Shin Sang-ok

Shin Sang-ok

Shin Sang-ok (October 18, 1926 – April 11, 2006) was a prolific South Korean film producer and director with more than 100 producer and 70 director credits to his name.  His best known films were created in the fifties and sixties where he was known as the “Prince of Korean Cinema”.  He received posthumously the Gold Crown Cultural Medal, the highest award for an artist in South Korea.

Shin’s work for North Korea began in 1978 when his former wife Choi Eun-hee was kidnapped in Hong Kong and taken to North Korea.  When he traveled to Hong Kong to investigate the disappearance, he was kidnapped as well.  The kidnap plot was hatched by Kim Jong-il who, before he succeeded his father as the country’s leader, was in charge of its film industry. He was a great film buff, an avid watcher of Hollywood movies – in particular, the first Rambo movie, anything with Elizabeth Taylor and the James Bond films which may have fed his appetite for covert operations.

After his kidnapping, Shin attempted to escape twice which caused him to end up in prison in North Korea for over two years.  Once his indoctrination was thought to be complete, he was allowed to start making movies for North Korea.  The last and best known of his films during his time in North Korea is Pulgasari.  Having gotten in the good graces of Kim Jong-il for his work, Shin and his wife were allowed to go to Vienna for a film festival.  Once there, they escaped to the United States Embassy for asylum.

For those interested in learning more about the kidnapping story, This American Life had an episode with a section featuring the story of Shin Sang-ok.