This book wouldn’t exist without the faith and enthusiasm of Patrick Walsh and Carrie Plitt at Conville & Walsh, who took on a writer’s ambitious first book with unwavering insight, intelligence, and support. And I am grateful for the guidance of my editors, Colin Dickerman (Flatiron Books), Panio Gianopoulos, and Joel Rickett (Viking Penguin), who worked together tirelessly to turn hundreds and hundreds of pages of excited words into a book.
My deepest thanks to Alexandra McNicoll, Henna Silvennoinen, Jake Smith-Bosanquet, Alexander Cochran, and Emma Finn, and all at Conville & Walsh, for sharing the book with the world; to my researchers and translators J-Min Anh, Hiroko Yabuki, and Soyoung Park; to Jung-Hyoun Han for being my interpreter when I finally met Madame Choi in person; to Liz Keenan, Jasmine Faustino, Patricia Cave, and Marlena Bittner at Flatiron Books, Venetia Butterfield at Viking Penguin, Sophie Berlin at Flammarion, and Nick Marston at Curtis Brown for their relentless enthusiasm, encouragement, and support. To Jurgen, Nadia, Markus, and Michael Fischer, thank you for always pushing me to do the best I can—and for celebrating every small success as if it were your own, the way only family can do.
I am indebted to the many writers and researchers, all smarter and better read than I am, who generously shared their knowledge and resources with me. Chief among them are Charles Armstrong, Robert Boynton, Mike Breen, John Cha, Steven Chung, Heinz Fenkl, Mike Morris, Darcy Paquet, Johannes Schonherr, and Suk Young-Kim. Yoichi Shimada and Tsutomu Nishioka at the National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea confirmed details and facts related to the DPRK’s use of kidnapping.
In Korea I was extremely fortunate to have the help and guidance of Sue and Jackie Yang, who negotiated and interpreted for me and generally made me look and feel competent and at home in a foreign land. Miyoun Ko selflessly took a full day to show me around Seoul and discuss modern Korea with me. In Vienna I had the generous help of John Edmaier, Christine Gull, Jean-Paul Herzog, Nicole Huber, Thomas Legner, and Rico de Schepper. When learning about 1970s Hong Kong I was lucky to be able to rely on Donald Morrison, James Smith, Douglas Schwab, and Nicholas Wu. Christopher Green of the DailyNK spoke to me on a range of subjects linked to North Korea and the rise of Kim Jong-Il as well as the highly politicized context in South Korea related to the North. He and the DailyNK, a courageous online resource in the releasing and disseminating of information about the Kim regime, were also instrumental in introducing me to North Korean defectors who had worked in the film industry or had some knowledge of the events and people involved in this book. Many of these defectors—the ordinary people, those who did not have a public profile or position of influence in Pyongyang, and who as such cannot write books, catch headlines, or warrant the expense of public protection—are reluctant to be named, but I am forever in their debt for their time, openness, and courage. Helen Loveridge gave me vital information on the 1984 London Film Festival. Brian Bankston, Wes Gehring, and Michele Jaffa shed light on various points, major and minor, of Shin and Choi’s personal accounts. For her strength and honesty, I thank Angie Everhart.
My assistant Annie Ross-Edwards figured out what the weather was in Pyongyang in February 1978, tracked down North Korean freighters, and kept my life in order while I locked myself in a room and wrote. Marie-Jeanne Berger, Walter Donohue, Paul French, Andrew Lang, Ruth Little, Wayne and Lindsey Pelechytik, Jodie Taylor, and Joseph Wobij read various drafts of the book, and I am blessed for their unwavering enthusiasm and positivity. Gary Forrester read the first several drafts of the book and encouraged me every step of the way. For always encouraging and believing in me over the years, I thank Mary Kerr, Michael and Jane Lothian, Clare Kerr and Nick Hurd, and the Kerrs of Ferniehirst, as they will always be to me: Marie-Claire, Ralph, Johnnie, Jamie, Frank, Amabel, Hugh, and Minna. Marie Madeleine Veillard, my favorite primary school teacher, told me when I was still a very small child that she knew I would write a book one day, so to her—voilà!
I am, of course, indebted to the indomitable Madame Choi Eun-Hee for her willingness to have her life scrutinized by a stranger from halfway across the world, and for her help, her endurance, and her passion. She was always generous with time and with information, and courageous with putting her life on display, yet again, to a world that has not always treated her openness kindly.
And last but very definitely not least, from every bit of me, my thanks to Kelty and Owen Pelechytik. This whole thing started huddled in a pub in winter with you two, was written with you, and wouldn’t have happened without you. I love you both.