I Was a North Korean Assassin | Bad Blood
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- Опубліковано 7 сер 2022
- On January 17th 1968, 31 North Korean special force members crossed into South Korea to kill the President. Kim Shin Jo is one of two survivors who lived to share their story.
CORRECTION: @11:22 - The text description "All of Kim's comrades committed suicide except him" is not an accurate depiction of the context. It should read "Most of Kim's comrades committed suicide or were killed". We regret the error.
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I didn't expect this video to take such a massive turn, this is an amazing story showing how rehabilitation instead of punishment can substentially impact someone's life. At the end of the day, they were all Korean people trying to survive, regarless of their respective governments.
Yeah, but since there is a monetary incentive for prisoners, they're not looking for or caring about rehabilitation, and actually are okay for re-offenders.
Even though there is a substantial amount of evidence, literal proof in other countries who are literally having to shut some prisons down because there isn't enough prisoners, because they're humane, and actually attempt rehabilitation.
America literally has 1/4th of the ENTIRE prison population, OF THE WORLD.
Lol "respective government"
the us destroyed some 80% of the country that gave popular support to a ruthless regime. this is nothing new, we saw this all over asean mideast and south america. a country should be allowed to decide their own fate.
@@pepelepew1227 shouldn't started the war in the first place not the US fault cope as much as you want
@@MORE_BEANS_PLZ i didnt know a war half the world away is any of america's problem. fortunately i live on the southern hemisphere so as long as nk bomb sideways, i'd say long live kim jong un 😅
I literally cried when the wife came into the picture. Her heart is so pure and so giving. "Even when I'm not good enough, she tried to understand me." That's nothing but love right there.
That doesn't exist in Western countries anymore lol
For anyone who still isn't too well versed with Korean history, especially in the 20th century, Kim Shin Jo was a member of a North Korean black ops group called Unit 124. They actually got very close to the Blue House during their mission (our equivalent of the White House) before they were stopped by police, and then of course, it all went sideways for them.
As a repercussion of the incident, South Korea created their own black ops group in response on personal orders of president Park Chung Hee, called Unit 684, overseen by the Air Force. Most were recruited from the streets and not trained military personnel, but were promised better lives and other incentives if they killed premier Kim Il Sung.
This group fared no better as their mission was ultimately scrapped as they neared the end of their training. For reasons that are still unknown to this day, the members of the group staged a mutiny and killed most of the training personnel on an island called Silmido and made their way to the mainland in hopes of making their grievances known to President Park. Unfortunately, they were stopped along the way, and most were killed in a gun battle. The remaining survivors were tried and executed by a military court.
Thats went to 0 to 100 really quick
Wait police do you mean like just some everyday uniform cops or like a SWAT team ?
@@rdm3373 Probably the Korean version of the American secret service, special police that protect the president.
Sounds sketchy
@@rdm3373 The members of Unit 124 actually had South Korean army uniforms with them when they crossed the border. After they let the lumberjacks go, they changed into their disguises and proceeded to the Blue House under the guise of an independent unit coming back from an anti-infiltration exercise.
From what I've read, it was a regional police chief in the area at that time who got suspicious and asked them for identification. And of course, realizing their cover was blown, they went out guns blazing.
"It's all in the past but you guys were dead meat"...that's some brutal honesty.
Words cant describe what I feel.. can't imagine what poor Kim feels.. see the way the lumberjack was so respectful bowing multiple times pulling out his chair was so wholesome.. great work vice keep it up 💯🇮🇪🍀
Bro he literally said that he personally wanted his comrades to kill them. He's a coward, a disturbed person and deserves no respect
@@noodlery7034 he's just honest, and tbh I don't think his thought process is wrong from back then, not only do you increase your chance of getting cought by letting them live, but also you don't obey the order, what also later on led to NK executing his family
@@noodlery7034 it is very simple for to label him a coward, but you have no idea the ideological indoctrination that he went through at that stage of his life...he is being honest about his story and thoughts at that time
@@noodlery7034 In his mind he probably thought that if they had never let the lumberjacks go, their mission may not have ended up as a failure, he may never have been caught and his whole family back in North Korea may never have been executed
Oh my goodness. The way the lumberjack told his account of almost being killed by him in such a light hearted way was very eye opening to watch. Crazy to know some people in the world live their whole lives not knowing anything outside of what their own gov tells them, really want to know more on what led up to him becoming "unbrainwashed" and how they ended up meeting each other again.
