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JERROLD POST: <i>When he was a child</i>

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<i>he was given a uniform</i>
<i>and called "Comrade General."</i>

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<i>At 28, his father died,</i>

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<i>and he became the youngest</i>
<i>head of state in the world.</i>

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(INTENSE MUSIC PLAYS)

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<i>At 30, he had his uncle killed.</i>

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BRIAN TODD: <i>The official North Korean</i>
<i>news agency report on this</i>

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<i>called his uncle, in quote,</i>
<i>"despicable human scum"</i>

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<i>and "worse than a dog."</i>

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(APPLAUSE)

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POST: <i>And he befriended Dennis Rodman.</i>

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DENNIS RODMAN: <i>I've seen</i>
<i>a lot of weird things in my life,</i>

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<i>I've seen a lot of stuff</i>
<i>but that right there blew me away.</i>

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I just couldn't believe how much power
this... this young kid got.

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All I want to say is this to my...
my friend.

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(APPLAUSE)

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<i>Happy birthday to you</i>

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<i>Happy birthday to you</i>

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<i>Happy birthday to you</i>

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POST: <i>At 34, his half-brother</i>
<i>was murdered.</i>

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<i>Kim Jong-Nam died</i>
<i>under mysterious circumstances</i>

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<i>while waiting for a flight</i>
<i>at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.</i>

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POST: <i>Then he developed nuclear weapons</i>
<i>that could hit America.</i>

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-(BEEPS)
-(ROCKET LAUNCHES)

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Rocket man is on a suicide mission
for himself.

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(INTENSE MUSIC PLAYS)

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NARRATOR: <i>Now, the world wants to know</i>
<i>what he's thinking...</i>

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<i>and what he might do next.</i>

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<i>But to get inside his mind,</i>
<i>you have to meet his family.</i>

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POST: <i>It's simply impossible</i>
<i>to understand Kim Jong-Un</i>

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<i>and predict his actions</i>

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<i>without putting that in the context</i>

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<i>of his father... and grandfather.</i>

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NARRATOR: <i>Only three men...</i>

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<i>one family...</i>

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<i>have ruled this country...</i>

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<i>and taken on the world.</i>

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DONALD TRUMP: <i>North Korea should have</i>
<i>been handled twenty-five years ago,</i>

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<i>twenty years ago, fifteen years ago,</i>
<i>ten years ago and five years ago.</i>

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But I'll fix the mess.

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NARRATOR: <i>Now, as it all comes to a head,</i>

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<i>this is the story of the Kim's...</i>
<i>a family of dictators.</i>

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WILLIAM PERRY: <i>They've been smart,</i>
<i>and they've been ruthless,</i>

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<i>and they've been single-minded</i>
<i>on their overarching goal...</i>

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<i>Which is to preserve the Kim dynasty--</i>
<i>To keep the regime in power.</i>

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(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)

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(ROARING APPLAUSE)

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<i>I have but one heart</i>

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<i>This heart I bring you</i>

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<i>I have but one heart</i>

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<i>To share with you</i>

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POST: <i>Leadership has to do</i>
<i>with a sense of destiny.</i>

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<i>Why do the followers choose this leader</i>
<i>rather than that leader?</i>

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<i>It's because that leader</i>
<i>has been able to tune into...</i>

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<i>to respond to the need for rescuing</i>
<i>by the followers.</i>

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<i>And to shape himself to fit that mode,</i>
<i>not consciously,</i>

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<i>but there is that chemistry between leader</i>
<i>and follower that can be so powerful.</i>

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<i>I never felt this way</i>

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<i>And nobody else before you</i>

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<i>Ever has heard me say</i>

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POST: <i>What is necessary is to ensure</i>

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<i>the total loyalty of the people...</i>

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<i>and anyone connected with dissidents,</i>
<i>opposition, rebellion...</i>

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<i>must be killed</i>
<i>to ensure the purity of the people.</i>

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(CROWD APPLAUDING, CHEERING)

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NARRATOR: <i>Jerrold Post is a psychiatrist</i>

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<i>whose job it was to get inside the minds</i>
<i>of the world's most dangerous dictators.</i>

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For 21 years, I was, um, leading

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a new kind of intelligence, really.

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Assessing world leaders

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for the President, Secretary of State,
Secretary of Defense.

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<i>Kim Il-Sung</i>
<i>was not just a charismatic leader...</i>

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<i>he was a leader of a wounded people...</i>

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<i>wishing to be led in a heroic fashion.</i>

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MICHAEL BREEN: <i>Kim Il-Sung had credentials</i>
<i>as a guerrilla fighter,</i>

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<i>and he was</i>
<i>a sort of rough and ready fellow.</i>

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<i>You know, he'd been in prison,</i>

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<i>he'd been living a scruffy life</i>
<i>as a guerrilla for years.</i>

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<i>He suffered a lot</i>
<i>for the sake of his country.</i>

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(TENSE MUSIC PLAYS)

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NARRATOR: <i>To understand</i>
<i>the strange psychology of North Korea...</i>

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<i>you have to go back</i>
<i>to where it all began...</i>

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<i>in the frozen forests of eastern Asia.</i>

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<i>Here, a young Kim Il-Sung fought running</i>
<i>battles with the Japanese Army...</i>

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<i>who'd brutally occupied Korea.</i>

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(INTENSE MUSIC PLAYS)

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<i>The Koreans had been utterly humiliated</i>
<i>and dehumanized under Japanese rule.</i>

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<i>Then in 1945, everything changed...</i>

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<i>when America</i>
<i>dropped nuclear bombs on Japan.</i>

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(LOUD EXPLOSION)

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<i>And so the Second World War ended,</i>
<i>and the Japanese Empire collapsed.</i>

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<i>The Soviet Union and America</i>
<i>divided Korea between them...</i>

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<i>and cut the country in half.</i>

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DEAN RUSK: <i>We looked at the map</i>
<i>and thought that it would be a good idea</i>

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<i>if Seoul, the capital of Korea,</i>
<i>were in our zone of occupation...</i>

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<i>and there was no clearly</i>
<i>distinguishing geographic feature...</i>

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<i>but there was the 38th Parallel...</i>

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<i>and so we came back and suggested that...</i>

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<i>and the rest of us accepted</i>
<i>the 38th Parallel, well, with alacrity.</i>

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NARRATOR: <i>It was Stalin</i>
<i>who chose the young guerrilla fighter,</i>

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<i>Kim Il-Sung, to lead the Communist North.</i>

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POST: <i>When Kim Il-Sung came into power...</i>

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<i>in effect, he was the puppet</i>
<i>of the Soviet Union.</i>

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(PEOPLE CHEERING)

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NARRATOR: <i>At first, the Korean people</i>

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<i>weren't sure</i>
<i>he was fit to be their leader.</i>

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KANG IN DEOK: (IN KOREAN)
<i>As a child I saw Kim Il-Sung.</i>

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<i>A young man came to the stage.</i>

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Everyone was caught by surprise.

