Rotten Mango - #371: 9 University Students Hijack A Japanese Plane to North Korea

Episode Date: June 30, 2024

There’s this fascinating little town called ‘Little Japan.’ It’s a gated community with cookie-cutter houses, though they boast beautiful chandeliers and heated floors, and all of them have a matching set of priceless portraits hanging on their walls. The residents are nine Japanese families, hence the name, and they have their own private chefs, maids, even chauffeurs in black Mercedes. A small movie theater, a massive sauna house, and a grocery store where they never have to pay. The catch? If they ever want to leave the community ‘gates,’ they must ask for permission from the Supreme Leader… The town itself is not even an hour outside of North Korea’s capital. The families themselves are neither Japanese nor North Korean royalty, nor are they diplomats or even government officials either. They’re a gang of hijackers. Hijackers who stole a plane and flew it into North Korea—and now the distinguished guests of the Kim regime were to become his secret weapon. Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There is this fascinating little town. They call it Little Japan. It's a gated community, but it kind of functions like a gated neighborhood. Each house inside is identical. They're made of concrete, surrounded by pine trees. You can see parts of a river peeking through the woods, but more importantly, beyond that, you can see this massive gate peeking through the tree line. It's more like a wall. It's unclear if they're keeping someone out or keeping everybody in. There's patches of garden where there's these bright flowers that are blooming.

It's like a mini paradise. The buildings, the houses, they each have several rooms. There's even a gathering building for everyone in the neighborhood to hang out in. All the residents, if they want to get together, they have an entire building dedicated for dining, meeting. They have a movie theater, a massive sauna house, a library. Each house is equipped with massive beautiful chandeliers in every single room, heated floors, and each house has almost the same identical pieces of artwork hanging in every single room. They're completely isolated away from the rest of the world. They have everything they need inside this

gated neighborhood. There's dedicated buildings for staff members on the outskirts of this neighborhood. They have a team of housekeepers for the families within the gates. They do the laundry, they make the beds, they clean the entire house for all the houses in here. There's private chefs, private chauffeurs lined up, waiting in like a fleet of Mercedes Benzes. There's private tutors, private teachers

for the children within the gates. They have an electrician full time, just making sure the backup generator is on in case the power goes out. How many houses? Nine. Nine families. That's it. On staff, they also have a nurse, a doctor, a nursery teacher for any young children that might be born within the nine families. There's helpers tending to every single whim. Everyone in that community has a purpose, which is to serve the nine families that live within the gates. Nine families, isolated inside this gated community.

I mean, the private chefs cook them three meals a day. On the weekends sometimes the wives will actually let the chefs go rest in their quarters because one of their favorite activities is attempting to bake. That's what they do for fun. Not out of necessity but for fun. It's like a royal family with more staff members tending to their needs than there are family members. It's a lot. There's even this whole shop, like a little store with a clerk, a full-time clerk that manages the stocking of the shelves, but nobody pays. The residents walk in, do their grocery shopping,

and walk out. If there's something that they want that's not in the store, they just let the clerk know. Hey, I need this next week. This sounds like, you know, WandaVision, the fake town? Yes! And within a few days, the items are delivered! It's like a paradise!

The only stipulation, the only rule, is that the nine families, if they want to leave their little palatial residence using one of the cars and the drivers, they have to get permission. They call it Little Japan because the nine families inside this little town are Japanese, but it exists maybe 40 minutes outside the capital of North Korea. It's in North Korea. It's in North Korea. The residents in the gates are not Japanese or North Korean royalty. They're not even diplomats. Wait, they're not Japanese you say?

They're not Japanese royalty. They're not North Korean royalty. They're not even diplomats. They're not politically powerful. They are. The nine families are plane hijackers. They hijacked a plane and flew it into North Korea, and now they are considered the Kim family's secret weapon. We would like to thank today's sponsors who have made it possible for Rotten Mango to

support the non-profit Alight. 120 million people face displacement due to conflict that has taken their home countries hostage, most notably the civilians of Ukraine, Sudan, and Gaza. Alight serves people who face the arduous journey of displacement through services and programs that are constantly evolving to address their needs. Each year, they serve 3.5 million people from over 20 different countries.

So as always, full show notes are available by rottenmangopodcast.com. And with that being said, let's get into it. Tokyo University is considered one of the most prestigious institutions in Japan. Inside one of the classrooms on campus, there's something weird happening. I mean, class is not in session. There is no lecture to be had. But the door is closed, locked.

The lights are on inside. Nine guys are sweating. They're rearranging the classroom. OK, we need two rows of three. So three chairs to my left, three chairs to my right, and make rows out of it, okay? So I want like 20 rows. Keep the center empty so we can walk up and down,

like some sort of aisle. It's an odd mix of people in this classroom. The oldest is 27 years old. The youngest is not even old enough to attend Tokyo University. He's 16 years old. He's in high school. Some of them are university students.

Others graduated already. One of them is, has long hair and is a bassist for a psychedelic rock band. He plays the bass for this pretty famous rock band. Really? They're not even like underground. It's a very interesting oddball mix of people. But even weirder than that is the fact that none of them know each other's real names or ages. Like money heist. Yes, they agreed it would

be best if they only went by their pseudonyms. Fake names that they all picked out for themselves when they first got together as a group. Once the chairs are set up just the way they need, classes and session. Okay, who's going to walk down the aisle first? They all pull out their knives. The chairs are lined up to look like the inside of an airplane. This is how they're going to practice hijacking the plane and flying it off course into Cuba. Cuba?

Cuba. I thought it was North Korea. Cuba. And the captain is flying over Mount Fuji. We was North Korea. Cuba. And the captain is flying over Mount Fuji. We're on the plane now. The captain is staring at this young guy in the cockpit. We're on the plane or we're in the classroom?

No, we're in the plane now. Oh. They practiced like two times. Oh, okay. Okay, the captain is flying over Mount Fuji and he's staring at the young guy in the cockpit and the energy is just very tense. He tells him, unfortunately, that's not happening. What do you mean that's not happening?

I mean, I'm not going to fly to Cuba. I cannot do that. You can't just change the course and expect it to work. You can't go from having point A being a city in Japan, point B being another city in Japan, and suddenly you wanna fly to Cuba, do you know what type of aircraft this even is? It was a Boeing 727. Even the longer range versions of this plane

have a maximum range of only flying about maybe under perfect weather conditions about 3,100 miles. 3,100 miles. The distance from Japan to Cuba is closer to 7,400 miles. So only halfway. Yeah, and they would need to make multiple stops to refuel because that's under perfect weather conditions. So depending on the wind conditions, the route that's taken, they would have to stop a minimum of two to three times to refuel. Is that what you guys want to do right now?

Otherwise, we're not getting to Cuba. The plane is going to literally drop into the ocean, into the water, because it's going to run out of gas. Is that what you want? The captain is looking at the nine college-aged guys with samurai swords, standing on the plane 40,000 feet in the air. Like full on. Full on. And nothing is going according to their plan. Not a single one of them considered all of this when they boarded the plane. This was not part of the plan. They had thought through everything else before all of this. What they were going to wear. They're all dressed very smartly with briefcases of explosives with them. They've got knives, pipe bombs, samurai swords, pistols.