Also try to think back 40 years to something that happened to you and how many feelings will really still remain. I mean that's double the amount of time I have even been alive, I certainly can't comprehend it
This was beautiful, didn't expect a story like it. His wife's love and faith really helped him.
Crazy how vice forgot to mention that the one north kkrean who managed to escape is still alive and is a general and politician in north korea. His name "Pak jae gyong"
It's VICE.. what do you expect.
??
damn
He already mentioned that one of his comrade ran away. Moreover, many other more significant details of the raid aren't mentioned. Because this story isn't focused on the mission details but rather particularly about his perspective and conversion.
Absolutely fucking based he returned
What an amazing woman he found, she gave him, understanding, a family but most important, love. Great story.
....Helpline👆
Moral of the story: choose life even when it's hard. There's so much more out there.
Agreed. It's often the curiosity of what tomorrow may bring that compels me to keep going even through the darkest of days and nights.....it may be happiness or it may be more sorrow, but you'll never know either if you don't choose to live long enough to find out.
This is an incredible story. Thank you for sharing this with us Vice. I think it really highlights that people can really change if they want to and that the intense long punishments we dole out for crimes nowadays is maybe a little too much. This man was a product of his environment but was able to change for the better thanks to the government of a nation he was and enemy of and the kindness of a stranger
Vice has good footage of unprecedented access and hands down the best documentary channel to exist!
i am glad they arent putting out why black disabled trans women have less access to walmart vegetables stories anymore
I agree
Meh.. Vice used to be better in 2018
@Not Convinced sounds like they pointed out some flaws in your character that you’d rather water down to being anti-male propaganda than do something proactive about it 🧐
You can see all the alt right losers still coping in every comment section of vice. This channel makes banger content. Its crazy how without fault they will click on every new video to cry in the comments
wow... what an amazing life story! and to hear that the government not only gave him his freedom but got him a job at an explosives factory is the icing on the cake that is this story
seems like they are trying to catch him do espionage
Holy smokes, this a good one Vice!! Not enough is known in the states about the Korean War!
Thank you vice this was so touching
I'm Korean and I actually saw this guy speak when I was in the army. What vice doesn't cover is the array of changes that was made due to the invasion that he took part in. Since this event, Korea started registering all citizens with unique ids (kinda like Social security numbers in the US), having regular reserve training (note that most men in Korea have to go to the army, and even after discharge they have to, for the first 5ish years, attend annual training sessions), among many things. So it's understandable folks his age hated him, because he was the direct cause of their life being more difficult (if I remember correctly their mandatory military service term got longer too due to this). Anyways, as a Korean guy who served in the army it's hard to be sympathetic to him saying that hes found forgiveness and peace.
Very interesting. was there mamdatory military service before this happened?
i think the South Korean government has every right to hang this guy but i think he serves a political purpose. Stating that the South Korea can forgive and hence lure more those who wanna defect and get info on the north.
@@gecko7167 mandatory since the Korean war
It wasn’t his idea to go assassinate the president lol he was just following orders. If it wasn’t him it would have been someone else
He's old, if he didn't have peace and forgiveness, his body wouldn't last long. You should try to find it too. A lot of countries have this mandatory sort of service. If you're going to resent someone, resent your ancestors for being weak and conquered by outside forces.
mann vice has done it again and never seems to fail.. keep up the great work @vice
One of the finest episodes from Vice I have ever seen 😢💕✌️
Incredible story of how someone could change their life around and overcome so much hardship.
What an incredible story.. it's crazy to think of what people have went through.
its amazing seeing two "enemies" talking like it's in the past ! humanity is better together!
Wow! That is one the most inspiring Vice videos I've seen. Faith, freedom and family can trully heal this fractured world.
how beautiful. especially the ending. thank you for telling this story.