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(AUDIENCE CHEERING)

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<i>I could hear the older people saying,</i>

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<i>"Isn't he a fake? He's too young."</i>

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(CROWD CHEERING LOUDLY)

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POST: (IN ENGLISH) <i>The Japanese invasion</i>

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<i>had stripped the Korean people</i>
<i>of their dignity</i>

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<i>and they were hungering for someone</i>
<i>who could lead them out of this.</i>

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<i>And Kim Il-Sung, with his eloquent speech,</i>

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<i>his ideas for independence,</i>

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<i>gave the people enthusiasm.</i>

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(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS)

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POST: <i>For Kim...</i>

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<i>he was supposed to be the ruler</i>
<i>of the entire Korean Peninsula...</i>

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<i>and this arbitrary 38th Parallel</i>

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<i>was like a major wound.</i>

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<i>It was almost like</i>
<i>a part of his own body had been cut off.</i>

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NARRATOR: <i>He saw the Americans</i>
<i>as like an evil empire...</i>

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<i>intruding on Korean land.</i>

128
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<i>Kim's first big move as leader</i>
<i>was audacious.</i>

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<i>With Stalin's help, he amassed</i>
<i>huge numbers of tanks and artillery...</i>

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<i>and then, in 1950, he invaded South Korea.</i>

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(INTENSE MUSIC PLAYS)

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(INTENSE MUSIC CONTINUES)

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<i>Kim always dreamt of ruling</i>
<i>all of Korea...</i>

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<i>and now he was trying</i>
<i>to achieve that ambition.</i>

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(INTENSE MUSIC CONTINUES)

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(EXPLOSIVES BLAST)

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CHARLES BUSSEY: <i>The North Koreans</i>
<i>were extremely well-trained.</i>

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<i>They were extremely well-organized,</i>
<i>and they were tremendously motivated.</i>

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<i>They were there to make the fatherland</i>
<i>look better and they did.</i>

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NARRATOR: <i>But he had badly underestimated</i>
<i>the military might of the Americans...</i>

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<i>and their willingness to use it.</i>

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The free nations have learned
a fateful lesson from the 1930s.

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That lesson is that aggression
must be met firmly.

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NARRATOR: <i>The United States</i>
<i>hit back mercilessly.</i>

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JOHN DANCY: <i>During the Korean War,</i>
<i>200,000 people lived in Pyongyang,</i>

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<i>the North Korean capital.</i>

147
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<i>US bombers dropped</i>
<i>200,000 bombs on the city.</i>

148
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<i>One for every person there.</i>

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(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS)

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TIBOR MERAY: <i>Every city</i>
<i>was a collection of chimneys.</i>

151
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<i>I don't why houses collapsed</i>
<i>and chimneys did not...</i>

152
00:13:04,394 --> 00:13:09,499
<i>but I saw thousands of chimneys</i>
<i>and that... that was all.</i>

153
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NARRATOR: <i>Kim's dream of reuniting Korea</i>
<i>was in tatters.</i>

154
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<i>In a war that lasted three years,</i>
<i>his country was flattened.</i>

155
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<i>More than a million North Koreans</i>
<i>were dead...</i>

156
00:13:30,954 --> 00:13:32,522
<i>and he'd gained nothing.</i>

157
00:13:39,829 --> 00:13:42,832
<i>In 1953, Stalin...</i>

158
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<i>the man who'd put him in the job, died.</i>

159
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<i>So having lost the Korean War,</i>
<i>and his benefactor...</i>

160
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<i>Kim felt vulnerable.</i>

161
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<i>So his next move was to start a program</i>
<i>of controlling his people...</i>

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<i>the like of which</i>
<i>the world had never seen.</i>

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POST: <i>One of the best ways</i>
<i>of dealing with criticism...</i>

164
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<i>is to get rid of the critics.</i>

165
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<i>And there were two ways</i>
<i>of getting rid of the critics.</i>

166
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<i>One was to kill them,</i>
<i>and one was to put them into the gulag.</i>

167
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<i>The degree of ruthlessness of Kim Il-Sung</i>
<i>was quite extraordinary.</i>

168
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<i>He developed a kind of caste system</i>
<i>called "songbun"...</i>

169
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<i>which had three basic divisions...</i>

170
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<i>Those who were loyal,</i>
<i>those who were wavering...</i>

171
00:14:43,827 --> 00:14:45,862
<i>and those who were hostile...</i>

172
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<i>and anyone identified as hostile,</i>

173
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<i>including even having an uncle...</i>

174
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<i>or a grandfather who was disloyal</i>

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<i>would lead to all of the extended family</i>
<i>being sent to the gulag.</i>

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KANG CHOL HWAN: (IN KOREAN)
<i>Three generations of my family</i>

177
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<i>were dragged to the prison camp,</i>

178
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<i>which included my father,</i>

179
00:15:14,257 --> 00:15:19,162
<i>uncle, sister and me...</i>

180
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<i>we went when I was 9,</i>

181
00:15:23,533 --> 00:15:27,771
<i>and we were there 10 years.</i>

182
00:15:30,106 --> 00:15:33,476
I still don't know
what my grandfather did wrong.

183
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<i>During the first three months...</i>

184
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<i>many died of starvation or malnutrition.</i>

185
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<i>If you buried the bodies,</i>
<i>they gave you a bowl of corn noodle soup.</i>

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(IN ENGLISH) Hundreds of thousands
were subjected to this.

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<i>In effect, he went through</i>
<i>a purification of Korean society.</i>

188
00:16:14,517 --> 00:16:18,622
(APPLAUSE)

189
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NARRATOR: <i>And so by the start</i>
<i>of the 1960s...</i>

190
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<i>Kim had a grip on the North Korean people.</i>

191
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<i>And if you looked</i>
<i>at the Korean Peninsula as a whole...</i>

192
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<i>it was as if a giant psychology</i>
<i>experiment was unfolding.</i>

193
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<i>In the North, Communism.</i>

194
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<i>A planned economy,</i>
<i>Soviet-style dictatorship.</i>

195
00:16:57,394 --> 00:17:02,098
(MID-TEMPO MUSIC PLAYS)

196
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<i>In the South, Capitalism.</i>

197
00:17:05,135 --> 00:17:09,339
<i>Free markets... and American influence.</i>

198
00:17:11,708 --> 00:17:13,109
<i>In the first few years,</i>

199
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<i>the North's organization and planning</i>
<i>looked like it was working.</i>

200
00:17:17,681 --> 00:17:20,517
<i>Some even defected</i>
<i>from the South to the North.</i>

201
00:17:22,452 --> 00:17:24,454
<i>But as the South started to prosper...</i>

202
00:17:26,323 --> 00:17:29,960
<i>it would become painfully obvious</i>
<i>which system was making people richer.</i>

203
00:17:30,026 --> 00:17:35,799
(INTENSE MUSIC CONTINUES)

204
00:17:35,865 --> 00:17:38,235
<i>While President Johnson</i>
<i>visited the South...</i>

205
00:17:40,070 --> 00:17:42,305
<i>Kim was plotting his next move.</i>

206
00:17:43,974 --> 00:17:49,379
POST: <i>The key ingredients</i>
<i>of dictators are paranoia...</i>