I mean, none of them booked their tickets together because they thought that would be suspicious. They only sat nearby one another. None of them spoke to each other getting on the plane prior to boarding. Nothing. They all got on the plane and waited patiently for the signal. 20 minutes into the flight,

ding, the fasten seatbelt sign has been turned off. The flight attendants are getting ready to hand out heated towels to the passengers, and a man near the front of the plane gets up from his seat, and it looks like he's been waiting for this moment. Maybe he's trying to use the restroom. He walks to the very front of the aisle, and instead of opening the door to the restroom, he turns around to stare at the passengers and slowly pulls out this shiny glimmering reflecting stick. It's a samurai sword. From where? Inside of his like trench coat. Stay calm and I will let you live. Some people scream, others in the back they don't even know what's going on. They don't even hear

this guy. So some of them are likely thinking 120 people? One guy? We can knock this guy out, samurai sword or not, let's just tackle him. But before they can even do that, one by one more men start standing up from different parts of the plane and they're all holding samurai swords, knives, pipe bombs. In total there are nine of them and just something in their eyes. You don't want to test them. They look very, very serious. They look like they got a plan.

And that plan is now completely falling apart when the captain and the co-pilot are telling the hijackers, Cuba is not happening unless you want to stop multiple times to refuel. It's not even an option. Didn't we talk about some, pulling hijacking back in the day? Everyone liked to go to Cuba, right?

Yes, because it's, yeah, they call it like the Havana. It's a communist country, so they think that that, yeah. Anyway. Once they get there, they're good. Yeah. They all go to Cuba. And then people started realizing, actually we could go anywhere that we wanted.

And they started going to all different sorts of random destinations. There was a golden age of skyjacking where skyjackers once a week in the U.S. a U.S. airline was being taken hostage for the span of like five years. Yeah. So the hijackers, they're quiet for a second because they have to come up with a new plan. They're not going to Cuba anymore. And that plan is you will fly to Pyongyang, North Korea. If you do not fly us into North Korea

right now, we will detonate the bombs. The fly departed from Japan. Japan and it was going to another city in Japan. Right. And now they want to go to North Korea. So to show the captain how serious they are, they take the microphone and they scream to the entire plane. This plane, they take the microphone and they scream to the entire plane. This plane has been hijacked. We are going to North Korea. We have explosives.

If you try and resist us, we will blow up the entire plane. The only problem with their new plan is North Korea doesn't know they're coming. And there's no way to quickly communicate that to North Korea. An unannounced commercial airline from Japan who has zero diplomatic ties to North Korea flying into their airspace with a hundred and twenty two passengers, seven crew members, that's not a good plan. That's a death wish. The captain tells the hijackers if they want to get into North Korea they're gonna have to make a pit stop to refuel. There's no way. Again, we were trying to fly between two Japanese cities. We're not trying to fly to a different country. That takes a lot more fuel.

The plane touches down in Fukuoka. A gas truck pulls up and starts pumping gasoline onto the plane. And everybody's on edge. Even the people outside the plane, everyone at the airport is high alert. Before the plane even touched you down, it sent out this massive emergency request to air traffic control at 7 53 a.m. This is Japan Airlines flight 351. Fukuoka landing has been decided. Skyjackers have bombs. They say they will detonate the bombs if their attempt fails. Absolutely no one may approach the aircraft while we refuel. We will continue to North Korea after refueling. We request maps and directions. But it was a lie. The whole thing was a lie. When the few approved personnel open up the tank to

fill it up, the gas tank on the plane, they realize it's pretty full. They could have flown in North Korea. They had more than enough fuel, but the pilots, they decided to take their chances because the hijackers didn't even know how much fuel was on the plane. So they're like, they don't know how a plane works. We gotta land in Fukuoka and hopefully the authorities can make some sort of deal

while they're on Japanese soil, while they're on the ground and not 40,000 feet up in the sky. But imagine like someone hijacked the plane and went out of all places in North Korea. The passengers were very upset. Now the authorities, they're trying, I'm sure they are, but also news stations, journalists show up which only triggers the hijackers. Now all of Japan are watching this hijacking. They've even dubbed it the Yodogo kidnappers.

So back then, Japanese airlines used to have nicknames. I'm not sure if they still do, but each airliner had a nickname, like boats, so they would name each plane. This one was named Yodogo, hence the Yodogo hijackers. Now the hijackers, they start getting angsty from seeing all the reporters, the authorities outside. They also don't know how long it takes to fuel a plane, but they imagine it doesn't take two and a half hours,

which is how long they've been parked there, connected to the gas truck. Now, side note, for this specific aircraft, it should have taken closer to 40 minutes, if not less. Theoretically, under ideal conditions, a Boeing 727 can be refueled in about 20 minutes. So 40 minutes, if not less. Theoretically, under ideal conditions, a Boeing 727 can be refilled in about 20 minutes. So 40 minutes or less. But this has taken the past two and a half hours.

But they and they have no idea how long it takes. No, but they're getting stressed. 1.40pm, the door to the plane opens and everybody outside on the tarmac freezes. They have no idea what's going to happen. The hijackers could open fire into the crowd for all they know. They could throw a pipe bomb outside at them and a figure appears at the door. And then another one and another one

and they're so confused what's going on right now. 23 children and elderly and anyone who required medicine that they did not have or medical attention are released from the plane. Was there like a negotiation going on? No. So it seems like the hijackers were annoyed that the kids kept crying and asking for food, and then they were annoyed so they would have to send the moms with them, and then they

were upset with all the people complaining about how they needed medication. They're like, oh, what an inconvenience to my day. So the two and a half hours, there's no communication? No. They're just like, get us maps. That's it. We're going to go to North Korea and you can't stop us or we're going to bomb this place. There's no negotiation.

They're not trying to negotiate anything. They're like, we're going and there's not really anything you can do about it. So when the 23rd child walks out, the door shuts behind them, locks again. There's still 99 people on that plane. Captain Ishida is staring at his map that he received from Japanese authorities. This is the one thing that the hijackers allowed to be hand-delivered to the door because nobody on the plane has ever been to North Korea. The pilots never even flew over North Korea. Their airspace even flew over North Korea.

Their airspace is considered not very friendly. They have no idea where the airport even is in North Korea. They requested a map. And this, this is the map that the authorities gave them? It's like a sick joke. It looks like the type of map where I imagine even the maps in middle school textbooks are more detailed than this. You know the world map, the big ones, where the countries are just different colored blobs and it looks like someone took a pen and traced the outline of the Korean peninsula, drew

a line in the middle, and wrote North Korea on top and then South Korea on the bottom. That was the map they got? That's the map. Oh, there's a little dot that says Pyongyang. They just put a dot? That's it?. Oh, there's a little dot that says Pyongyang. They just put a dot? That's it? Yeah, they didn't even give coordination, nothing.

They didn't give anything. They said that way. Yeah, they said, uh, just like, do you know where the Korean peninsula is? Yeah, it's probably somewhere there. That was the map they received. Is this because they truly didn't know? I think that they did not have an air map that the pilots could use. I imagine they thought, I mean, regardless of the map, it's not going to be helpful for

them. But the pilots are still kind of pissed. I mean, it feels like they're playing games right now. This is what the authorities give them so that they can cross over the DMZ. Are they joking right now? DMZ? The demilitarized zone. So that's the line between South and North Korea. Now, there are a few places in the world that you just don't fly over.

They're literally called no-fly zones. Most pilots know that it's extremely important to not fly over a no-fly zone. There's a lot of tools that they check before they head into the skies to make sure that nobody is flying, even even accidentally where they're not supposed to. I doubt that pilots could memorize all the no-fly zones by heart because they're constantly changing. There are temporary no-fly zones that get updated and then removed and then new ones that get added to the list permanently.

