-ok:

(speaking Korean on tape)

Jeong-kyun:
(speaking Korean)

Shin Sang-ok:

(speaking Korean on tape)

(hammering)

Man:
(speaking Korean)

(whistle blows)

Jeong-kyun:
(speaking Korean)

Shin Sang-ok:

(speaking Korean on tape)

Jeong-kyun:
(speaking Korean)

Shin Sang-ok:

(speaking Korean on tape)

(inaudible)

Choi:
(speaking Korean)

(sighs)

(film soundtrack plays)

(chuckles)

(Indistinct chatter)

Kim Jong-il:

(speaking Korean on tape)

(inaudible)

David Straub:
Kim Jong-il had

a most bizarre childhood.

He was clearly an awful leader

and an awful person,

as an adult.

But one has to feel

a little sympathy for this boy,

unable to live anything

like a normal childhood.

Apparently,

the decision was made

that Kim Jong-il couldn't

play with other children.

So he had only

a tiny number of playmates.

He was put

in an enormous house to live,

given a huge room

stuffed with toys.

(applause)

Undoubtedly, being raised

that way must have contributed

to the very odd personality

that Kim Jong-il developed.

As early as the

early seventies,

Kim Il-sung was having his son,

Kim Jong-il, groomed

to succeed him.

(muffled applause)

And yet, the people's respect

for Kim Jong-il

was much less than it was

for his father, Kim Il-sung.

Kim Jong-il was not the founder,

he was the son.

He inherited his position.

He was much shorter

than his father.

(inaudible)

And his father

was quite outgoing.

He looked like a politician.

He laughed, he slapped

people on the shoulder.

And Kim Jong-il was clearly,

in ways, self-aware

and knew that

he was not charismatic.

He was introverted, shy.

He never really spoke

publically to his people.

Kim Jong-il thought

of himself as an artiste.

(inaudible)

But in the late 1970s,

Kim Jong-il was actually running

the country, for the most part.

Kim Il-sung probably

had the last word,

but he was very much,

in many respects,

the retired grandfather,

and I don't think

he was watching very closely

what Kim Jong-il was doing.

(big band music plays)

(inaudible)

Choi:
(speaking Korean)

Kim Jong-il:

(speaking Korean on tape)

(canon fire)

- (shouting)

- (explosions)

(roars)

(explosion)

(explosion)

Choi:
(speaking Korean)

Jeong-kyun:
(speaking Korean)

Jang Jin-sun:
(speaking Korean)

Choi:
(speaking Korean)

(film soundtrack plays)

(sings in Korean)

Shin Sang-ok:

(speaking Korean on tape)

(laughing)

Kim Jong-il:

(speaking Korean on tape)

(laughing)

Shin Sang-ok:

(speaking Korean on tape)

Kim Jong-il:

(speaking Korean on tape)

Shin Sang-ok:

(speaking Korean on tape)

(Kim Jong-il laughs)

Narrator:

Korea, a land of morning calm.

Jong-il peak soars high

in Mount Paektu.

The dear leader,

comrade Kim Jong-il, was born

In this historic house in the

secret camp, below the peak.

The mountain is

a mysterious one,

where wonders are made.

(birds singing)

Jin-sun:
(speaking Korean)

(muffled cheering)

(inaudible)

(chuckles)

(cheering and applause)

Shin Sang-ok:

(speaking Korean on tape)

(laughing)

(Kim Jong-il laughs)

Kim Jong-il:

(speaking Korean on tape)

(muffled cheering)

Shin Sang-ok:

(speaking Korean on tape)

Kim Jong-il:

(speaking Korean on tape)

(speaking Korean)

(speaking Korean)

Choi:

(Choi chuckles)

(chuckles)

Kim Jong-il:

(speaking Korean on tape)

Choi:
(speaking Korean)

Nishida Tetsuo:

(speaking Japanese)

Rissient:
He was shooting

a picture in Prague.

It was a kind of sensation.

Shin Sang-ok had

surfaced in Prague,

shooting a film for North Korea.

He was full of ambition...

speaking of the studio

which he was building,

bringing new equipment with him,

to make films,

and producing films.

And I guess he was close to...

the man he was in the sixties,

when he was so successful.

He was certainly very happy.

I suppose you're from

Korea, aren't you?

I came here on

some business.

Welcome.

Tetsuo:
(speaking Japanese)

(inaudible)

Derek Malcolm:
They were

accompanied by about

at least 20 heavies,

whom, I gathered, were...

I thought were North Korean

security people.

They were definitely

guarding these people.

All in the same suit.

It was very strange.

They were all in exactly

the same dark suit.

I don't know...

They seemed sort of friendly.

It did seem as if there was

something slightly odd going on.

Yi:
They went to the Berlin

International Film Festival.

And there,

they met South Korean friends

attending this festival.

Shin and Choi showed

very cold shoulder to them.

"Okay, we're doing very good

in North Korea.

You cannot even imagine how

much the party is supporting us.

We are freely making films

as we want.

We are perfectly okay

in North Korea.

There is no country

in the world

better than North Korea

to be in the film business."

North Korean watchdog

security guards

reported to Kim Jong-il when

they got back to Pyongyang.

"Oh, now, don't say anything.

Shin Sang-ok

and Choi Eun-hee

are absolutely loyal

to North Korea.

They are loyal to Kim Il-sung

and Kim Jong-il."

And they started to obtain

more confidence

from these two leaders.

And they gave them

better treatment.

That was the beginning

of Shin and Choi

starting to think about escaping

from North Korea.

Tetsuo:
(speaking Japanese)

(chuckles)

Jeong-kyun:
(speaking Korean)

Choi:
(speaking Korean on tape)

(speaking Korean)

Jeong Kyun:

Choi:

Choi:

(indistinct chatter)

Reporter:
(speaking Korean)

(chanting)

Shin Sang-ok:

(speaking Korean on tape)

(tape clicks)

Straub:
Out of the blue,

I received

a telephone call from a lady,

saying that she was associated

with Shin Sang-ok

and Choi Eun-hee,

and she needed to talk to me.

Her father had met Shin Sang-ok

when travelling in Europe.

She said that Shin had asked him

to pass a message

to the US government,

that Shin was being

held under duress,

that he not defected

to North Korea,

that he wished to escape

and come to the United States.

And we have a bag, full of

rattling microcassette tapes

like we used to use

in those days.

Well, at that point,

I nearly jumped off my chair

and said, "Tapes? Of Shin

talking with Kim Jong-il?"

Now, at that time,

no one had ever heard

Kim Jong-il say anything.

We didn't know

what his voice sounded like.

My wife is originally

from Korea.

I thought it would be useful

if she could help me

listen to a few of these tapes,

to see if

they sounded authentic.

So, for some silly reason,

we were sitting in bed,

and we actually covered

our heads with the sheets

while we were listening covertly

to these tapes.

Kim Jong-il:

(speaking Korean on tape)

Choi:
(speaking Korean)

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