207
00:17:50,146 --> 00:17:52,082
<i>no capacity for empathy...</i>

208
00:17:52,949 --> 00:17:56,686
<i>and a willingness to use</i>
<i>whatever aggression is necessary</i>

209
00:17:56,753 --> 00:17:58,688
<i>to accomplish one's goals.</i>

210
00:18:01,291 --> 00:18:03,293
NARRATOR: <i>Kim believed</i>
<i>that the South Korean people</i>

211
00:18:03,360 --> 00:18:04,828
<i>were desperate to be liberated...</i>

212
00:18:05,862 --> 00:18:09,032
<i>and given the opportunity,</i>
<i>would rise up and support him.</i>

213
00:18:12,369 --> 00:18:15,839
<i>So he hatched a plan</i>
<i>to kill the President of South Korea.</i>

214
00:18:22,145 --> 00:18:25,482
NARRATOR: <i>Only three men</i>
<i>have ever ruled North Korea...</i>

215
00:18:27,484 --> 00:18:31,855
<i>and the template for how to do it</i>
<i>was set by the first Kim...</i>

216
00:18:32,656 --> 00:18:35,425
<i>the grandfather, Kim Il-Sung.</i>

217
00:18:38,261 --> 00:18:43,366
<i>In 1968, he wanted to strike a blow</i>
<i>at his South Korean neighbors.</i>

218
00:18:46,570 --> 00:18:50,707
<i>And so he sent 31 of his top commandos</i>
<i>over the border.</i>

219
00:18:53,109 --> 00:18:54,444
<i>Their mission...</i>

220
00:18:55,679 --> 00:18:58,915
<i>to go to the Blue House</i>
<i>where the South Korean President lived...</i>

221
00:19:00,617 --> 00:19:01,885
<i>and kill him.</i>

222
00:19:04,721 --> 00:19:08,091
<i>One of Kim's commandos</i>
<i>survives to tell the tale.</i>

223
00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:15,065
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS)

224
00:19:24,975 --> 00:19:27,811
KIM SHIN-JO: (IN KOREAN)
<i>As we approached the Blue House...</i>

225
00:19:28,612 --> 00:19:35,552
<i>there was an entire army unit</i>
<i>waiting for us, blocking the road.</i>

226
00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:41,725
(MID-TEMPO MUSIC CONTINUES)

227
00:19:42,659 --> 00:19:44,628
<i>And the battle started.</i>

228
00:19:46,396 --> 00:19:48,798
A big battle.

229
00:19:48,865 --> 00:19:53,904
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS)

230
00:19:57,507 --> 00:19:59,776
<i>As soon as the firing started...</i>

231
00:20:01,511 --> 00:20:04,314
I realized we will never make it...

232
00:20:04,814 --> 00:20:10,921
to the Blue House. So I escaped.

233
00:20:10,987 --> 00:20:14,925
I ran away from my team

234
00:20:14,991 --> 00:20:18,495
<i>and climbed the hill behind me.</i>

235
00:20:18,562 --> 00:20:19,763
That was how I survived.

236
00:20:22,766 --> 00:20:25,936
MAN: (IN KOREAN) <i>The pursued enemy gang</i>
<i>was completely exhausted</i>

237
00:20:26,002 --> 00:20:29,272
<i>and the fury of our team to hunt down</i>
<i>every last one of them was sky high.</i>

238
00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:32,375
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS)

239
00:20:40,383 --> 00:20:43,753
They shouted,
"Come out. And you will live."

240
00:20:43,820 --> 00:20:47,757
I had a hand on a grenade...

241
00:20:48,358 --> 00:20:50,560
And was about to pull the pin,

242
00:20:50,627 --> 00:20:55,732
But I thought, "I want to live."

243
00:20:55,799 --> 00:21:01,905
I didn't think of Kim Il-Sung, I didn't
think of the revolution or my family.

244
00:21:01,972 --> 00:21:06,142
I couldn't think of anything but myself.

245
00:21:06,643 --> 00:21:09,913
I was only 25 years old...

246
00:21:10,513 --> 00:21:14,351
with a sudden, growing attachment to life.

247
00:21:15,785 --> 00:21:18,989
I put down the grenade...

248
00:21:20,090 --> 00:21:22,192
and I surrendered.

249
00:21:28,098 --> 00:21:31,601
NARRATOR: (IN ENGLISH) <i>Kim's commandos</i>
<i>were expected to take their own lives,</i>

250
00:21:31,668 --> 00:21:33,036
<i>rather than be captured.</i>

251
00:21:35,272 --> 00:21:38,808
SHIN-JO: (IN KOREAN) <i>I had to identify...</i>

252
00:21:39,476 --> 00:21:41,878
<i>my comrades' bodies.</i>

253
00:21:42,546 --> 00:21:48,084
<i>I thought, "You guys are better than me,</i>

254
00:21:48,151 --> 00:21:52,856
<i>you sacrificed your lives</i>
<i>for the revolution."</i>

255
00:21:54,891 --> 00:21:56,960
NARRATOR: (IN ENGLISH)
<i>Having not taken his own life...</i>

256
00:21:57,661 --> 00:21:59,663
<i>he knew there would be consequences.</i>

257
00:22:02,032 --> 00:22:04,501
(IN KOREAN) I had to accept the fact
that my parents,

258
00:22:04,568 --> 00:22:08,838
my family, would face execution...

259
00:22:10,607 --> 00:22:12,676
and so, I heard the news...

260
00:22:14,177 --> 00:22:19,249
they executed my parents publicly...

261
00:22:19,316 --> 00:22:23,553
in Chung-Jin Stadium...

262
00:22:24,788 --> 00:22:30,293
they said, "Comrade Kim Shin-Jo,
is a traitor.

263
00:22:31,595 --> 00:22:32,796
Is a traitor."

264
00:22:33,296 --> 00:22:38,501
(SERENE MUSIC PLAYS)

265
00:22:38,868 --> 00:22:43,240
<i>I will never forgive Kim Il-Sung.</i>

266
00:22:45,508 --> 00:22:47,677
On the other hand, I am a pastor

267
00:22:47,744 --> 00:22:50,013
and I will forgive him as a religious man.