So for all sorts of reasons, a no-fly zone could be for security purposes, environmental protection, preservation of culture and preservation of historical sites. So to give you an idea, sometimes they feel seemingly very random. For example, no aircraft can fly within 3,000 feet of Walt Disney World in Florida or Disneyland in California. Why? For safety reasons. Because big crowds, they don't want anything happening. Oh, like if airplanes fell off the sky? I don't know.

Now there are more obvious no-fly zones. For national security purposes, Washington DC has one of the most restricted airspaces in the entire world. It's pretty common knowledge amongst pilots that the airspace above Washington DC is pretty much a no-go. And it's pretty much common knowledge that the airspace above the DMZ, the demilitarized zone, aka the border between South Korea and North Korea, is one of the most restricted airspaces in the entire world. Probably more than Washington DC.

I would rather bet my chances and fly over Washington DC because I imagine the US fighter jets would scope you out first and figure out what's going on. I feel the DMZ, they'll shoot you down first and then figure out what's going on. The flight to North Korea is very tense. Everyone on the plane has no idea what's gonna happen. They could be shot down.

I mean, when the plane was first hijacked, it's, oh, the airline, the pilots, the authorities, they're all gonna work in tandem to help save us. So because skyjackings were more common, a lot of the airlines considered it a part of the business. They would have like a pot of cash ready for hijackers. And once they get that pot of cash, they stop hijacking the plane.

They're like, okay, well, I don't need all these passengers. That's what they thought was gonna happen. When was this happening again? 1970. So that was the golden age, right? Yes, this is before TSA pre-check. Or TSA. This is before any sort of airport security. You could walk on and smoke on a plane.

So when the plane is parked in Fukuoka, it is the authorities that are surely going to help negotiate them out of there. That's what they're thinking. But now, now they're up in the sky heading towards North Korea in Fukuoka, it is the authorities that are surely going to help negotiate them out of there. That's what they're thinking. But now, now they're up in the sky heading towards North Korea and their fate is now in the hands of a man who is notorious for sending people and three generations of their loved ones into labor camps for no reason. They're just going to bet their life on Kim Il Sung, the former dictator, the supreme

leader of North Korea. Was it Kim Jong-un's dad or grandpa? Grandpa. Oh, the original founder. Yeah, the original. Japan can't even help them if that's the case. They're not even on diplomatically neutral or even tense terms. They have zero diplomatic relations. They don't even know how to call North Korea, really.

The odds are not in their favor right now. They fly across the DMZ line and the whole plane is silent. You do not have to be a pilot to understand the implications of something like this. The only one talking on the entire plane is the pilot repeatedly almost begging the control tower to respond to him. Pyongyang, Pyongyang, please respond Pyongyang. This is JA351 Pyongyang, please respond. Pyongyang, this is JA351. Pyongyang, please respond. Everyone is expecting to get shot down. They've been holding their breaths. But instead, a voice comes onto the radio. This is Pyongyang. Tune your radio to contact frequency 134.1 MC.

Repeat, this is Pyongyang. Tune your radio to contact frequency 134.1 MC. The thick Korean accented man's voice slowly guides them to landing. And eventually they do notice while they're trying to land a plane starts flying noticeably close to the airplane. Then another one shows up. They're getting way too close to the plane now. Wait, how many planes are there? Two. There's two showing up and they're not just regular planes. They're fighter jets. And the fighter jets start escorting the plane to the airport, guiding the plane on where to fly.

Well, OK, guiding is quite a nice word. It's more like forcing the plane to fly a certain way. It's like if you get sandwiched between two massive cars on the highway and they force you to drive to a certain destination, you could call it guiding. But is it really a choice here? The whole plane shakes as it's landing onto the tarmac and the hijackers are smiling. One of them grabs the microphone. Finally we have arrived in North Korea. We have imposed on you. We've burdened you as passengers but we will soon be able to release you. Welcome

to North Korea. The hijackers look out the window at their new global revolutionary base. That's how they feel. We'll get into it. Wait, these are, they are all Japanese, right? Yes. Most of the passengers are Japanese.

There is actually two American nationals on there. Wow. There's a higher up executive from Pepsi on there, as well as a Roman Catholic priest. And the hijackers are Japanese. Japanese. And they're very excited to be in North Korea. So excited. Okay. Yeah. Very excited. Okay. I'm not sure what they expected since none of them had ever been to North Korea, nor did they even plan to go to North Korea. They were planning to go to Cuba, but they started glancing around. It's not bad.

There's North Korean flags hanging all over the airport. It's not as busy as most airports, but that makes sense considering it's North Korea. It's speculated that Pyongyang has an average of one flight per day, whether that's inbound or outbound, which is honestly more than I thought it would be. But compared to the busiest airports in the world, so Atlanta International Airport being one of them,

sees an average of 2,700 arrivals and departures daily. 2,700, that's seven and a half years of North Korea's flight schedules done in a single day. And that's just one of US's international airports. They look outside the window, and there's just a few planes look outside the window, and there's just a few planes parked on the tarmac outside. It's nothing like the airports in Japan.

The North Korean flags are all hanging in the breeze, and there's rows of North Korean soldiers standing there, awaiting their arrival. Their backs are straight. It looks like they have a stick up their shirts. Military is one thing. North Korean military is a whole other game. They're standing at attention, just lined up in these neat rows. There's a group of 15 girls

holding flower bouquets and singing the North Korean national anthem. And the hijackers are screaming up and down the aisle, we're in Pyongyang, we've arrived. A voice comes over the giant intercom loudspeaker system at the airport. This is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea. You are all welcome here. Please disembark from the aircraft now. We all welcome who are against Japanese imperialism. They open the plane door and suddenly one of the hijackers screams, close the door, close it.

They slammed the door shut and nobody knows what's going on right now. Even some of the passengers had gotten up to get their stuff from the overhead bins. It's like, okay, I guess we're in North Korea now. Let's get off. But the hijacker screams, close the door now. What's going on? Look, something's not right. Look outside. Do you see something strange?

The hijackers press their faces up against the window, and they do see a few things that feel odd. I mean, obviously, they didn't know what to expect coming into this. None of them had been in North Korea, but this was just questionable Here's what they noticed one they see a foreign car parked a little ways away It's not right in their face, but it is a foreign car which is strange But you know what the Kim family their vehicle of choice is typically the Mercedes-Benz They like the Maybachs which cost anywhere between half a million dollars to a million dollars

The ones that they get. I didn't know they drive around in foreign cars, but okay. Yeah, all their fleets for the elite that the Kim family likes are Mercedes. And Mercedes even investigated because they do not import to North Korea. So they found out it would go through either China or Russia. And they would never be purchased directly from North Korea, North Korea from like a dealership obviously so it's not like North Korea has no foreign cars just not many without the Kim family's approval to they look around the airstrip and they start counting the

planes like I said it's not as many as most airports but it's still kind of a few none of them have any commercial airline logos or anything, so it doesn't seem like a busy airport filled with travelers getting in and out, but still, it certainly feels like a lot of planes for some reason. And three, they see a black man. Now, North Korea is one of the most ethnically homogeneous countries in the entire world. They have a very very very very tiny limited number of ethnic minorities. Some small tiny tiny groups of Chinese and Japanese people live in North Korea, which I don't even know if you could consider that an ethnic minority in North Korea. But other than that, internationally it's known that other than incidents like where the US soldier

crossed the DMZ and went into North Korea that we talked about in the auto Episode there's almost zero notable presence of black communities in North Korea Maybe a diplomat perhaps that's what they're thinking. Perhaps that's a diplomat or a diplomat's son or a diplomat's Husband, what was he doing? Just hanging out on the tarmac Sometimes North Korea does let in businessmen from other countries, typically mainly from China and Russia, but maybe? But they try to get a better look at the man, and they see what he's wearing, and now they have questions.

