Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast - He Was Kidnapped and Forced To Make North Korean Action Movies - The Shin Sang-ok Story

Episode Date: August 2, 2025

Shin Sang‑ok, once hailed as the “Prince of Korean Cinema” for directing nearly 80 films in South Korea’s golden age, was kidnapped in 1978—along with his actress ex-wife Choi Eun‑hee—on the personal orders of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Il, who sought to elevate the country’s movie industry by forcing them to create internationally acclaimed propaganda films

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Marvel Television's Wonder Man All eight episodes now streaming Only on Disney Plus Do you remember those three Ninjas movies from the 90s? Did you know the director involved in those got kidnapped and was forced to make movies for North Korea? Now the director's name is Shin, and all Shin wants to do with his life is make movies. I mean, he's already famous in South Korea. He's making box office hits there, left and right. His studio has been pumping out multiple films a year for many

years. But then one day in 1978, it all falls apart. Because, boom, the South Korean government shuts down Shin Studio as they are getting more and more strict with censorship. And this sucks for him. I mean, he doesn't know what he's gonna do. All he wants to do is make movies. And that is where this guy comes in. North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il. Now, it's 1978, so Kim Jong-il isn't actually a dictator yet. But his dad is. Kim Jong-il is still waiting on his turn to be dictator. But meanwhile, he's obsessed with movies. He's seen them all. Even though North Koreans aren't really allowed to watch international movies, Kim Jong-il gets to, because, you know, he's the dictator's son.

And as he gets more and more involved in the government, he takes over the entire North Korean movie industry. And he decides he wants to make some changes. He wants to make films that will have an international appeal. And that is when he gets a crazy idea. He had heard that a movie studio in South Korea had recently been shut down, by the South Korean government, Shin Studio. And so he gets this idea to kidnap Shin, drag him to North Korea, and force him to make

movies for them. So how's he gonna do that? Well, first, he needs to kidnap this woman. Her name's Choi. And Choi is a famous actress in South Korea. She also used to be married to Shin. So she is Shin's ex-wife. And Choi and Shin, they used to work on a lot of films together, as he is a director, and

she's an actress, but since they divorced, I assume that that probably fizzled out. So anyway, Kim Jong-il has someone on his team reach out to Choi, pretending to be a wealthy businessman who wants to do a film project with her. And so Choi's like, sweet, a film project. And so she travels from South Korea all the way to Hong Kong to this beach where she's supposed to meet with this wealthy businessman. And so she's there and suddenly two speedboats start heading toward the shore. And when they get there, boom, they jump out and they grab her, and they sedate her, and they throw her in the boat, and they speed away. A week later, that boat arrives in Pyongyang, North Korea, and Kim Jong-il is there. And he greets her like she is an honored

guest, not a kidnapping victim. And he puts her in a luxurious villa that is, of course, guarded 24-7, and he takes her on tours. And this is nice and all, but of course, Choi is freaking out because she still has no idea why these guys kidnapped her. Then, six months later, Shin travels from South Korea over to Hong Kong to look for Choi. You know, Choi was his ex-wife, but they were still friends. And so he's out looking for her because, you know, she went missing. And so once he gets to Hong Kong, bam, someone suddenly puts a sack over his head. And now he's been kidnapped too.

Now, once Shin arrives in Pyongyang, North Korea, Kim Jong-il is there. and he gives him the VIP treatment too, lavish accommodations and tours and whatnot. But Shin, he's a fighter. He's like, fuck all this. And pretty quickly, he tries to escape. And bam, he gets caught. And then he tries again.

And bam, he gets caught again. And so eventually, this all gets much worse for him. Because he keeps trying to escape. And so they eventually throw him in prison. And while he's there, they force him to watch North Korean propaganda as they are trying to indoctrinate him. And during this prison time, Shin and Choi, they never hear about each other. They have no idea what's going on, they have no idea the other one is even there in the country,

and they still have no idea why they were kidnapped in the first place and brought there. And so four years go by, and it's now 1983. And Shin is finally released, as they decided that he is now re-educated enough. And so Kim Jong-il invites him to a date. dinner party and he shows up because, you know, he has to. And there he sees his ex-wife, Choi, who had also been invited to that party. And they're both like, holy shit, have you been here the whole time too? Now, during this party, Kim Jong-il finally explains to them exactly why he brought them here. He tells them that they both work for him now and that they're going to make

movies for him and that Shin is going to direct and produce while Choi will be the star of these movies. And so that's what they do, because, you know, they have no other choice. They got to make these thinly veiled propaganda films for Kim Jong-il. So Choi and Chin, they start working on these North Korean movies. And pretty quickly, Kim Jong-il suggests that they get remarried. And you know, he's the dictator's son, so they got to do it. And they do. They get remarried. Anyway, so they're making these movies and their studio keeps growing because Kim Jong-il is giving them tons of resources. And soon this studio has over 700 employees. And Shin is directing and Choi is starring in them.

And Kim Jong-il names himself executive producer because, of course he does. And by 1984, they release their first feature film. Then they release another one. And then they release another one and another one. And then they release a few more. But the most famous movie that they release is called Polgasari, which is like a kaiju movie. It's kind of a Godzilla ripoff. In fact, it's very much a Godzilla ripoff.

I mean, the whole thing is on YouTube if you want to watch it. But, you know, keep in mind that it's North Korean government propaganda. But, you know, you can watch it. Anyway, despite being successful in the film industry here, Shinn and Choi hate living in North Korea. I mean, they've been trying to escape. But it feels impossible because they're under constant watch. However, at some point, after eight years in captivity, they finally come up with a plan to escape to a U.S. embassy. And in 1986, they put that plan into motion because Kim Jong-il has them making yet another movie,

and Shin and Choi have to fly from North Korea over to Vienna, Austria, to take some meetings with some film financing people. And while they're there, Shin calls up a reporter friend and asks to set up a lunch meeting at a local home. hotel for he and Choi to get interviewed. During this interview, Shinn and Choi find a chance to sneak away from the North Korean goons watching over them. And boom, they rush out of the hotel. And I guess the goons see them and they start running after them. And Shin and Choi, they jump into a taxi. And Shin's like, take us to the U.S. Embassy. While the North Korean goons, they jump into another taxi. And they're like, follow that car. And the chase is on. And just when Shin and Choi think that they're getting away, pow, the taxi hits traffic and it stops. And so, Shin and Choi, they jump out and

they run as fast as they can through the crowded streets in between cars all the way to the U.S. Embassy. Once they're there, they claim political asylum. And so finally, after eight years, they're safe. Meanwhile, back in North Korea, Kim Jong-il is pissed. Like, he is humiliated that they got away. In fact, he gets so mad that he orders all of Shin and movies to be banned from North Korean theaters. And when this story hits the news and it goes public, he has to put out a statement and deny that his regime ever kidnapped anyone. And he starts claiming that Shin and Choi stole the equivalent of millions of dollars from them.

And that's why he imprisoned them, which is just absolute nonsense. Anyway, Shin and Choi, they lived in the United States for years after that. And they stayed together after that until the end. Like, they stayed a car. couple until their final days. But in the 90s, after the whole kidnapping thing, Shinn ended up working in Hollywood. And in Hollywood, he did the three ninjas movies. I don't know if you remember those movies, they were for kids, but you know, I like them. Well, Shin produced three of those, and he directed one of them.