268
00:22:52,949 --> 00:22:57,187
<i>But personally? No, not personally.</i>

269
00:22:57,254 --> 00:23:03,360
(SERENE MUSIC PLAYS)

270
00:23:05,528 --> 00:23:07,631
NARRATOR: (IN ENGLISH) <i>If Kim thought</i>
<i>that the South Koreans wanted</i>

271
00:23:07,697 --> 00:23:09,099
<i>to be led by him...</i>

272
00:23:11,768 --> 00:23:13,169
<i>he was badly mistaken.</i>

273
00:23:15,972 --> 00:23:18,775
<i>In fact, after the Blue House Raid...</i>

274
00:23:19,209 --> 00:23:21,745
<i>they burned effigies of him</i>
<i>in the streets.</i>

275
00:23:24,881 --> 00:23:30,253
(MID-TEMPO MUSIC PLAYS)

276
00:23:33,323 --> 00:23:35,392
<i>Kim needed to bolster his image.</i>

277
00:23:37,694 --> 00:23:40,130
<i>To help him, he turned to his son.</i>

278
00:23:45,268 --> 00:23:47,504
<i>The second member of the Kim dynasty.</i>

279
00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:53,276
<i>Kim Jong-Il would ultimately</i>
<i>succeed his father</i>

280
00:23:53,343 --> 00:23:56,446
<i>and prove to be an eccentric</i>
<i>and unpredictable leader.</i>

281
00:24:00,617 --> 00:24:04,454
<i>But as a young man,</i>
<i>he had a genius for propaganda...</i>

282
00:24:06,957 --> 00:24:09,759
<i>and began a process</i>
<i>of turning his father into a God</i>

283
00:24:09,826 --> 00:24:12,062
<i>in the minds of the North Korean people.</i>

284
00:24:13,863 --> 00:24:19,502
(BAND MUSIC PLAYING)

285
00:24:20,370 --> 00:24:25,208
(KIDS SINGING IN KOREAN)

286
00:24:25,275 --> 00:24:28,678
He started by showing his father
as the father of the nation.

287
00:24:30,847 --> 00:24:34,451
<i>The person who gave every child</i>
<i>their food and clothes.</i>

288
00:24:35,352 --> 00:24:42,225
(KIDS CONTINUE SINGING IN KOREAN)

289
00:24:42,559 --> 00:24:44,461
<i>All religions were stamped out,</i>

290
00:24:44,527 --> 00:24:47,530
<i>and a massive</i>
<i>statue-building program began.</i>

291
00:24:53,136 --> 00:24:59,976
(KIDS CONTINUE SINGING IN KOREAN)

292
00:25:00,610 --> 00:25:04,347
POST: <i>While we may know</i>
<i>the country was devastated,</i>

293
00:25:04,414 --> 00:25:07,984
<i>and is economically</i>
<i>a basket case at this point...</i>

294
00:25:08,351 --> 00:25:12,022
the people of North Korea don't know

295
00:25:12,088 --> 00:25:16,293
because of this Bureau
of Propaganda and Agitation

296
00:25:16,359 --> 00:25:18,762
which shapes the nation's consciousness.

297
00:25:21,231 --> 00:25:25,535
<i>"The Hermit Kingdom"</i>
<i>is an apt description for North Korea.</i>

298
00:25:26,269 --> 00:25:28,805
<i>A, people couldn't leave.</i>

299
00:25:29,372 --> 00:25:32,842
<i>And B, people couldn't come in</i>
<i>so it's isolated</i>

300
00:25:32,909 --> 00:25:37,280
<i>and has no access</i>
<i>to international communication.</i>

301
00:25:41,985 --> 00:25:46,323
NARRATOR: <i>And so a potent cocktail</i>
<i>of isolation, fear, and propaganda...</i>

302
00:25:47,190 --> 00:25:51,928
<i>put the Kim's on the path to becoming Gods</i>
<i>in the minds of their people.</i>

303
00:25:53,063 --> 00:25:57,400
(AUDIENCE CHEERING)

304
00:25:57,467 --> 00:26:00,203
<i>Next, they would start</i>
<i>to take on their archenemies...</i>

305
00:26:00,570 --> 00:26:01,871
<i>the Americans.</i>

306
00:26:07,811 --> 00:26:11,548
POST: <i>I think it's important</i>
<i>to understand the value of enemies.</i>

307
00:26:12,582 --> 00:26:16,786
<i>Enemies are to be cherished,</i>
<i>they're to be cultivated.</i>

308
00:26:18,421 --> 00:26:22,092
<i>It's convenient to have someone</i>
<i>to blame...</i>

309
00:26:22,525 --> 00:26:25,262
<i>for your leadership failures.</i>

310
00:26:25,328 --> 00:26:28,131
(IN KOREAN) Our great leader Kim Il-Sung

311
00:26:28,198 --> 00:26:32,669
said the country is in danger.

312
00:26:32,736 --> 00:26:36,373
American imperialists
are intensifying their aggression...

313
00:26:37,140 --> 00:26:42,112
and their tricks to provoke a new war

314
00:26:42,178 --> 00:26:44,681
are becoming more and more cunning

315
00:26:44,748 --> 00:26:47,050
so said the great leader.

316
00:26:47,117 --> 00:26:52,055
Let's pulverize the American imperialists!

317
00:26:53,490 --> 00:27:00,096
(CHANTING) Pulverize!

318
00:27:08,104 --> 00:27:11,474
NARRATOR: (IN ENGLISH) <i>For Kim, having</i>
<i>the constant threat of war with America...</i>

319
00:27:11,841 --> 00:27:13,877
<i>was useful in controlling his people.</i>

320
00:27:15,212 --> 00:27:18,248
<i>Any sign that America</i>
<i>was threatening North Korea</i>

321
00:27:18,315 --> 00:27:20,417
<i>helpful in making him their protector.</i>

322
00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:25,789
<i>So when a US spy ship</i>
<i>was seen off the coast...</i>

323
00:27:26,456 --> 00:27:27,857
<i>it was an opportunity for Kim</i>

324
00:27:27,924 --> 00:27:31,027
<i>to define himself</i>
<i>in the eyes of his people.</i>

325
00:27:31,094 --> 00:27:35,932
(INTENSE MUSIC CONTINUES)

326
00:27:37,934 --> 00:27:44,474
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS)

327
00:27:50,513 --> 00:27:53,183
(IN KOREAN) When we approached
the enemy ship

328
00:27:53,250 --> 00:27:56,353
they hoisted a flag, and it was American.

329
00:27:56,419 --> 00:27:59,789
The moment I saw that, I was so furious
my eyes were shooting daggers.

330
00:27:59,856 --> 00:28:01,925
I wanted to rush at the enemy,

331
00:28:01,992 --> 00:28:04,661
tear their hearts out
and shove them in the water.

332
00:28:04,728 --> 00:28:08,131
The American invaders are the aggressors.

333
00:28:08,198 --> 00:28:10,333
They are my personal enemy

334
00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:13,937
as they brutally murdered
my mother and young brother...

335
00:28:14,704 --> 00:28:16,439
during the Korean War.

336
00:28:19,109 --> 00:28:23,146
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS)

337
00:28:23,213 --> 00:28:25,482
ROBERT CHICCA: <i>The first shots</i>
<i>were aimed at the bridge,</i>

338
00:28:25,549 --> 00:28:31,688
<i>shattering glass and raking the ship</i>
<i>back and forth with machine gun fire.</i>

339
00:28:33,723 --> 00:28:36,393
The Pueblo
<i>was an intelligence collection ship</i>

340
00:28:36,459 --> 00:28:40,764
<i>to pick up electronic surveillance</i>
<i>in Russia and North Korea.</i>

341
00:28:40,830 --> 00:28:43,700
<i>But we were unarmed, totally unarmed.</i>

342
00:28:49,072 --> 00:28:52,075
They started shooting
their bigger shells at us

343
00:28:52,142 --> 00:28:55,378
<i>that came right through the side</i>
<i>of the ship and just blew us up.</i>

344
00:28:56,279 --> 00:28:59,883
And it just literally lifted me up,
blew me down the hall.