The black man is seen wearing a US military uniform. Everything else can maybe be explained away, but there would be zero reason for a US military official to be in North Korea unless they're dead. If you wake up one day with no memory of anything, you have no idea what's happened and somebody tells you, hi, good morning, welcome, you're in North Korea. You do not believe them because I was in America yesterday, what do you mean? What is the one thing that you ask them for that is reasonable for them to get to you in the

next five minutes I can prove to you without a shadow of doubt this is indeed North Korea the hijackers grab the radio to talk to the police outside is this North Korea if so can you bring us a giant picture of your leader Kim Il Sung? Bring it to us now. Woah, that is… that is very true. Everybody should have that handy. It should be hanging at the airport, honestly. There's silence.

This is a military base, so there is no picture of Kim Il Sung here, but we will bring you one soon. Because you arrived so suddenly, we were unable to prepare to welcome you properly." The whole thing isn't making sense. The lead hijacker opens the airplane door and shouts down at the bus driver waiting to take them into the airport. And he screams in English, Is this Seoul? The bus driver is alone in the bus. No military men near him.

Nothing. He panics and responds in English, yes! What? They closed the door because what the hell? This is South Korea. What? I told you from the beginning, didn't I? That the whole hijacking had been a lie. And the truth is the plane was not able to go to Cuba without refueling multiple times. That was the truth. They did not need to land in Fukuoka to refuel, but they did. Authorities use this time to collaborate between Japan, South Korea, and potentially the United States, and they quickly scramble to figure out a plan because they can't stop the plane now.

They can't storm it. The hijackers have explosives, but they can't just let the plane full of civilians fly straight into North Korea, so they need to devise up a plan within an hour. They make Kimpo Airport, which is the smaller airport in Seoul, not Incheon, but Kimpo, they make it look like a North Korean airport. What in the world? The amount of coordination that it takes is astronomical.

They have to get most of the commercial airliners off the tarmac. All of the international flights, all the South Korean planes with Korean air, ASEAN Airlines, they gotta get it off. Any truck with a logo that's South Korean or Western because a lot of the fueling trucks, they have the Shell logo on the side, has to be gone. They have to cover up all advertisements because there is no advertising in North Korea. They have to procure North Korean flags, swap out all the South Korean flags for North Korean flags. They have to take down all the international flags that some airports have, like Kimpo did.

And they have to do all of that. They have to procure North Korean military uniforms, dress everyone up in them. They even went as far to get a bunch of girls in uniform to sing the national anthem of North Korea. This was not an easy feat. But they forgot there was an American soldier? Yeah, because the American military were involved. They obviously tried to hide the people that weren't obviously Korean looking or didn't resemble a North Korean,

but it was hard. There's a lot of coordination. The map that Japanese authority gave the pilots was intentionally bad so that they wouldn't rely on the map and they would rely on the radio. The man that intercepted the radio with the thick Korean accent that said, this is Pyongyang, tune into this radio. It was a South Korean military man. They did cross the DMZ though.

They did cross and the man the South Korean man panicked and was giving them directions to slowly U-turn without making it obvious back into South Korea. South Korean fighter jets appeared and then guided them into Kimpo. What a plan. Within the hour they managed to trick the hijackers that they were landing in North Korea. But now, the ruse is up. They know.

And now, the negotiations shall begin. Estimates show that about $200 million worth of US currency, meaning US cash, in circulation right now, being used, is fake, is counterfeit. To be fair, there's about $2.3 trillion in circulation right now being used is fake, is counterfeit. To be fair, there's about 2.3 trillion dollars in circulation right now, so the odds of you having a fake bill by accident are pretty low, but it's never zero because there's what's known as super fakes, super notes. They are made with the same high-tech color-shifting ink that the US $100 bill is made from. They print on the

same precise composition of fibers because did you know the US $100 bill is made from. They print on the same precise composition of fibers because did you know the US bills are not printed on paper? It's a mixture of cotton and linen. That's what the bills are made of. The correct blend requires a very special paper making machine that is nearly impossible to purchase. And then to get the formula down pat, very difficult. The engravings are typically even better than what's produced in

the US. These super notes, they are. Most people won't even be able to tell the difference between a super note and a real $100 bill. That little pen that they give you at work to check for bills, or at least that's what they gave me, I thought they were foolproof. They're not. They're not going to catch this. You know, you put it up to the light and you look at the hologram or the little transparency. That's not gonna catch this. For supernotes, it takes sophisticated forensic analysis for most of them to be confirmed as counterfeit currency. It's said to create that level of supernote, you need facilities worth over $100 million to produce counterfeit bills of this caliber.

No crime ring is willing to invest that much to make some fake dollar bills. It is speculated that there's only one group that would do something like this at the scale that it's being done. North Korea is allegedly the biggest counterfeiter of US currency. That's crazy. So they call it like a two birds one stone allegedly. They make a lot of money from the counterfeit bills for the North Koreans but it's also to diminish the US dollar. It's almost um some people from the US Treasury have considered an act of war. In Thailand the

police are starting to notice more and more US hundred dollar bills stacking up on their desk. They're all from the banks. Super fakes. Counterfeit. They're all super notes. The Thai police start their investigations and it leads them to this small, inconspicuous little office in Cambodia. They raid the facilities and ultimately, they arrest a man in connection with the high-quality counterfeit U.S. bills in circulation. And the man claims he's a North Korean diplomat. Which originally makes sense. North Korea, like I said, was still probably known for creating near-perfect super notes. I mean, this makes a lot of sense, right? They're allegedly bringing in tens of millions of dollars

a year from making counterfeit U.S. dollar bills. North Korea denies it of course but the US has tracked millions of dollars worth of super notes being smuggled into the US and it all traces back eventually to North Korea. The man in the office with the super notes claims to be a North Korean diplomat but they all know that's not true. They run his prince. He's not North Korean, he's Japanese. His real name is Yoshimi Tanaka He was one of the members of the hijacking group of Japan Airlines 351 The hijackers had not been heard from for the past 20 years Everyone thought they were either dead or held captive in North Korea. What the hell is this man doing in Thailand?

This is 20 years after the hijacking. There is no set number or value to human life until you're a hostage negotiator. Then suddenly there's a very real price for life. The proposed deal that authorities give the plane hijackers is quite simple. One man's life in exchange for all the others. Let all the hostages go, let all the civilians go, and we will give you one man in exchange. It's simple. The hijackers are like, this man better be special.

He is. The vice minister of transport of Japan. Release the hostages and take the Vice Minister of Transportation to North Korea. That is the deal. One person for a hundred people? Because North Korea would probably be more interested in a politician. Oh, okay. 50 hours.

