South Korean actress, once kidnapped by North, dies at 91
She was sedated with a needle and then kept drugged and without food for eight days
ASouth Korean actress who was once kidnapped by the North’s agents on the orders of late leader Kim Jong-il in a Cold War-style intrigue and forced to make films for the regime has died aged 91, her family says.
Choi Eun-hee was the South’s most famous actress for decades before being brazenly abducted by North Korean spies in Hong Kong in 1978 at the request of the North’s then leader-in-waiting Kim Jong-il, an avid film fan.
During her visit to Hong Kong to meet a potential investor in her arts school, she was reportedly lured onto a boat by her guide before being transferred against her will to a cargo ship destined for North Korea.
Husband taken
She was forcibly sedated with a needle and then kept drugged and without food for eight days before arriving in the North. Her husband Shin Sang-ok, a top film director, was taken to the North soon after, although circumstances over his abduction remain unclear.
Kim Jong-il was bent on using his captives to make films that could compete on the international stage.
Choi remained trapped in the North for eight years, where she and Shin made more than 10 films together. During their ordeal, the couple travelled overseas extensively for film production and to attend film festivals — always under heavy surveillance by the North’s agents. They finally staged a daring escape to the US embassy in Vienna in 1986.