345
00:28:59,950 --> 00:29:04,054
It took off the bottom of my scrotum
and went into my upper leg.

346
00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:05,555
(CHUCKLING)

347
00:29:07,591 --> 00:29:09,859
<i>Eventually when the Koreans</i>
<i>came on board the ship,</i>

348
00:29:09,926 --> 00:29:12,596
<i>they tied us up and blindfolded us.</i>

349
00:29:12,662 --> 00:29:15,432
Matter of fact,
they kicked me in my wound.

350
00:29:16,933 --> 00:29:19,803
NARRATOR: <i>And so Kim had captured</i>
<i>a US Navy vessel,</i>

351
00:29:19,869 --> 00:29:22,138
<i>and had taken 82 Americans prisoner.</i>

352
00:29:26,743 --> 00:29:28,078
<i>In the middle of the night,</i>

353
00:29:28,144 --> 00:29:30,714
<i>the President of the United States</i>
<i>was informed.</i>

354
00:29:34,050 --> 00:29:36,653
LYNDON B. JOHNSON: <i>What's your speculation</i>
<i>on what happened to--</i>

355
00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:38,488
<i>Mr. President, I honestly don't know,</i>

356
00:29:38,555 --> 00:29:41,958
<i>and I think we need</i>
<i>a Cuban Missile Crisis approach to this--</i>

357
00:29:42,025 --> 00:29:44,361
(BLEEP) <i>we ought to get locked in a room</i>
<i>and you ought to keep us there,</i>

358
00:29:44,427 --> 00:29:47,497
<i>insist we stay there until we come up</i>
<i>with answers to three questions,</i>

359
00:29:47,564 --> 00:29:49,532
<i>"What was the Korean objective?"</i>

360
00:29:49,900 --> 00:29:52,202
<i>Secondly, "What are they going to do now?"</i>

361
00:29:52,569 --> 00:29:56,106
<i>Blackmail us, let it go, you know,</i>
<i>what's-- what's--</i>

362
00:29:56,172 --> 00:29:58,275
<i>And thirdly, "What should we do now?"</i>

363
00:30:00,777 --> 00:30:03,179
TOM JOHNSON: <i>President Johnson</i>
<i>is at the head of the table,</i>

364
00:30:03,246 --> 00:30:04,681
<i>his back to us...</i>

365
00:30:05,582 --> 00:30:08,184
<i>and that is I, Tom Johnson...</i>

366
00:30:08,919 --> 00:30:10,153
taking the notes.

367
00:30:10,954 --> 00:30:13,523
<i>"The President, 'What I want to know</i>

368
00:30:13,590 --> 00:30:17,594
<i>is how do we get the ship</i>
<i>and the boys back.'</i>

369
00:30:17,661 --> 00:30:21,498
Clark Clifford, 'I think the President
must proceed

370
00:30:21,565 --> 00:30:24,200
<i>on the basis of probabilities</i>
<i>and not possibilities.</i>

371
00:30:24,267 --> 00:30:28,104
<i>I think the North Koreans</i>
<i>are engaged in harassments.</i>

372
00:30:28,171 --> 00:30:32,576
<i>'A moral posture would be better</i>
<i>if the North Koreans move first.</i>

373
00:30:33,043 --> 00:30:37,347
<i>I am deeply sorry about the ship,</i>
<i>and about the 83 men,</i>

374
00:30:37,414 --> 00:30:42,485
<i>but I do not think it is worth</i>
<i>a resumption of the Korean War."</i>

375
00:30:44,254 --> 00:30:46,923
There was deep concern...

376
00:30:47,424 --> 00:30:52,896
that however the United States
reacted militarily

377
00:30:52,963 --> 00:30:58,501
could trigger another large-scale war.

378
00:30:59,135 --> 00:31:05,075
And the United States, to be honest,
was not prepared for another large war

379
00:31:05,141 --> 00:31:09,913
when we already had a very, very
serious war going, uh, in Vietnam.

380
00:31:11,014 --> 00:31:16,987
<i>And that was something President Johnson</i>
<i>wanted to avoid at almost all cost.</i>

381
00:31:28,198 --> 00:31:30,000
CHICCA: <i>For the first 40 days,</i>
<i>I don't think they knew</i>

382
00:31:30,066 --> 00:31:31,468
<i>what they were going to do with us,</i>

383
00:31:31,534 --> 00:31:34,271
<i>whether they were going to keep us alive,</i>

384
00:31:34,337 --> 00:31:39,342
<i>I think they fully were as surprised</i>
<i>as we were that there was no retaliation.</i>

385
00:31:41,211 --> 00:31:46,216
We fully expected retaliation
and we knew we might not make it.

386
00:31:47,384 --> 00:31:51,488
Erm... Obviously, no one likes
the idea of dying,

387
00:31:51,555 --> 00:31:55,725
however, uh, we really wanted some help...

388
00:31:55,792 --> 00:31:57,794
<i>and it just didn't come.</i>

389
00:31:57,861 --> 00:32:04,701
(INTENSE MUSIC PLAYS)

390
00:32:11,174 --> 00:32:14,010
NARRATOR: <i>Kim Il-Sung</i>
<i>used the capture of </i>The Pueblo...

391
00:32:14,644 --> 00:32:16,279
<i>as a propaganda triumph.</i>

392
00:32:20,317 --> 00:32:23,153
CHICCA: <i>We never saw him,</i>
<i>he never came by.</i>

393
00:32:23,220 --> 00:32:27,991
<i>But we were very aware,</i>
<i>from the very beginning, of Kim Il-Sung.</i>

394
00:32:28,925 --> 00:32:31,928
<i>Actually, you never just said Kim Il-Sung.</i>

395
00:32:31,995 --> 00:32:34,531
<i>It would be always preceded or followed</i>

396
00:32:34,598 --> 00:32:37,667
<i>by these long eulogies of praise.</i>

397
00:32:38,168 --> 00:32:40,937
<i>I just memorized one of them</i>
<i>for the hell of it.</i>

398
00:32:41,538 --> 00:32:46,276
"Peerless patriot, ever-victorious,
iron-willed genius commander...

399
00:32:46,610 --> 00:32:51,381
and one of the outstanding international
and working-class movement leaders,

400
00:32:51,448 --> 00:32:53,116
Marshall Kim Il-Sung."

401
00:32:53,750 --> 00:32:56,653
It had to be said with reverence.
(CHUCKLES)

402
00:32:58,421 --> 00:33:01,358
<i>Actually... </i>(CHUCKLES) ...<i>we had</i>
<i>talked about if he came by</i>

403
00:33:01,424 --> 00:33:05,996
<i>we'd try to jump him and see if we could</i>
<i>use him as a hostage to get out of there.</i>

404
00:33:08,298 --> 00:33:11,768
NARRATOR: <i>Kim paraded the captured</i>
<i>Americans in front of the cameras,</i>

405
00:33:11,835 --> 00:33:15,038
<i>and forced them to confess</i>
<i>to having been in Korean waters.</i>

406
00:33:16,506 --> 00:33:18,775
DPRK NEWSCASTER: (ACCENTED)
<i>The crew unanimously admitted the fact</i>

407
00:33:18,842 --> 00:33:22,045
<i>that they had intruded deep</i>
<i>in territorial waters,</i>

408
00:33:22,112 --> 00:33:25,382
<i>and conducted espionage on 17 occasions,</i>

409
00:33:25,448 --> 00:33:29,119
and signed a joint apology
to the DPRK government.

