Sep 18, 2026 · 46 min · 13 segments
In January 1987, businessman Yoon Tae-sik appeared on live national television claiming he had narrowly escaped being abducted to Pyongyang by his wife, who had been hiding that she was a North Korean…
The question for today's episode is: Why was the South Korean government so willing to erase Gim Ok-bun and propose this clearly fake story? Well, we have to ignore the narrative that was invented by the intelligence agency.
State newspapers in 1987 described this Suzy Kim as an educated, seductive operative fluent in multiple languages who frequented high-end foreigner salons.
She was sexy, she spoke multiple languages, and she was always at the high-end bars.
She was the eldest daughter in a family of seven during the decades following the Korean War.
The South Korean economic miracle was largely being powered at this time by the grueling underpaid labor of young women who migrated from the agricultural provinces, like the one Ok-bun was born in, into the urban factories, clinics, and other service sectors.
These women and girls were sending every spare won back to their home to feed younger siblings and pay for their brothers' schooling, which they likely would not have the luxury to get.
When the South Korean construction boom expanded into West Asia in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Ok-bun joined thousands of women from South Korea who deployed to Saudi Arabia to work in just horrific conditions.
By the mid 1980s, Ok-bun had moved to British Hong Kong, where she was working long hours.
She found work in the local hospitality and nightlife sector, catering to Korean expatriates and international business travelers.
There, she managed to secure legal residency and rent an apartment on Knutsford Terrace.
It was there that she started to build some financial independence for herself in her 30s.
Yun Tae-shik was 28, six years younger than Ok-bun, and he had lived a life defined by failure.
In Seoul, Tae-shik had drifted between low-level business schemes, operating a failing video production company, and he had accumulated insurmountable personal debts from lenders he couldn't possibly repay.
He was facing financial ruin in South Korea, so Tae-shik fled to British Hong Kong on a temporary visa.
When Tae-shik met Ok-bun in Hong Kong's Korea diaspora community, he saw what an insecure predator always looks for: stability and resources.
The question for today's episode is: Why was the South Korean government so willing to erase Gim Ok-bun and propose this clearly fake story? Well, we have to ignore the narrative that was invented by the intelligence agency.
State newspapers in 1987 described this Suzy Kim as an educated, seductive operative fluent in multiple languages who frequented high-end foreigner salons.
She was sexy, she spoke multiple languages, and she was always at the high-end bars.
She was the eldest daughter in a family of seven during the decades following the Korean War.
The South Korean economic miracle was largely being powered at this time by the grueling underpaid labor of young women who migrated from the agricultural provinces, like the one Ok-bun was born in, into the urban factories, clinics, and other service sectors.
These women and girls were sending every spare won back to their home to feed younger siblings and pay for their brothers' schooling, which they likely would not have the luxury to get.
When the South Korean construction boom expanded into West Asia in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Ok-bun joined thousands of women from South Korea who deployed to Saudi Arabia to work in just horrific conditions.
By the mid 1980s, Ok-bun had moved to British Hong Kong, where she was working long hours.
She found work in the local hospitality and nightlife sector, catering to Korean expatriates and international business travelers.
There, she managed to secure legal residency and rent an apartment on Knutsford Terrace.
It was there that she started to build some financial independence for herself in her 30s.
Yun Tae-shik was 28, six years younger than Ok-bun, and he had lived a life defined by failure.
In Seoul, Tae-shik had drifted between low-level business schemes, operating a failing video production company, and he had accumulated insurmountable personal debts from lenders he couldn't possibly repay.
He was facing financial ruin in South Korea, so Tae-shik fled to British Hong Kong on a temporary visa.
When Tae-shik met Ok-bun in Hong Kong's Korea diaspora community, he saw what an insecure predator always looks for: stability and resources.
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