The plane has been parked at Kimpo in South Korea for 50 hours when Vice Minister Yamamura offers himself up as an exchange. At first, the hijackers don't want to take it, but they look at the passengers and all the passengers are on edge. They're ready to do something crazy to get off this freaking plane. The AC has shut off because you need fuel for that. During the mid-afternoon, temperatures inside the plane are reaching 104 degrees. The air circulation is horrid. The air is stale. The toilets are fully backed up, meaning the flushing isn't even working. The

toilet in the back is overflowing and there is nothing they can do to escape this scent and there is no air circulation. The men have been tied up to their chairs. Everyone who's not tied up, even if they're strangers, are having to help wipe the sweat off their brows. At first, everybody was calm. They were ready to be accommodating so that they can get out with their lives. But now, now they're getting anxious. They're not even allowed to eat. They all scarfed down the food that's already on the plane and when the authorities offered to bring in new food for the passengers, the hijackers denied. They're scared that

the food is laced with sleeping drugs that would knock them out, give the authorities enough time to break in and food for the passengers, the hijackers denied. They're scared that the food is laced with sleeping drugs that would knock them out, give the authorities enough time to break in and free the passengers and arrest the nine hijackers. The passengers are starting to feel the heat. The lead hijacker looks at the others. The passengers have reached their limit. We have to do something.

Which is the exact same conversation happening outside of the plane with Japan, South Korea, and allegedly the CIA. There are a lot of higher-ups with their own ways of wanting to handle this gathered in the same room. From Japan, you have the Vice Minister of Political Affairs, but the Vice Minister of Transport, members from the Ministry of Transport, as well as the Ambassador of Japan for South Korea. They're present because the hijackers, like I said, are all Japanese, and it's a Japanese commercial airliner, and most of the passengers are Japanese nationals. But because the hostage plane is now on South Korean soil, South Korea has a bunch of military units,

defense minister, transportation minister, interior minister, all present. Then the US allegedly gets involved. Now, South Korea-based US troops arrive at the scene. That is a known fact. Some sources allege that the CIA got involved in the negotiations because, well, the US military does typically get involved in most things South Korea related. They do have like a treaty and it's it's a whole thing. But also there are two American nationals on board. Like I said,

the Pepsi executive and the Roman Catholic priest. So it appears that them landing in South Korea was coordinated by the three groups in record time within the hour, but now, now they're all stressed. And now that the plane is on South Korean soil, they can see the plane, they can see the hostages, the hijackers are pissed that this is not Kim's land. Now what? Now suddenly all these people have different interests. Of course, the ultimate interest for all parties is the safety of the hostages. But South Korea knows that the whole world is watching this.

And if this doesn't go the way it's supposed to, South Korea could be seen as an easy target for hijacking and terrorist groups. The US likely has a pride thing here. If the CIA is involved, which people are speculating they are, then they better get a deal done. Because really, the CIA can't take care of a hostage plane? Most powerful intelligence agency in the world and you can't even talk a few university students off of Boeing? Japan likely has the worst situation in their hands. Their citizens are the hijackers. Most of the

passengers are Japanese citizens, but now they're in another country causing an international situation. Nobody's having a good time here. They try walking through all sorts of scenarios. Okay, let's try ambushing them at night. Turn off all the airport lights so that they can't see anything outside. We force entry. But that could result in too many casualties. They could start blowing up the plane. They thought about lacing the food that they tried to send in with sleeping pills, but again, that would result, that could result in innocent casualties. The people on the plane are going to be eating the food.

The nine hijackers, the odds that some of them don't eat the food and take turns keeping watch is very high. The authorities are doing anything they can to scrape together a single coherent thought, an idea, but all of it leads to one conclusion there is no way to get inside this plane without risking the passengers inside the plane an older man stands up he throws his hands in the air and screams kill me then if you're gonna kill me just do it now the leader of the hijackers smirks and starts slowly walking up to the old man. He gets in his face, If you tell me to kill you, I'll kill you.

Another hostage taker walks up to the leader and calmly hands him a sword. The leader takes it without even looking at him. He never breaks eye contact with the old man all the way until the old man slowly calmly sits back down without saying another word. The authorities outside are actually quite impressed by this whole situation. By how long the hijackers are holding out. They're not giving in, not even in the slightest. Just listening to their voices, it doesn't appear that they're losing steam either. They sound just as determined as ever. Why are they parked there for 50 hours if they're

gonna go to North Korea? They need fuel. It takes 50 hours? No. South Korea is refusing to let them fuel. Oh, I see. A lot of it also has to do with posturing. I think perhaps a lot of the authorities did care for the civilians involved. I would hope so, but knowing the way politics works in most countries, including ours, the United States, I think they care to a degree. I think what they cared most about though, is that the whole world is watching. And if they let this plane of innocent civilians go into North Korea,

the message that it sends of where North Korea's power is in relation to Japan and South Korea is gonna be disastrous. It's definitely a political mind game. And I think the passengers are being swept. Tamia, the leader of the group, tells the authorities, we are determined to go to North Korea, determined to do everything necessary to get there and receive military training. Eventually we will return across the sea to Japan to start a revolution. We are determined.

We are going to do this no matter how high the walls between the nations may stand. The Japanese ambassador to Korea tries to reason with the hijackers. Do not make light of your lives. You are all still so young. You should think about the future and not act so rashly. We cannot trust the words of some lying diplomat. And do the North Koreans know that you're coming? Silence.

We have not made contact. More silence. Because they're going to go into North Korea without a plan, without knowing about Kim Il Sung, if he's going to open their arms to them, or if he's going to kill them. The ambassador gets stopped by his assistant and all the Japanese officials, almost in tandem, stop what they're doing and listen. They have all just been informed. North Korea has made contact with Japan.

What? Again, this is so incredibly rare. They have no diplomatic relations. They don't have ambassadors for each other. The message is sent by North Korea. The safety of the aircraft through our airspace is guaranteed. All aboard the aircraft will be treated humanely and the aircraft will be returned. North Korea is willing to take the hijackers in.

What does that even mean? What about the hostages? Exactly. What does that even mean? Yeah. Japan has to do something. If North Korea assures them that the flight is going to be safe, then the best choice would be to let them. If North Korea assures them that the flight is gonna be safe, then the best choice would to let them go to North

Korea, right? I mean them as in the hijackers, not the civilians. They cannot let 99 civilians go into North Korea. That's crazy. The negotiations are still on. One life in exchange for all the rest. Take the Vice Minister of Transport with you into North Korea and give up all the civilians. It's easier to control one person than it is to control 99 people. Then and only then can the plane get refueled and head straight into Pyongyang. But also the guy who's the Minister of Transport. Yes. You think that's like him willingly? Yes. He offered himself up and I do think that there is some context to be had here. In America, I think it's a little bit different.

In places like Japan and I would say a lot more of the eastern countries, it's almost his career is over unless he does something. Oh, this is his basically his fault, you're saying? Yes, they're going to say it's his fault for not protecting his constituents. Wow. So he's never gonna get re-elected. His career is over. This is a failure on his part. He let it happen. So unless he offers...

99 lives is already on him. Yes. Whereas I think maybe in places like the US, it wouldn't be on these people. It'd just be like, okay, you either handled it well or poorly, but it wouldn't necessarily be their fault that hijackers did this. But in Japan, it might be considered his fault to a degree. Yes, yes, the social pressure is very, very strong. He offers himself up. So the hijackers, they finally agree. And after four days and three nights on the plane, parked in Seoul, they finally agreed to let the hostages go. Surprisingly, on the way out, many of the hostages would wish the hijackers the best of luck on their mission. One of the hostages would later say, as individuals they were very polite and very pleasant companions.