410
00:33:30,053 --> 00:33:34,057
"To my mind, it was the deepest intrusion

411
00:33:34,124 --> 00:33:35,992
I had ever made

412
00:33:36,059 --> 00:33:41,464
into the waters of the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea.

413
00:33:42,599 --> 00:33:44,801
NARRATOR: <i>With 82 Americans in captivity,</i>

414
00:33:44,868 --> 00:33:47,470
<i>the US Government</i>
<i>signed a statement of apology,</i>

415
00:33:47,537 --> 00:33:49,306
<i>prepared by the North Koreans,</i>

416
00:33:49,372 --> 00:33:51,908
<i>and so, avoided another Korean War.</i>

417
00:33:51,975 --> 00:33:58,515
(INTENSE MUSIC PLAYS)

418
00:34:05,222 --> 00:34:07,757
DPRK NEWSCASTER: (ACCENTED)
<i>The US representative was so confused</i>

419
00:34:07,824 --> 00:34:11,528
<i>that he even forgot</i>
<i>to write a date in the apology.</i>

420
00:34:15,498 --> 00:34:17,601
CHICCA: <i>All of a sudden,</i>
<i>the beatings just stopped.</i>

421
00:34:17,667 --> 00:34:20,203
Everyone that had visible bruises
and things like that

422
00:34:20,270 --> 00:34:24,507
<i>were doctored up a bit</i>
<i>for a trip down to Panmunjom...</i>

423
00:34:25,575 --> 00:34:27,310
<i>turned us loose.</i>

424
00:34:29,579 --> 00:34:31,248
ABC NEWSCASTER:
<i>Here at the Bridge of No Return</i>

425
00:34:31,314 --> 00:34:34,117
<i>the members of </i>the Pueblo
<i>are returning to US custody.</i>

426
00:34:34,184 --> 00:34:36,820
<i>The transfer is taking place</i>
<i>just 11 months to the day</i>

427
00:34:36,887 --> 00:34:39,789
<i>after </i>the Pueblo <i>was captured</i>
<i>off Wonsan Harbor.</i>

428
00:34:42,192 --> 00:34:44,194
<i>When they reached</i>
<i>the free side of the bridge,</i>

429
00:34:44,261 --> 00:34:45,662
<i>they began to relax a little,</i>

430
00:34:45,729 --> 00:34:48,732
<i>perhaps finally comprehending</i>
<i>that the idea and dream</i>

431
00:34:48,798 --> 00:34:51,968
<i>of being home for Christmas</i>
<i>was all but a reality.</i>

432
00:34:59,476 --> 00:35:04,481
NARRATOR: <i>To this day, the USS Pueblo</i>
<i>sits in North Korean waters,</i>

433
00:35:04,548 --> 00:35:06,283
<i>a trophy for the Kim's.</i>

434
00:35:07,551 --> 00:35:09,319
<i>And for the Korean people...</i>

435
00:35:09,386 --> 00:35:12,589
<i>further evidence that the first Kim</i>
<i>could do no wrong.</i>

436
00:35:15,825 --> 00:35:20,030
<i>Fifty years later,</i>
<i>his grandson is keeping the myth alive.</i>

437
00:35:25,435 --> 00:35:29,806
JEAN LEE: <i>Kim Jong-Un in particular</i>
<i>is very strategic about what he wears.</i>

438
00:35:32,042 --> 00:35:35,579
<i>Often, he'll wear--</i>
<i>say, a hat, and clothes</i>

439
00:35:35,645 --> 00:35:40,016
<i>that are identical to an outfit</i>
<i>that his grandfather wore.</i>

440
00:35:42,285 --> 00:35:46,022
That's a way that Kim Jong-Un
piggybacks on his grandfather's legacy,

441
00:35:46,089 --> 00:35:48,358
to legitimize his role as the leader.

442
00:35:49,526 --> 00:35:53,997
<i>This is meant to refer back to a certain</i>
<i>period in North Korean history.</i>

443
00:35:55,565 --> 00:35:57,033
North Koreans are gonna remember that.

444
00:35:57,100 --> 00:36:00,670
They're going to see that and say,
"Ah, he's just like his grandfather."

445
00:36:04,307 --> 00:36:07,210
(CHEERING)

446
00:36:07,911 --> 00:36:09,746
NARRATOR: <i>In the late 1960s,</i>

447
00:36:09,813 --> 00:36:12,682
<i>his grandfather was developing</i>
<i>a taste for brinkmanship</i>

448
00:36:12,749 --> 00:36:14,284
<i>with the United States.</i>

449
00:36:15,952 --> 00:36:20,457
<i>But his next move would take him</i>
<i>and his country to the limit.</i>

450
00:36:25,195 --> 00:36:28,331
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYS)

451
00:36:28,398 --> 00:36:31,568
NARRATOR: <i>In the 1970s, the world changed.</i>

452
00:36:31,635 --> 00:36:35,605
<i>President Nixon went to China</i>
<i>to meet Chairman Mao.</i>

453
00:36:42,345 --> 00:36:45,248
There is no reason for us to be enemies.

454
00:36:46,449 --> 00:36:48,552
NARRATOR: <i>And he traveled</i>
<i>to the Soviet Union</i>

455
00:36:48,618 --> 00:36:50,487
<i>to make deals with Brezhnev.</i>

456
00:36:52,122 --> 00:36:57,494
(AUDIENCE CHEERING)

457
00:36:58,194 --> 00:37:02,165
(CROWD LAUGHING)

458
00:37:06,269 --> 00:37:08,939
<i>All of which was bad news for Kim Il-Sung.</i>

459
00:37:11,641 --> 00:37:14,444
<i>He'd been relying on his fellow</i>
<i>Communist leaders for back-up</i>

460
00:37:14,511 --> 00:37:16,079
<i>in his battles with America.</i>

461
00:37:18,848 --> 00:37:23,987
<i>However, if he was feeling less support,</i>
<i>at first at least, he didn't show it...</i>

462
00:37:25,956 --> 00:37:28,458
<i>as he continued to attack his enemies.</i>

463
00:37:30,860 --> 00:37:36,433
-(GUNSHOTS)
-(AUDIENCE SHOUTING)

464
00:37:40,303 --> 00:37:43,139
NBC NEWSCASTER: <i>The defendant,</i>
<i>22-year-old Mun Se-Gwang</i>

465
00:37:43,206 --> 00:37:47,277
<i>admitted he attempted to kill South Korean</i>
<i>President Park Chung-Hee,</i>

466
00:37:47,344 --> 00:37:49,880
<i>but had not intended killing Madame Park.</i>

