Rather fascinating book on a subject I had no knowledge of. The mix of historical context and personal stories worked well and allowed for shift between big picture and small picture. ( )

When my wife told me that her parents had warned her, as a child, to stay away from the Korean community in Japan because teenage girls like her were being kidnapped by North Korean agents.....I must admit to incredulity. It sounded very much like an urban myth. Though I guess her parents were warning her around 1977 when these kidnappings were actually taking place...so there must have been some discussion about it in Japan at the time. And now this book gives some considerable detail about this incredible, inhumane project by North Korea to kidnap young people, brainwash them, and bring them (and their children) up as spies or tutors for North Korea. (Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that you are not being followed by North Korean agents). Young couples were snatched off beaches, individuals snatched off the streets ...families left for years with no knowledge about their whereabouts or even if they were alive. I really feel for the parents.
Interestingly enough, the abductees seemed to end up in slightly better physical circumstances than the local North Koreans...they had food and often houses. Though, like everyone, they were constantly watched and every word analysed and had minders allocated. When word did eventually leak out and the Japanese were taking steps to have the abductees returned they came up against something like the Stockholm syndrome...where the abductees sympathised with the captors. In their case it was more complex than sympathising because they had wives/husbands and children to think about. Though I noticed that one group of children were brought around to the idea of going to Japan by the realisation that with Japanese parents in North Korea they were effectively doomed. A class system has been instituted (in 1957) and if you are born into a particular caste...such as one of the original revolutionaries against the Japanese...you are in the top caste. The hostile class consists of Christians, prostitutes, landowners and wealthy businessmen. The three main classes are further subdivided into fifty-one sub-divisions. And life prospects are essentially determined by one's caste. If you are in the hostile class you and your children are essentially untouchables....forbidden from living in the major cities or attending the best schools, or serving in the military.
I found the book fascinating ..though a bit confusing as he traces the fate of a number of different abductees and it was a bit hard to keep track of them all. Oh, one thing he glosses over and that is that most of the abductees were abducted from South Korea. What a strange awful country is North Korea at the moment. And one can't see it changing in the near future. I give the book 3.5 stars..mainly because it was an interesting subject not because it's so well written. ( )

Another book to feed my obsession with North Korea. This is an account of North Korea's official abduction program. Yes, as part of official state policy, North Korea was kidnapping foreign nationals and forcing them to live in North Korea, where they worked as translators and helped train spies. The story that this book tells is fascinating and heartbreaking. I wasn't wild about the presentation, though; Boynton alternates between presenting the point of view of one abducted Japanese man, Kaoru, and a broader perspective on Asian history and Japanese-Korean relations. I found the transitions between the frequent perspective shifts to be jarring and since I was already familiar with a lot of the material in the history chapters, I was usually impatient to get back to Kaoru.

I enjoyed [b:A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator's Rise to Power|22537682|A Kim Jong-Il Production The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator's Rise to Power|Paul Fischer|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1403430382s/22537682.jpg|41989396] more than this one ("enjoyed" isn't really the right word, but you know what I mean). However, if you don't know a lot of the historical background, this book provides a much better overview and might be a better starting place. ( )

Another book to feed my obsession with North Korea. This is an account of North Korea's official abduction program. Yes, as part of official state policy, North Korea was kidnapping foreign nationals and forcing them to live in North Korea, where they worked as translators and helped train spies. The story that this book tells is fascinating and heartbreaking. I wasn't wild about the presentation, though; Boynton alternates between presenting the point of view of one abducted Japanese man, Kaoru, and a broader perspective on Asian history and Japanese-Korean relations. I found the transitions between the frequent perspective shifts to be jarring and since I was already familiar with a lot of the material in the history chapters, I was usually impatient to get back to Kaoru.

I enjoyed [b:A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator's Rise to Power|22537682|A Kim Jong-Il Production The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator's Rise to Power|Paul Fischer|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1403430382s/22537682.jpg|41989396] more than this one ("enjoyed" isn't really the right word, but you know what I mean). However, if you don't know a lot of the historical background, this book provides a much better overview and might be a better starting place. ( )

This amazing, horrifying subject caught my attention briefly during college- when the original stories broke worldwide- but I hadn't thought more about it until recently, when my interest in South Korean K-Pop expanded into learning more about the culture and history of this region.
There seems to be a common thread of desperation in each of the main figures here: The Party officials and the People of the North are desperate to keep their heads above treacherous waters of daily life there; the "invited guests"are desperate to survive the confusing minefield of their new situation; the families of the abducted are desperate for any news- good or bad- or their loved ones; the politicians of Japan and South Korea are desperate to save face (and their elected positions) while navigating the perilous geopolitical and diplomatic paths of the Cold War; the creators and manifesters of the Project itself- desperate to retain meaning and power on a stage that collapsed under them with the fall of their allies/enablers.
None of it ends well for _anyone_ involved, though it does end safely for a few.
"What is truth?" Truth has become a narrative that the majority (or the powerful) agree upon as what is best for their interests.