The hijackers were part of the quote Red Army, which is a militant sub-faction of a political organization called the Communist League in Japan. So to put it simply without getting too political because I'm truly not at all well versed in Japanese politics not even a little bit but their goals were overthrow the Japanese government, incite a communist revolution in Japan, contribute to a global communist revolution, establish international bases for other revolutions to pull resources from. Those were their main goals. And the way that they were going to achieve these goals was not in the form of winning

elections, getting votes. They were going to rob banks to fund their missions, attack police stations and government agencies, including the prime minister's personal residence. They're actually responsible, or partly responsible for a massive massacre. They've taken 50 innocent people hostage before for the purpose of negotiating to get fellow members out of prison. They were able to get a $6 million ransom

from the Japanese government after holding another group of people hostage. They've set off car bombs that have killed multiple innocent civilians, injuring multiple innocent civilians. They've attacked embassies, primarily US and British embassies. They're categorized as a highly violent group to get what they want. So that has nothing to do with the actual party.

This is like the sub faction, the militant sub group. They're very extreme. The whole point of even hijacking a plane was to get to Cuba to get military training. They wanted highly specialized, militarized arms training so that they can hold revolutions on a global scale. And likely so that they can pull off more of these deadly missions with more efficiency.

Which is terrifying. But one of the passengers, the hostages said, in that moment, when you see the nine of them screaming up and down, jumping together and joy, we're going to Pyongyang! We're going to Pyongyang! This is the new base for our international revolution! All the passengers could think was, they're just so young. The hijackers would even sit around and tell the passengers about their beliefs, in a sense trying to convince them to believe what they believe.

And even at the end, food was brought in by authorities, and at the last meal, the hijackers did a toast and said, it's time for us to part ways we wish to convey our deepest gratitudes to you thank you everyone sorry for being such a burden let's have a little farewell celebration we will fight to the end on behalf of the world's oppressed we will persist and do our best until the end we have caused you great unhappiness, but we hope you understand that we did it because we love Japan and we want to make Japan a better place for all. Everyone cheered.

Yes, you have to cheer, right? 2.27 PM. The door to the plane opens for the last time in Seoul. The news reporters from three different countries are standing near the plane. Military officials with snipers pointed at the door are stationed across the airport. A woman in a kimono appears at the door, a flight attendant. She takes the first step down the plane stairs.

Then a man in a suit comes out behind her and slowly one by one the passengers start making their way down the stairs and the minute that they touch the ground off the steps the reporters start cheering getting louder with each person that steps onto the ground when about half the hostages are released the whole tarmac goes silent because this was all agreed upon between the two parties the hijackers and the authorities at that moment a hijacker appears at the top one, the hijackers and the authorities. At that moment, a hijacker appears at the top, one of the nine. And then I'm just gonna call the vice minister, just the vice minister from now on, but he is the vice minister of transport. You get it. The vice minister shows up at the bottom. They both stare

at each other. Yamamura said this before climbing up the stairs. He said, to tell you the truth, my legs were shaking. The hijacker takes one step. Vice minister takes one step. They do this slowly, one step at a time until they have this tense moment where they both step on at the same step at the center of the stairs.

So they do this because the hijackers were scared they're gonna let off most of the hostages and then the vice minister would not board. But then now the authorities are like well if we let the vice minister board early what if you just close the door and take half the hostages and the vice minister? So that's why they're sending out a hijacker as a placeholder. Okay what is that person gonna do? He's gonna go back onto the plane once the rest of the hostages are released So it's like an insurance policy for both sides

now they have this very tense moment where they both step onto the same step at the middle of the stairs and Then they walk past each other and they're listening from behind and when they hear the other party take a step They take a step and now the hijackers and when they hear the other party take a step, they take a step. And now the hijackers, they have one of their own outside the plane, and the government officials have one of their own inside the plane. That's how you exchange hostages. Once the vice minister is tied up in a seat, most of the other hostages are let out one by one until the very last one.

He appears at the top and the hijacker appears at the bottom. And they do the same thing. So by the end of it, all the hostages are out and the hijacker and the vice minister are back in. You say the vice minister came back out? No, no, no. The last hostage. Oh, the last hostages.

Oh. Does that make sense? So half the hostages, then they exchange a vice minister for the hijacker. Then the last hostage and the hijackers swap. Yes. So another very tense meeting happens and when they step on the same step in the middle of the stairs the hostage looks at the hostage taker and says take care of yourself okay? Keep a sharp eye, keep a sharp eye. The hijacker says, okay, until we meet again.

They both smile and watch each other walk away. So polite, huh? Yeah, the hostage exchange was now complete. The plane positioned itself and 83 hours after being hijacked, they were now departing for North Korea. Some of the hostages even took out their handkerchiefs to wave them at the plane that was flying away. What about the pilots?

The pilots are in there. Do we know how many? Two pilots and I think another crew member. So they still have three more hostages? Yes. For everyone else, the authorities watching them taking off getting higher and higher in the sky It's a grim moment mainly because nobody knows nobody knows what's gonna happen in North Korea but also nobody knows what's gonna happen to the vice minister and

Nobody knows that all the weapons that the hijackers were threatening them with We're just toys that the hijackers were threatening them with? We're just toys. It's fake knife? Fake knives, fake bombs, fake everything. Everything was fake. It was all a lie, like I said. A young woman in Japan is sitting in front of a clairvoyant.

She is desperate for some guidance at this point. She's felt this feeling of loss for the past few years of her life, and it just won't go away. And the clairvoyant tells her, soon, before you turn 30, your fortune will change. You will find love. You will get married. Yes, but how likely even is that?

For the past almost decade. Okay, no, more like eight years, her fortune has been decidedly shitty, okay? Her boyfriend, the one she met while working as a nurse at Tokyo University, the one that she fell in love with almost instantly, it was so sudden, she said the minute that she laid eyes on him, she was ready to trust him with her entire life. Her boyfriend, that guy, he's in North Korea and he hasn't written a single letter. She has no idea what he's been doing, if he's moved on, if he still thinks about her, nothing. She doesn't even know if he's alive. Side note, he hasn't written a single letter. She has no idea what he's been doing. If he's moved on, if he still thinks about her, nothing. She doesn't even know if he's alive.

Side note, he didn't even tell her that he was going to take a plane hostage. In case she reported him. He just told her that he's not going to see her for a year or two, but she should pay attention to the news. That's it. And then he hijacked a commercial airplane. But this is the sign that she needs from the clairvoyant to somehow to do whatever it takes get herself to North Korea to marry the man

she loves. One of the nine plane hijackers. Because why she loves him? Yes. Wow that's some next level love. There was a lot of conversation of if South Korea had not let them land in Seoul would things have played out differently Probably it said that Kim Il Sung's favorite thing about this whole situation was it was a massive slap in the face to the Western Countries well some of them first of all the hostage situation made international news and to think that three countries allegedly situation made international news and to think that three countries allegedly Japan, South Korea and probably the United States could not offer the hijackers something could not force them or negotiate with them the fact that the hijackers didn't even want to be there in the first place they didn't want to be in Japan they don't like Japan they want to hold a revolution they don't

like South Korea they don't want to be in South Korea they want to be in North Korea that's the biggest win. It's free, natural, easy propaganda for the world. So back when Kim Il Sung was running North Korea, North Korea was, it wasn't what it is today. A lot of people felt sympathy for North Korea. There were a lot of people who actually understood why he might do something like this,

why he might turn away from a capitalistic world. It was not what it is today. Like people were not starving. The people were not dying. So there were a lot of primarily university students from all over the world that actually sympathized a lot with North Korea and actually kind of to a degree thought maybe Kim Il-sung knows a little something, something we don't know. Yeah. So the university students, they self-exiled themselves to distance themselves from the

rotten capitalistic society of Japan. This is good. That's how he felt. Kim's reading the poem that they all wrote him. Oh yeah, they're in North Korea now. And they've been there for a few years. And they're writing poems. Oh, they're living in the now and they've been there for a few years and they're writing poems Oh, they're living in the little village, little Japan. Yeah

But they can't do anything. They can't go anywhere. For now. Oh They write Kim a poem and it reads you raised us Nameless as we were and entrusted us with the Japanese Revolution in the love of our father our leader We face the glorious battle such love such kindness. In the love of our father, our leader, we face the glorious battle. Such love, such kindness, we hold it in our hearts, we offer everything to our Great General. With the guidance of the Great General, the future of Japan will flower. We are soldiers of the Premier! We advance along the road of loyalty.