467
00:37:50,213 --> 00:37:54,517
<i>He said he acted under orders from</i>
<i>North Korean Communist agents in Japan.</i>

468
00:38:02,292 --> 00:38:04,628
NARRATOR: <i>Then, in 1976...</i>

469
00:38:05,362 --> 00:38:07,898
<i>the fate of North Korea</i>
<i>hung in the balance.</i>

470
00:38:09,199 --> 00:38:12,035
<i>It came down to an event</i>
<i>in the Demilitarized Zone...</i>

471
00:38:12,802 --> 00:38:16,673
<i>an event that centered</i>
<i>around a single tree.</i>

472
00:38:25,115 --> 00:38:27,417
BBC PRESENTER: <i>The Demilitarized Zone</i>
<i>between the two Koreas</i>

473
00:38:27,484 --> 00:38:31,555
<i>is one of the world's great artificial</i>
<i>ideological fault lines.</i>

474
00:38:34,257 --> 00:38:37,527
<i>Here the great plates</i>
<i>of the capitalist and communist worlds</i>

475
00:38:37,594 --> 00:38:39,763
<i>press and chafe against each other.</i>

476
00:38:40,530 --> 00:38:42,098
<i>It's a place of suspicion,</i>

477
00:38:42,165 --> 00:38:45,168
<i>bristling with mutual threat</i>
<i>and mutual fear.</i>

478
00:38:54,611 --> 00:38:56,213
VICTOR VIERRA: <i>There was a poplar tree...</i>

479
00:38:57,514 --> 00:39:01,651
which are usually very slender
and don't sprawl.

480
00:39:01,718 --> 00:39:05,322
Uh, but this tree was a sprawling poplar.

481
00:39:06,389 --> 00:39:11,061
<i>It obscured the visibility</i>
<i>between two observation posts,</i>

482
00:39:11,127 --> 00:39:13,830
<i>so the soldiers had brought it</i>
<i>to my attention,</i>

483
00:39:13,897 --> 00:39:17,400
and I said, "Well, we'll need to send
a work party go up there

484
00:39:17,467 --> 00:39:20,103
and trim the lower branches of the tree."

485
00:39:21,638 --> 00:39:25,609
NARRATOR: <i>Little did they know,</i>
<i>that the North Koreans believed</i>

486
00:39:25,675 --> 00:39:30,647
<i>that this tree had been planted</i>
<i>by their leader, Kim Il-Sung.</i>

487
00:39:35,585 --> 00:39:41,091
(INTENSE MUSIC PLAYS)

488
00:39:46,930 --> 00:39:48,398
JIM LEHRER: Here's the scene...

489
00:39:48,465 --> 00:39:52,135
the UN Command Force
begin their trimming work on the tree...

490
00:39:52,769 --> 00:39:54,905
the North Koreans arrive now.

491
00:39:54,971 --> 00:39:57,474
After first saying
it was all right to trim it,

492
00:39:57,540 --> 00:40:00,277
some 20 minutes later
they ordered the work to be halted.

493
00:40:00,343 --> 00:40:03,947
As fate would have it,
the Americans are in white hats,

494
00:40:04,014 --> 00:40:06,283
the North Koreans in the dark ones.

495
00:40:06,783 --> 00:40:08,285
According to witnesses,

496
00:40:08,351 --> 00:40:11,154
a North Korean army officer
yelled, "Kill!",

497
00:40:11,221 --> 00:40:14,624
and 30 or so North Korean soldiers
grabbed ax handles

498
00:40:14,691 --> 00:40:17,494
and started hitting the Americans
and their workers.

499
00:40:18,929 --> 00:40:23,300
And suddenly, less than five minutes
after it all began, it's over.

500
00:40:23,567 --> 00:40:28,138
Left behind, the body of one
of the dead American officers.

501
00:40:28,204 --> 00:40:31,207
The other is in the bushes
here by the tree

502
00:40:37,514 --> 00:40:40,350
VIERRA: <i>From the moment</i>
<i>the incident occurred...</i>

503
00:40:40,951 --> 00:40:45,322
<i>I received a call from my</i>
<i>commander-in-chief, General Stilwell,</i>

504
00:40:45,388 --> 00:40:51,828
<i>and he told me, "You know, we will have</i>
<i>to take some sort of action."</i>

505
00:40:52,829 --> 00:40:55,131
<i>It went everywhere from "Nuke 'em..."</i>

506
00:40:55,532 --> 00:40:59,269
<i>to "Run a couple of divisions up there",</i>
<i>"Wipe 'em out" -</i>

507
00:40:59,336 --> 00:41:03,006
<i>You know, you name it.</i>
<i>The whole gamut of military options.</i>

508
00:41:06,977 --> 00:41:12,482
<i>I said, "My alternative would be</i>
<i>that we form a task force</i>

509
00:41:12,549 --> 00:41:17,153
<i>and we go up there</i>
<i>and we cut the tree down, completely...</i>

510
00:41:17,687 --> 00:41:19,923
<i>and we leave it there for them to see."</i>

511
00:41:20,590 --> 00:41:24,494
And he said immediately, "I agree."

512
00:41:27,764 --> 00:41:30,734
NARRATOR: <i>The mission was called</i>
<i>Operation Paul Bunyan,</i>

513
00:41:30,800 --> 00:41:33,270
<i>named after a larger-than-life folk hero.</i>

514
00:41:35,405 --> 00:41:38,108
<i>With my double-blade ax</i>
<i>And my hobnail boots</i>

515
00:41:38,174 --> 00:41:40,777
<i>I go where the timber's tall</i>

516
00:41:40,844 --> 00:41:43,380
<i>When there's work to be done</i>
<i>Don't mess around</i>

517
00:41:43,446 --> 00:41:45,649
<i>Just sing right out for Paul</i>

518
00:41:45,715 --> 00:41:49,419
NARRATOR: <i>Bunyan was immortalized</i>
<i>in a classic 1950s cartoon,</i>

519
00:41:49,486 --> 00:41:52,088
<i>as a symbol of old-fashioned</i>
<i>American strength.</i>

520
00:41:53,623 --> 00:41:56,293
<i>-Hey, Paul!</i>
-I'm comin', boys!

521
00:41:57,494 --> 00:42:00,797
NARRATOR: <i>No one would be able</i>
<i>to stop Paul Bunyan chopping down a tree.</i>

522
00:42:02,299 --> 00:42:05,335
(HELICOPTERS WHIRRING)

523
00:42:06,469 --> 00:42:08,772
JOHN HART: <i>Good evening,</i>
<i>circling over a poplar tree</i>

524
00:42:08,838 --> 00:42:10,707
<i>in the zone between the two Koreas</i>

525
00:42:10,774 --> 00:42:15,612
were 26 armed helicopters,
an unknown number of Phantom Jets,

526
00:42:15,679 --> 00:42:18,381
F-111s and three B-52s,

527
00:42:18,448 --> 00:42:22,419
flying protection for 300 American
and South Korean soldiers

528
00:42:22,485 --> 00:42:24,254
<i>who were cutting the tree down.</i>

529
00:42:26,022 --> 00:42:29,292
The aircraft carrier <i>Midway</i>
cruised off the Korean coast today

530
00:42:29,359 --> 00:42:31,528
in response to the murder
of two American officers

531
00:42:31,595 --> 00:42:34,698
in the Demilitarized Zone
between North and South Korea.