What a truly rare and incredible interview. Thank you VICE for bringing us Kim's beautiful and authentic story!
Much respect to South Korea from Canada. Everything I hear and see about SK is great. Wish to visit one day. Your vehicles and electronics are quite popular here!
This is so inspiring and such a great documentary as usual!
....Helpline👆
Man what an insane life story 😳
Please, tell me, are you getting paid to leave comment on Vice vids?
@@houseplant1016 Where do i sign up to get paid to comment ?
Nobody get paid to do that. They either do that 1. Actually like the video or dislike depending the comment.
2.Trying get subscriber to their own channel by writing many comments on videos
@@houseplant1016 feels like a desperate attempt to promote her channel / insta
Grace from the loggers, grace from the S. Korean gov't. Grace from his wife. Grace from the church. Years of grace. Takes a lot of it to undo the devastating effects of an evil regime, guilt, and trauma.
Amen.
You mean the loggers who snitched on him? JK
An absolutely brilliant look into the microcosm of humanity after major life events. Complemented with a very interesting history, that makes this video a must-watch. Great coverage.
Great work !
The ad for this video for me was a survey about home appliance brands; very relevant.
he must have felt so bad for his family in north korea, idk if i could go through that
Just what I needed this morning
Honestly such a wholesome story of him going from being brainwashed into taking someone's life and eventually saving his own because of those letters. Bless that person honestly. Keep up the good work Vice!
Wow, this is probably the best one from vice
Eh it’s up there
What a great story,amazing! To end up where he did is almost unbelievable?
A great vice vid! Wow. Awesome.
Wow! Amazing story.
Best 20 minutes you can spare out of your day. More great work by Vice.
....Helpline👆
Thank you vice for sharing this story.
👏
....Helpline👆
Yeah just what I needed with my morning ☕️
Same lol as soon as I got the Noti I clicked 😂
Read my mind lol
😂😂
☕☕☕☕☕☕☕☕☕
So my instructor said to me, “this is exactly what you should do when you go to South Korea.“
Kill the wrong people?
This is an amazing story. Don't know what else to say.
Anyone else under the opinion that after homeslice killed a "friendly" during a training mission that instead of asking him to continue on and be the best he could be; they instead gave him what was an obvious suicide mission that would be obvious to anyone who has more than two functioning brain cells or hasn't been completely brain washed into thinking something like that would be some sort of in and out easy task... We are talking 1960's here people, the color tv was just barely invented by then. No radio, no inside sources, no REAL plan... Nothing... The guy was sent to die in the name of ridding the force of bad seeds.
Good point.
He knew;; he just couldn’t say no. But he did have a higher chance of surviving by going to SK and deserting
@@adia990 Suuuure he did… A regular Einstein he is seeing as he killed his fellow compatriot during a training exercise.
Idk what u mean by no real plan war has existed longer than the colour tv my guy
@@adia990 Cuz that's totally what he was thinking... He's lucky it turned out how it did; otherwise he woulda been 6ft under a long, long, lonnnnng time ago!
His wife literally saved his life!
Vice is back on the track
I wish these videos had a voiceover instead of subtitles, it'd be more accessible for the visually impaired
“I am a human after all” wow. Amazing doc vice
Powerful piece..Seems like he's turned his life completely around..👏
This guy has been on quite a few doc’s now.
Beautiful story
This need to be a movie
What this man has gone trough.. what a story this is.
I don’t blame him for any thing he did, he was learned to keep loyal to the regime no matter what, but at a certain point of life or death he chose the right thing.
till the day the regime falls, I feel for every north Korean in there who suffers, doesn’t have any food, can’t express his thoughts, and worse.
and I really really believe that one day, the regime and its dynasty will fall, and all north Koreans will be free.
@@dilan4111 I’m praying. I’ve been seeing all this videos etc about Kim fearing the fall of his regime, that it’s slowly collapsing etc…
Nobody is free. 😂 the north Koreans aren't unhappy with their government, obviously, or it wouldn't have lasted this long. You pity them and they hate you. Lol.