Oh, our fatherly Great General, our loyal hearts pray you will live 10,000 years. Just years after they landed in North Korea, the hijackers were now Kim Il Sung's golden pieces in his little game to world domination. The landing in North Korea was rough, just like every other part of the hijackers' trips. The pilots on Japan Airlines 351 had no contact with air traffic controls of North Korea. The sun is setting. They've been doing circles in Pyongyang. They don't know where the airport is.

They basically have to land now or else they're screwed. They have never been to the Pyongyang airport. They can't even locate it. The best option they have was to land on this tiny little landing strip about 15 miles from Pyongyang International Airport. They're one step away from driving off the landing strip. And then finally, 13 people step off the plane. Nine hijackers, three crew members,

and the vice minister of transport, Yamamura. One of the hijackers would later admit, we didn't know if we would be chased off the moment we landed at Pyongyang or be thrown into a prison, or if we would be told to leave immediately But instead of being tense, they were instantly treated like heroes One of the hijackers said we were put up at a hotel in Pyongyang the first night

We almost expected to be escorted straight to like an internment camp So it was unexpectedly very nice treatment After meeting with the authorities, we were shown to the hotel dining room where we had this full banquet, a full course, multiple course, Korean banquet. I have never eaten at such a banquet before in my life. The crew members, the vice minister, were allowed to fly back to Japan after being wined and dined for a few days. But they had to kickstart their own plane. Okay, so to put it simply, North Korea did not have a battery starter for a Boeing plane at their disposal. Simply, North Korea did not have a battery starter for a Boeing plane at their disposal. Japan was frantically trying to send one, but North Korea was like, you cannot be sending shit from Japan to us. So they were trying to get one into Moscow,

then send it, import it into North Korea because it's a whole thing. But eventually the crew were so desperate to get out of there, the two pilots and the additional crew member, they found a car battery, used a local compressed air cylinder and kickstarted the plane's battery themselves. They're like, we got to get out of here. Wait, so they left all three, four of them they left? Yes. Wow.

They flew back to Japan. Their coming home was a huge deal. It was seen as a very positive thing. And in the minds of most Japanese people and the world, the hijacking situation was over. News cycles are moving on, there's really nothing more to the story. The Japanese government did try to extradite and are still trying to extradite the hijackers out of North Korea, but North Korea would reject all of their requests and they would very richly say, we just don't think it's humane what Japan might do to the hijackers, so we're gonna keep them here. We are protecting them from their own government. Do we know if the nine people are still alive or? A few of them are dead. Okay. A few of them are dead. But some are still alive. Yes, and still

living in North Korea. Crazy! Yes. There had been an influx of missing women in Japan. And there were rumors about this, but nobody could really confirm it. These missing women all had a few things in common. They were all unmarried, without children, and they all to a degree either sympathized with North Korean ideologies or believed in it. They were all part of groups or social clubs that read the teachings of Kim Il Sung and they all vanished on an overseas trip to Europe.

Just vanished, without a trace. They left nothing behind, not even a single suitcase, not a single item of clothing. Just disappeared. Coincidentally, around the time, during a press conference, Kim Il Sung was asked about the hijackers that are still in North Korea. This is like years after the hijacking. Nobody's heard from the hijackers. They've made no contact with the world. Obviously people have questions. Are they still alive? What's going on? Why aren't you letting them go back to Japan? How long are you going to keep them? Do they even want to stay here? What are they doing? Where are they living? But of course they can't ask any of that. Instead they just try to bring up some of

the hijackers and Kim Il Sung, without any sort of prompting just response. The hijackers say they wish to return to Japan but if they do they would have to stand trial. In Korea we have a saying after 10 years even rivers and mountains change. I think their feelings might have changed too. In many ways they're married now to Japanese women and with children. It's been a long time so I would say to Japan please consider dropping all the charges against them. The headlines all over Japan would read, Missing Women are Wives of Hijackers. Wait what? Oh yeah we'll get there. It is speculated that Kimi Sung held a secret operation called Operation Marriage, where North Korean operatives allegedly kidnapped Japanese women

and forced them to get married to the hijackers in one massive wedding ceremony of nine couples. He lets them live in this massive gated compound called Little Japan, but soon they would later call it the Village of Revolution. Because the part that's fascinating is, why would Kim Il Sung care at all about whether these men get married or not? Or care about these men at all in general? One of the guy writes in his diary,

There are probably people who are angry that we got married. But I think men ought to marry. Men and women too should get married. If you're engaged with something that gets in the way of your getting married, I think you'll eventually lose interest in it. Wait, what is he talking about? Isn't he just being held captive in North Korea? So at this point, within a few years of being in North Korea, whether it was out of necessity or pure interest or both, the hijackers start turning their interest into North Korea. Their revolution was no longer about Japan. It was about uniting North and South

Korea under Kim Il Sung's rule. And since that moment, the hijackers are moved from the hotel to their own little village. They go through a series of indoctrinations, brainwashing sessions, where they unlearn everything that had to do with their revolution and reprogram their minds with the teachings of Kim Il-sung. The first that they had to learn was, this is not like every other revolutionary meeting that you've been to in the past. Okay. There is no room for interpretation here.

Either you agree or you disagree. There is no half agreeing. Either your life is in danger or you're safe. There's no middle ground where you're like, kind of skirting the edge of danger. And now their new mission is yes, hold a revolution in Japan where Kim Il Sung will take over, but also in South Korea and other parts of Europe.

Kim Il Sung should honestly rule the world. Their whole point was to make sure North Korea has supporters all over the world. They can't do this if they're the only ones. Like nine people, they're not gonna change the world's views. They need to go into different countries, hold seminars, find groups of people that sympathize with the North, and like have this whole organization put together where they can all support Kim Il Sung's goals. And slowly they can start bringing in more and more countries. Kim Il Sung obviously agrees with their

new vision because it's his vision, but believes that they need to have a family to really throw themselves into their revolutionary work. There's a few reasons for this. One, it said that after Konishi Takahiro's girlfriend, she's the one with the clairvoyant, she moves from Japan to Beijing. Beijing, because they have a North Korean embassy, she begs North Korean embassies, please let me go to North Korea. Please, I wanna go to North Korea so bad. Please let me go. They're like, okay, fine, go to North Korea. So she willingly went there?

Yes. Once she's allowed into North Korea, she and Konishi Takahiro start their own little group within the group. You know, they're the only ones that are coupled up and it starts creating this very strange dynamic amongst the hostage takers. They felt like it was just them.