532
00:42:34,764 --> 00:42:36,566
FRANK TOMLINSON: <i>The Midway</i>
<i>and its planes will augment</i>

533
00:42:36,633 --> 00:42:38,635
<i>two US Air Force fighter squadrons</i>

534
00:42:38,702 --> 00:42:42,005
<i>already sent to Korea</i>
<i>from Okinawa and Idaho.</i>

535
00:42:43,573 --> 00:42:48,211
VIERRA: <i>We assembled the largest</i>
<i>combined military operation</i>

536
00:42:48,278 --> 00:42:50,480
<i>since the end of the Korean War.</i>

537
00:42:52,682 --> 00:42:57,187
Every soldier with a gun pointed
into North Korea.

538
00:42:57,254 --> 00:43:01,024
President Ford's new secretary Ron Messing
said the President himself approved

539
00:43:01,091 --> 00:43:03,093
the plan to go in there
and cut down the tree.

540
00:43:04,060 --> 00:43:08,098
JOHN CHANCELLOR: <i>The North Koreans</i>
<i>called President Ford a "boss of war".</i>

541
00:43:08,164 --> 00:43:11,835
DISPATCH: <i>An estimated</i>
<i>three four five decimal zero.</i>

542
00:43:11,902 --> 00:43:13,670
<i>Over. Three four five zero...</i>

543
00:43:13,737 --> 00:43:17,474
VIERRA: <i>I was on the ground,</i>
<i>going to cut down the tree,</i>

544
00:43:17,540 --> 00:43:20,143
<i>but all of this was backing me up.</i>

545
00:43:21,611 --> 00:43:25,382
<i>The North Koreans knew the ships</i>
<i>were off the coast,</i>

546
00:43:25,448 --> 00:43:27,751
<i>they knew the bombers were above them.</i>

547
00:43:27,817 --> 00:43:29,619
<i>They could tell that,</i>
<i>they could surveil that.</i>

548
00:43:29,686 --> 00:43:32,489
(INDISTINCT RADIO CONVERSATION)

549
00:43:36,326 --> 00:43:40,897
VIERRA: <i>It was a tinderbox,</i>
<i>any spark could set if off.</i>

550
00:43:42,899 --> 00:43:44,501
As far as I was concerned,

551
00:43:44,568 --> 00:43:46,836
it was the last day
I'd be alive on this earth.

552
00:43:52,876 --> 00:43:57,881
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYS)

553
00:43:57,948 --> 00:44:00,684
<i>We used chainsaws to cut down the tree.</i>

554
00:44:01,952 --> 00:44:06,223
<i>We just let it fall</i>
<i>where it lay, uh, with no regard...</i>

555
00:44:06,856 --> 00:44:09,292
<i>just a ragged stump there.</i>

556
00:44:10,393 --> 00:44:11,861
<i>Mission complete.</i>

557
00:44:12,462 --> 00:44:16,800
<i>I'm sure the magnitude of the force</i>
<i>played a large measure...</i>

558
00:44:17,200 --> 00:44:21,571
<i>in their deciding</i>
<i>it was not a good idea to respond.</i>

559
00:44:22,572 --> 00:44:26,743
North Korea has expressed regret over
the killing of two American army officers

560
00:44:26,810 --> 00:44:29,279
in the Demilitarized Zone last Wednesday.

561
00:44:29,346 --> 00:44:32,916
However, the regret was expressed
in passing in a statement that implied

562
00:44:32,983 --> 00:44:35,318
that the United States
provoked the incident.

563
00:44:36,419 --> 00:44:38,989
NARRATOR: <i>And so the North Koreans</i>
<i>backed down.</i>

564
00:44:39,756 --> 00:44:43,660
JOHN MURPHY: <i>The United States didn't want</i>
<i>to go to war over this incident...</i>

565
00:44:44,027 --> 00:44:46,396
<i>neither did China or Russia,</i>

566
00:44:46,463 --> 00:44:49,966
<i>and they made it clear to Kim</i>
<i>that he was not gonna be backed up,</i>

567
00:44:50,033 --> 00:44:52,102
<i>and they said you'd better apologize.</i>

568
00:44:52,168 --> 00:44:55,639
<i>This was the first instance</i>
<i>in the entire time</i>

569
00:44:55,705 --> 00:44:59,576
<i>that Kim has been leading North Korea</i>
<i>that he ever apologized for anything.</i>

570
00:45:03,547 --> 00:45:07,717
NARRATOR: <i>The tree-cutting incident showed</i>
<i>that even Kim Il-Sung had his limits.</i>

571
00:45:08,385 --> 00:45:10,921
<i>When faced with the threat</i>
<i>of overwhelming force...</i>

572
00:45:11,521 --> 00:45:13,323
<i>he stepped back from the brink.</i>

573
00:45:13,790 --> 00:45:15,191
<i>For other world leaders,</i>

574
00:45:15,258 --> 00:45:17,727
<i>such a public climb-down</i>
<i>might have been a problem...</i>

575
00:45:18,028 --> 00:45:19,462
<i>but not for him.</i>

576
00:45:20,797 --> 00:45:24,568
<i>By now, it made no difference</i>
<i>to how his people felt about him.</i>

577
00:45:26,770 --> 00:45:29,973
<i>His social control,</i>
<i>and his son's propaganda...</i>

578
00:45:30,607 --> 00:45:34,077
<i>were giving him complete control</i>
<i>of his people's minds.</i>

579
00:45:38,548 --> 00:45:40,483
KO YOUNG-HWAN: (IN KOREAN)
<i>You have to understand in the north,</i>

580
00:45:40,550 --> 00:45:41,918
<i>Kim Il-Sung is actually God.</i>

581
00:45:44,154 --> 00:45:46,423
<i>He is a special man. A unique man.</i>

582
00:45:47,424 --> 00:45:52,662
<i>Every North Korean would burst into tears</i>
<i>just by looking at him.</i>

583
00:45:58,535 --> 00:46:03,807
POST: (IN ENGLISH) <i>As Kim Il-Sung aged,</i>
<i>and so time is shortening...</i>

584
00:46:05,041 --> 00:46:08,211
<i>they increasingly became preoccupied</i>

585
00:46:08,278 --> 00:46:11,381
<i>with getting a nuclear program...</i>

586
00:46:14,885 --> 00:46:19,155
NARRATOR: <i>His son, who had given</i>
<i>his father God-like status...</i>

587
00:46:19,623 --> 00:46:22,993
<i>was beginning to have designs</i>
<i>on becoming leader himself.</i>

588
00:46:27,797 --> 00:46:32,435
POST: <i>It's always difficult</i>
<i>to succeed a great father.</i>

589
00:46:33,904 --> 00:46:39,009
<i>But it's almost impossible</i>
<i>to step into the shoes of God.</i>

590
00:46:39,075 --> 00:46:43,880
(CROWD CHEERING, APPLAUDING)