What The North Korean Military Is Like, According To A Former Spy Sent To Assassinate The President
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In a recent interview with VICE Asia‘s YouTube channel, a North Korean defector turned South Korean citizen shared his story.
Pastor Kim Shin Jo explained that when he was raised in North Korea, he was taught to hate the United States for starting the war, which inspired him to join the military.
What I learned about the war when I was in North Korea was that the U.S. imperialists started the war. That’s what I learned as a child. This was my country. And to see it getting bombed, it started to rile me up. So I wanted to join the military. I really wanted to get back at them for this. So I gave it my best shot and I joined the special force when I was 24.
-Pastor Kim Shin Jo
When he was in the special forces, Kim Shin Jo shares that their drills were so intense that there were often casualties.
We used to have these mock combats where we would infiltrate these buildings. In the building, there were comrades who would pretend ot be the opponent and protect the building. And we had to infiltrate it. Sometimes, it would get so intense that we would actually start to stab and shoot each other.
-Pastor Kim Shin Jo
Kim Shin Jo himself accidentally killed someone he was practicing with when he was cornered in a “life or death situation” during one of the drills.
During one of these mock combats, I met an opponent while going upstairs. It was a life or death situaiton, so I stabbed him. Later, I heard that he was dead.
-Pastor Kim Shin Jo
And the shocking response from his instructor was that Kim Shin Jo handled the situation the right way.
And our instructor who was in charge of the whole operation said to me, ‘This is exactly what you should do when you go to South Korea.’
-Pastor Kim Shin Jo
Ultimately, when Kim Shin Jo received his mission, it was to assassinate the then President of South Korea.
And I was given the mission to asassinate the President of South Korea.
-Pastor Kim Shin Jo
Which even he felt was an entirely impossible task.
As soon as I heard [my mission] I wondered if this was even possible. And if I could even come back home alive.
-Pastor Kim Shin Jo
Still, he proceeded with the mission on January 19th, 1968, secretly crossing the border into South Korea.
And we infiltrated the border at night. There were fences, mines, and all sorts of blockades. We dismantled all of them. That’s how we crossed the border.
-Pastor Kim Shin Jo
They came prepared for their single mission, with each member of Kim Shin Jo’s team specializing in sharp-shooting.
We were all sharpshooters. We had two guns, 350 ammunitions, and 14 grenades.
-Pastor Kim Shin Jo
The travel conditions were miserable, and Kim Shin Jo felt like they “were going to freeze to death” before they would get a chance to accomplish their mission.
His team eventually ran into some lumberjacks that, despite their mission to “kill any witness [they] encounter in South Korea, unconditionally,” they voted to let go.
By letting the lumberjacks go, the lumberjacks went to tell the South Korean authorities about Kim Shin Jo’s team. Unsurprisingly, everyone in Kim Shin Jo’s unit was captured, and only Kim Shin Jo survived since he abandoned his pledge to kill himself rather than share any of the North Korean military secrets.
I knew this misison was set to fail from the start since the whole country was on alert. Even though I was going along with the plan, I was looking for a chance to make a run. As soon as something happened, I was going to make a run for it.
And I was right. Something really did happen…
[On the road leading to the President’s house] there were South Korean soldiers guarding the President. Since the military was guarding all the paths, we couldn’t really go in. But we tried anyways and the soldiers asked us, ‘What’s under the coat?’
We told them ‘nothing,’ but they forcefully opened our coats and there we had machine guns, pistols, ammo, grenades. So we opened fire at them. And it turned into a huge crossfire.
-Pastor Kim Shin Jo
Because of his will to live, Kim Shin Jo answered all of the soldier’s questions about North Korea in exchange for his freedom.
When you are on the verge of death you don’t think about a mission or even your parents and siblings. Everything happens in the moment. Whether to commit suicide or live. It can all be decided in one moment.
-Pastor Kim Shin Jo
Unfortunately, investigators told him that his family in North Korea were all executed for the price of Kim Sin Jo’s freedom.
I went through a rigorous investigation process. After all, it was a huge case. The investigators told me that all my family members were executed back home and I carry that burden and guilt with me until today.
-Pastor Kim Shin Jo
But Kim Shin Jo was given a chance to start a new life in South Korea, where he eventually married and had his own children.
And that was the first time in my life, when I heard the word ‘Freedom.’
After all the investigations, I officially became a South Korean citizen.
-Pastor Kim Shin Jo
You can watch the full interview here.
