The true story of Kim Jong-Il's 1978 kidnapping of the golden couple of South Korean cinema, Choi Eun-Hee (Madame Choi) and Shin Sang-Ok, the propaganda movies, they were forced to make, and their daring escape eight years later

Before becoming the world's most notorious dictator, Kim Jong-Il ran North Korea's Ministry for Propaganda and its film studios. Conceiving every movie made, he acted as producer and screenwriter. Despite this control, he was underwhelmed by the available talent and took drastic steps, ordering the kidnapping of Choi Eun-Hee (Madam Choi)—South Korea's most famous actress—and her ex-husband Shin Sang-Ok, the country's most famous filmmaker.Madam Choi vanished first. When Shin went to Hong Kong to investigate, he was attacked and woke up wrapped in plastic sheeting aboard a ship bound for North Korea. Madam Choi lived in isolated luxury, allowed only to attend the Dear Leader's dinner parties. Shin, meanwhile, tried to escape, was sent to prison camp, and "re-educated." After four years he cracked, pledging loyalty. Reunited with Choi at the first party he attends, it is announced that the couple will remarry and act as the Dear Leader's film advisors. Together they made seven films, in the process gaining Kim Jong-Il's trust. While pretending to research a film in Vienna, they flee to the U.S. embassy and are swept to safety.A nonfiction thriller packed with tension, passion, and politics, author Paul Fischer's A Kim Jong-Il Production offers a rare glimpse into a secretive world, illuminating a fascinating chapter of North Korea's history that helps explain how it became the hermetically sealed, intensely stage-managed country it remains today.

A Kim Jong-Il Production by Paul Fischer - love, films and kidnapping in North Korea, the world's wildest regime Before becoming the world's most notorious dictator, Kim Jong-Il ran North Korea's film industry. He directed every film made in the country but knew they were nothing compared to Hollywood. Then he hit on the perfect solution: order the kidnapping of South Korea's most famous actress and her ex-husband, the country's most acclaimed director. In a jaw-dropping mission the couple were kidnapped, held hostage and then 'employed' to make films for the Dear Leader, including a remake of Godzilla. They gained Kim's trust - but could they escape? A non-fiction thriller with a plot so jaw-dropping even Hollywood couldn't make it up, this extraordinary book will be enjoyed by fans of Argo and Nothing to Envy. 'A story almost too wild to believe . . . Unputdownable' Benjamin Wallace, author of New York Times bestseller The Billionaire's Vinegar Paul Fischer is a film producer and writer. Born in Saudi Arabia and raised in France, he studied Social Sciences at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris and Film at the University of Southern California and the New York Film Academy. He has worked as an independent film producer in London for the past seven years; his first feature, the documentary Radioman, won the Grand Jury Prize at the Doc NYC festival. A Kim Jong-Il Production is his first book.

Love, films and kidnapping in North Korea. Before becoming the world's most notorious dictator, Kim Jong-11 ran North Korea's Ministry for Propaganda. He conceived, produced and wrote every film made in the country, but grew frustrated by how badly they compared to his beloved Hollywood blockbusters. As he jealously eyed his enemy South Korea's thriving film industry, he hit upon the perfect solution- order the kidnapping of its most famous actress and her ex-husband, its most acclaimed director. The film star vanished first. When the director went to investigate, he too woke up wrapped in plastic sheeting aboard a ship bound for North Korea. To gain Kim Jong-11's trust, they worked together to create a series of epic films, including a cult classic remake of Godzilla. But could they escape? Packed with tension and passion, A Kim Jong-11 Productionis a jaw-dropping non-fiction thriller that offers a rare glimpse into another world. 'Perhaps the most extraordinary tale from the world's most bizarre country.' Paul French author of Midnight in Peking 'A true story of desperate movie stars, daring escapes and the paranoid leader who brought it all together. Equal parts history, thriller and farce . . . will keep you engrossed until the very end.' Matt Baglio, co-author of New York TimesBestsellerArgo- How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History 'A Cold War story almost too wild to believe, an epic love story that reveals in Technicolor the North Korean hermit kingdom and its movie-obsessed, improbably charismatic late leader. Unputdownable.' Benjamin Wallace, author of New York TimesBestseller The Billionaire's Vinegar 'That a North Korean dictator should kidnap two South Korean movie stars and force them to make films he hoped would rival Hollywood seems the stuff of fantasy. But it isn't, Kim Jong-11 did, and Paul Fischer captivatingly tells perhaps the most extraordinary tale from the world's most bizarre country. Flabbergasting.' Paul French, author of International Bestseller Midnight in Peking

This timely, pathbreaking study of North Korea’s political history and culture sheds invaluable light on the country’s unique leadership continuity and succession. Leading scholars Heonik Kwon and Byung-Ho Chung begin by tracing Kim Il Sung’s rise to power during the Cold War. They show how his successor, his eldest son, Kim Jong Il, sponsored the production of revolutionary art to unleash a public political culture that would consolidate Kim’s charismatic power and his own hereditary authority. The result was the birth of a powerful modern theater state that sustains North Korean leaders’ sovereignty now to a third generation. In defiance of the instability to which so many revolutionary states eventually succumb, the durability of charismatic politics in North Korea defines its exceptional place in modern history. Kwon and Chung make an innovative contribution to comparative socialism and postsocialism as well as to the anthropology of the state. Their pioneering work is essential for all readers interested in understanding North Korea’s past and future, the destiny of charismatic power in modern politics, the role of art in enabling this power.

No country is as misunderstood as North Korea, and no modern tyrant has remained more mysterious than the Dear Leader, Kim Jong Il. Now, celebrity ghostwriter Michael Malice pulls back the curtain to expose the life story of the "Incarnation of Love and Morality." Taken directly from books spirited out of Pyongyang, DEAR READER is a carefully reconstructed first-person account of the man behind the mythology. From his miraculous rainbow-filled birth during the fiery conflict of World War II, Kim Jong Il watched as his beloved Korea finally earned its freedom from the cursed Japanese. Mere years later, the wicked US imperialists took their chance at conquering the liberated nation—with devastating results. But that's only the beginning of the Dear Leader's story. In DEAR READER, Kim Jong Il explains: *How he can shrink time *Why he despises the Mona Lisa *How he recreated the arts in Korea *Why the Juche idea is the greatest concept ever discovered by man *How he handled the crippling famine *Why Kim Jong Un was chosen as successor over his elder brothers With nothing left uncovered, drawing straight from dozens of books, hundreds of articles and thousands of years of Korean history, DEAR READER is both the definitive account of Kim Jong Il's life and the complete stranger-than-fiction history of the world's most unique country.