Confessions of a North Korean Agent

In the days after former North Korean agent Kim Hyun Hee was arrested for blowing up a South Korean airliner, Kim expected extreme torture and punishment in order to get her to confess.

But instead, it was psychological warfare that broke down her defenses.

As Kim recounted, the South Korean agents were "true professionals" who treated her with "the utmost respect."

"They knew that doing so would bring quicker results than any physical violence or direct questions. By simply being forced to live among them, I, a fellow Korean, was slowly but inevitably breaking down." (The Tears of My Soul, William Morrow and Company, 1993).

These included telling Kim jokes in Korean to gauge her reaction, since Kim had earlier lied about her nationality, claiming she was Japanese.

It also included showing her around Seoul, where Kim was said to be impressed by "everyone's uninhibited manners, their animated expressions, their colorful clothes."

Even the sale assistants at the cosmetic counters amazed Kim as their courtesy was alien to her. In the North, shop assistants tended to be "rude and brusque, since there’s no much to be sold anyway."

And of course, the amount of food in the South came as sheer astonishment to Kim, who was also saddened that she could not bring her family to the South, especially when she recalled that her mother had considered herself lucky to come across a spoiled watermelon.

"I was struck by the simple, easygoing atmosphere of Seoul. The North seemed such a sterile place by comparison. There were fewer people, hardly any cars, and strangers never spoke to one another in the streets. There was a basic lack of humor in day-to-day life. Seoul by comparison seemed so vibrant and full of energy."

"But what struck me most were the roadside peddlers, whom I spotted at every stoplight. In the North I had been told that roadside peddlers were the lowliest people in the South. But the merchandize they were selling was anything but lowly – expensive watches, high quality tools, elegant clothes and shoes. Never could this have been possible in North Korea, where the price of a single watch could feed a family of five for seven months. The peddlers here looked as though they were earning a fortune from their sales. How could they be called poor?"

"At nightfall we drove up Namsan Mountain (pictured) so that I could see the lights of the city spread out below me. The sight was so beautiful, and I knew that I had fallen in love."

"Agreeing to drive out into Seoul had been my last mistake, and also my liberation. My captors must have anticipated the effect that it would have on me. I couldn't shake the feeling that the first 26 years of my life had been something of a sham."

"I felt a surge of hatred for Kim Il-Sung as I realized in one brief moment that all my work, plans and training, indeed my entire life, had been founded upon lies."

Despite the lies and betrayal, Kim concurred that it was not easy to overcome a lifetime of conditioning. She found herself defending the North Korean regime every time the agents castigated the North.

"I wanted to point out that North Koreans were real flesh and blood people. It seemed terrible that there was so much ignorance on both sides, and a national tragedy that people of the same heritage were so divided. We had the same language, the same customs, and the same common history, and yet we were at each other’s throats."

The last paragraph reflects my exact sentiments.