Get Free Shipping on orders over $89
The Invitation-Only Zone : The Extraordinary Story of North Korea's Abduction Project - Robert S. Boynton

The Invitation-Only Zone

The Extraordinary Story of North Korea's Abduction Project

By: Robert S. Boynton

eBook | 21 January 2016 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

eBook


RRP $14.99

$12.99

13%OFF

or 4 interest-free payments of $3.25 with

Instant Digital Delivery to your Kobo Reader App

During the 1970s and early 80s, dozens - perhaps hundreds - of Japanese civilians were kidnapped by North Korean commandos and forced to live in 'Invitation Only Zones', high-security detention-centres masked as exclusive areas, on the outskirts of Pyongyang.

The objective? To brainwash the abductees with the regime's ideology, and train them to spy on the state's behalf. But the project faltered; when indoctrination failed, the captives were forced to teach North Korean operatives how to pass as Japanese, to help them infiltrate hostile neighbouring nations.

For years, the Japanese and North Korean authorities brushed off these disappearances, but in 2002 Kim Jong Il admitted to kidnapping thirteen citizens, returning five of them - the remaining eight were declared dead.

In The Invitation Only Zone, Boynton, an investigative journalist, speaks with the abductees, nationalists and diplomats, and crab fishermen, to try and untangle both the kidnappings and the intensely complicated relations between North Korea and Japan. The result is a fierce and fascinating exploration of North Korea's mysterious machinations, and the vexed politics of Northeast Asia.

Industry Reviews
The Invitation-Only Zone is a rare feat of investigative reporting. Robert Boynton's relentless pursuit of the chilling story of Japanese citizens abducted to the outskirts of Pyongyang, brings us well inside the heavily-policed realm of Kim Il-Song and his son, Kim Jong-Il.
on

More in Asian History

Memories of Muhammad : Why the Prophet Matters - Omid Safi

eBOOK

The Great Gamble : The Soviet War in Afghanistan - Gregory Feifer

eBOOK