The last few sentences in the video are the most important take away
He has an air around him… don’t mess with me
Ah... Good ol' vice is back.
Yes, Freedom is most important!
That exact moment when the man inside the house in the mountains said: "Was it hard to come here?"
I feel related...💧
Didn't expect to see the lumberjack
This was a pretty good episode.
So he was one of the few who was willing to kill the lumberjacks but was the only one to not kill himself bc he wanted to live? He knew his whole family was going to be executed yet he still did what he did? Now we r supposed to feel bad for him just bc he's old? Dude didn't care about anyone but himself 🤦🏾
Didn’t vice already publish this?
Maybe they did but it’s my first time watching it so no complaints 😀
Imagine your fate being decided by just the raising of hand.
Glad he managed to make a life down south
Wow. His life is an amazing story
HE LOOKS DAM GOOD FOR 80+
Now this is the sht we wanna see vice
Great story. This man has nothing to regret, what he did was for survival of the most important person (himself) things happen for a reason and not everyone is meant to live to an old age.
I really like this man and his wife. Soldiers from regular countries don't hate their enemies of war. They're merely doing a task for a higher purpose. In some countries (all to some degree), the purpose given to soldiers isn't completely true. Many soldiers are given tasks their leaders KNOW will be suicidal but feel there's a bigger goal (sacrifice 100 men to distract attention from 1000, etc). Americans, for the most part, are quite fond of Japanese and even Germans today. The distain for others comes from propaganda being spread to citizens. Fortunately, Americans know the average North Korean citizen just wants to live a long and prosperous life with family and friends. Because of this, I haven't the slightest dislike of North Korean or Russian citizens. I hope war never crosses paths with any of us but, should that day come, each of us will do whatever is necessary to survive and, hopefully, return to loving people.
Good documentary
....Helpline👆
Lol, said “it’s all in the past but yea you lumberjacks were dead meat”. Ummm ok 💀😭😭😕
To think, his parents probably never figured out what happened to their 24 year old boy that never came back from his mission
His entire family up North for sure were either executed or sent to labor camps
Why would he consider him a saviour when he wanted to kill
Back to basics Vice. Nice to see you posting quality docs again. Cheers.
They never stopped, people been saying this in the comments since 2017.
I might live on the horned tip of Africa which is a world apart from the lives led in Korea but damn, this hit me right in the feels. Amazing story.
Very good Video with private Insights and reflection
That is what i am Here for!
This felt so calming. Thank you.
What a touching story. His wife is a diamond!
....Helpline👆
What happened to the guy who managed to escape ?
someone else mentioned "Pak jae gyong"
When will humanity say enough and just get along... 💝
Taji / Dark Side of the Ring /(the eventual) Tales From the Territories / & stuff like this is what is keeping VICE afloat.
16:04 did she say appa and amma? 😯
In Tamil language we say the same for dad and mom.
ok we all make fun of vice lately, however this is pure gold 10/10
That’s how we let them know when they’re uploading sht.
Wow! Assassin turned preacher!! 😯
Most people who did mistakes or unspeakable things turn to God and/or the church later in life. Typical. Not surprising an assassin would do this.
why would they tell the lumberjacks they're north koreans lmao
Amazing!
It's possible to have subtitles in French please
This is good!
He is still hated amongst south korean citizens, due to the fact that his assassination attempt led to south korean reserve force training(yes! conscripts have to train after the service time)
Think of it this way, it strengthened national security.
Astonishing
They had so much more to say.
"I am a human after all"
How come I didn't find this escape video and second how does someone just confess after being a assisin
This is why i pay for my internet bills
I loved my time over there. The best food and really kind people.
Way to many ads
Haven't i seen this?
Wow- such a crazy story! But this is life.
"Time is like medicine"
already posted on vice asia but cool
Crazy that they let the lumberjacks go because they didn't want to kill them, but when they got caught, all of them happily killed themselfs...
If they are captured, maybe 🤔 they were scared of being tortured
@@junc2191 yeah, true
With all that propaganda at their home I think this actually makes sense