They were in this together as revolutionaries. Why does he get to have emotional comfort and physical attention? And two, this is terrifying and it's not further expanded upon any source I could find, even this like 420 page book that I read on it. But it said that the men try to engage in highly inappropriate sexual acts with the North Korean women that were staffed to work for them in this gated compound. Yeah, so I feel like that's putting it lightly. This seems like the biggest trigger for the North Korean party to get involved.

And lastly, three, within a year of getting married, almost all of them have children. And that is how the group are allowed to leave North Korea Korea to find more revolutionaries around the world to join them. Kim Il Sung envisioned that the hijackers would go to Europe all over Asia find like-minded people and convince them and they would have covert operatives across the world working for him building their own teams of revolutionaries that are going to help Kim Il Sung take over their countries but that means the hijackers would have to leave North Korea for these operations. But what's the insurance plan? How can Kim be so certain that they're going to come back? Their wives aren't going to do it. These wives are just like random kidnapped women

from Japan other than Kunishi's girlfriend. What is the emotional attachment there? That's why they have kids. You keep the kid in North Korea, send the parents abroad. You keep the kid in North Korea send the parents abroad and North Korea is known for doing that Wow, and it worked Because you remember that guy in Cambodia one of the hijackers it's alleged Obviously everything's alleged because North Korea doesn't confirm anything But it's alleged that he was working with North Korea on the counterfeiting schemes It's unclear exactly what the hijackers did for North Korea after landing there.

Some speculate they were all assigned different roles. We do know that one was arrested, like I said, for spreading the counterfeit US super notes in Southeast Asia. It's speculated that they were all working as North Korean operatives, the hijackers, and even their wives. There are allegations that whenever the members of the group would be in Europe Japanese nationals would go missing on their trips in Europe. They're kidnapping people? Yes. Why? To turn them into like and this all comes full circle but to turn them into basically so I'm assuming

the Japanese nationals that they kidnapped had some sort of sympathy for North Korea. So they're bringing them into North Korea to brainwash them further and create more operatives to send out. And the Japanese passport is stronger. Like you you're not gonna get into all the countries on a North Korean passport even if it's a diplomacy passport. Right, right, right. So they want more Japanese... Yes. So that's why the wives for the hijackers first of all They can't marry North Korean women because it's highly illegal for North Koreans to marry anyone That's not North Korean because they believe in race purity Yeah, or like I guess national purity in this case

So they brought in Japanese wives But also what they would do is they would send the Japanese wives with a North Korean diplomat passport out into these different countries mainly Europe and then once they get into Europe they start using their Japanese passport to get into other countries and to move around because I highly doubt yeah right right right okay I see yes so they wanted a lot of different passports involved in this whole situation is what I'm getting out of this. Now, North Korea did admit to kidnapping Japanese people

and even if you look at the one where North Korea kidnapped a South Korean actress, you'll see that she's in a compound just like this and she meets a Japanese woman at one point, she like meets a Chinese woman at one point. There's just a lot of different nationals there. So yeah. As of 2004, the hijackers have requested permission

from North Korea to return back to Japan. And there are mixed feelings about this. So the hijackers do genuinely seem like they wanna go back to Japan and Kim Il Sung is long dead. Ooh, well, he is dead, but Kim Jong Un and his grandson has taken over and I don't think that he sees as much value in them but I think he just keeps them around because he doesn't want to give them back to Japan. Now there are other

theories though that the hijackers are begging to go back to Japan under the disguise of like oh we miss our home country, but they're going to try and start some stuff there. Wait, so right now they wanted to leave, but they're not allowed to leave? Yeah, North Korea won't let them leave. So far, there's no real answers. The vice minister of transport, the one that exchanged his life for the passengers, he was actually scheduled to fly into Pyongyang, I would say maybe like a decade ago, for negotiations to swap the hijackers or to get them back.

But coincidentally, the day before he was scheduled to leave, his daughter suffered from a psychotic break and stabbed into death with a kitchen knife. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. His daughter killed him? Yeah, she had a psychotic break. What? Yeah, but prior a psychotic break. What? Yeah, but prior to this, his career was flourishing. I mean, when he got back, he was the hostage official. I mean, he put his money where his mouth is. He's like, I'm for the people and people, how can you argue with that?

He did save his, you know, exchange his life for the people. Wow. But he is dead. Yeah. As of right now, Yoshimi Tanaka, one of the hijackers, was arrested in Thailand for distributing super notes, counterfeit US currency. He was extradited to Japan where he died of liver cancer in 2007 in prison. Takeshi Okumoto is suspected to be dead. It's suspected that he actually

attempted to flee North Korea on a boat. Kintaro Yoshida is also suspected to be dead, it's suspected that he actually attempted to flee North Korea on a boat. Kintaro Yoshida is also suspected to have denied the teachings of North Korea and was allegedly suspected of being sent to a prison camp where he likely died. How do we know all this information about their stay? The book that I read, the author actually did multiple visits to North Korea, obviously with North Korea's permission. And he was interviewing the hijackers. Wow. So it's suspected it was part of North Korea's plan to make the hijackers not seem like they're all part of Kim Eui-sung's little group. And make them seem like, oh, North Korea is just a nice place. We like living here.

So that more people would accept their teachings if they were to go abroad Tamia Takamaro the leader of the group the original leader of the group was said to have died from a mysterious illness in North Korea Also allegedly suspicious Yoshiro Shibata, he's the youngest member of the group the hijacking happened when he was only 16 He actually went to Japan to recruit people to North Korea but he was arrested for forging a passport. He went under a fake passport. After his sentence he stayed in Japan until he died in 2011. Takahiro Konishi is currently still living in North Korea. He is internationally wanted. It is alleged that

he has taken over as the leader of the group. Abe Kimihiro is currently still in North Korea as well. He is wanted by Interpol for kidnapping Japanese people. Wakabayashi Moriaki also lives in North Korea as well. Shira Akagi also lives in North Korea. And if and when the remaining wives get back, they're facing 10 months in prison, while the husbands will probably face more than 10 years in prison for their crimes they will be facing charges of assault with a deadly weapon international kidnapping theft of an airplane and the crime of taking hostages back then there was no crime of airplane hijacking so they couldn't be

charged with that all of the children however of the hijackers have returned to Japan well I guess it's not returned, but they now live in Japan. How did that happen? Yeah, I guess North Korea was like, yeah, just go. I think it became too many people. Yeah, the interesting thing to note though is the hijackers went through all of this because their whole belief, the reason that they even hijacked the plane to begin with was one of it was based on having a classless society where wealth and resources were distributed very equally but they were and are living the lives of the 0.01% in North Korea. They are literally the richest of the rich in North Korea and it does not seem like they have a problem with class disparity anymore as

long as they're part of the group that gets to live comfortably. So much for their vision. What are your thoughts on this case? I'm just like… It just feels unreal. I did not… yeah and who what? Yeah, I don't even know what to say to this one. And the fact that they're still living in North Korea is crazy.

See, this is what I say. You get what you ask for. And I feel like they probably have a lot of regrets on that one. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like if they really come out and share what happened in the last 20, 30 years, Oh my gosh. I don't think we're ready for that. That would be... Yeah. I feel like we're touching like the surface of the surface of what truly went down. I imagine North Korea is not going to let them go for that reason.

And I imagine the kids can't say anything because their parents are still in North Korea. It's fascinating. What are your thoughts? Wow. But please stay safe and I will see you guys in the next one.