Choi Eun-hee (; November 20, 1926 – April 16, 2018) was a South Korean

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

, who was one of the country's most popular stars of the 1960s and 1970s. In 1978, Choi and her then ex-husband, movie director

Shin Sang-ok Shin Sang-ok ( ko, 신상옥; born Shin Tae-seo; October 11, 1926 – April 11, 2006) was a South Korean filmmaker with more than 100 producer and 70 director credits to his name. His best-known films were made in the 1950s and 60s, many of them ...

, were abducted to North Korea, where they were forced to make films until they sought asylum at the U.S. embassy in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in 1986. They returned to South Korea in 1999 after spending a decade in the United States.

Biography

Early career and success in South Korea

Choi was born in

Gwangju Gwangju () is South Korea's sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home Minister. The city was also the capital of South Jeolla Province until the provincial office ...

Gyeonggi Province Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the na ...

in 1926. Her first acting role was in the 1947 film, ''A New Oath''. She rose to fame the following year after starring in the 1948 film, ''The Sun of Night'', and soon became known as one of the "

troika Troika or troyka (from Russian тройка, meaning 'a set of three') may refer to: Cultural tradition * Troika (driving), a traditional Russian harness driving combination, a cultural icon of Russia * Troika (dance), a Russian folk dance Polit ...

" of Korean film, alongside actresses

Kim Ji-mee Kim Ji-mee (born July 15, 1940) is a South Korean actress, producer, and film planner whose activity began in 1957. She was born in Daedeok, South Chungcheong province, Korea in 1940. While a student of Deokseong Girls' High School, Kim was cast ...

and

Um Aing-ran Um Aing-ran (born March 20, 1936) is a South Korean actress. She has starred in about 190 films, and gained a popularity with the image of "a cheerful female college student" in the 1960s. Her marriage with Shin Seong-il, a colleague actor and bi ...

. After marrying the director

in 1954, the two founded Shin Film. Choi went on to act in over 130 films and was considered one of the biggest stars of

South Korean film The cinema of South Korea refers to the film industry of South Korea from 1945 to present. South Korean films have been heavily influenced by such events and forces as the Japanese occupation of Korea, the Korean War, government censorship, t ...

in the 1960s and 1970s. She starred in many of Shin's iconic films including 1958's '' A Flower in Hell'' and 1961's ''

The Houseguest and My Mother ''The Houseguest and My Mother'' () is a 1961 South Korean film directed by Shin Sang-ok. It is based on a best-selling novel by Chu Yo-Sup, it was given the Best Film award at the 1961 Asia Pacific Film Festival. The film was also selected as the ...

.'' After she was diagnosed with infertility, they adopted two children together, Jeong-kyun and Myung-kim.

Abduction and years in North Korea

In 1976, Choi divorced Shin after seeing news that he had fathered two children with the young actress Oh Su-mi. Choi's career began to suffer after her divorce, and she traveled to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

in 1978 to meet with a person posing as a businessman who offered to set up a new film company with her. In Hong Kong, Choi was abducted and taken to North Korea by the order of

Kim Jong-il Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Kim ...

. While searching for Choi after her abduction, Shin was also abducted and taken to North Korea soon after. In North Korea, Choi and Shin were remarried, at Kim's recommendation. Kim had them make films together, including 1985's ''

Salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

'', for which Choi won best actress at the

14th Moscow International Film Festival The 14th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 28 June to 12 July 1985. The Golden Prizes were awarded to the Soviet film ''Come and See'' directed by Elem Klimov, the American film '' A Soldier's Story'' directed by Norman Jewison and ...

. Choi later said that the couple was able to make "films with artistic values, instead of just propaganda films extolling the regime," but that she could not forgive Kim for kidnapping her. While in North Korea, Choi converted to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

Escape and later life

The couple finally staged their escape in 1986 while on a trip to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, where they fled to the U.S. embassy and requested

political asylum The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another enti ...

. They lived in Reston,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, then

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bev ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, before returning to South Korea in 1999. On April 16, 2018, Choi died in hospital where she was due to have a

kidney dialysis Kidney dialysis (from Greek , , 'dissolution'; from , , 'through', and , , 'loosening or splitting') is the process of removing excess water, solutes, and toxins from the blood in people whose kidneys can no longer perform these functions natura ...

during the afternoon. Her death resulted in widespread mourning across South Korea.

In media

In 2015, film producer and writer Paul Fischer released an English-language biography of Choi's and Shin's lives titled ''A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker''. In January 2016, at the

2016 Sundance Film Festival The 2016 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 21 to January 31, 2016. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 2, 2015. The opening night film was ''Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You'', directed by Heidi Ew ...

, in the World Cinema Documentary Competition, a documentary about the North Korean ordeal, entitled '' The Lovers and the Despot,'' directed by Robert Cannan and Ross Adam, was presented.

Select filmography

Awards

Buil Film Awards The Buil Film Awards () is a South Korean film awards ceremony hosted by the ''Busan Ilbo'' newspaper. It began in 1958 as one of the earliest film awards in the country. During the 1950s and 1960s, it was the biggest film awards event in the B ...

Blue Dragon Film Awards The Blue Dragon Film Awards () is an annual awards ceremony that is presented by ''Sports Chosun'' (a sister brand of the ''Chosun Ilbo'') for excellence in film in South Korea. The Blue Dragon Film Awards considers only blockbusters and popula ...

Grand Bell Awards The Grand Bell Awards (), also known as the Daejong Film Awards, is an awards ceremony presented annually by The Motion Pictures Association of Korea for excellence in film in South Korea. The Grand Bell Awards retains prestige as the oldest co ...

Other awards

Bibliography

* *

References

Works cited

External links

Choi Eun-hee
at

Korean Movie Database The Korean Movie Database (KMDb) is a South Korean online database of information related to Korean movies, animation, actors, television shows, production crew personnel and other film-related information. KMDb launched in February 2006 by Ko ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Choi, Eun-hee 1926 births 2018 deaths 20th-century South Korean actresses Kidnapped South Korean people South Korean Roman Catholics North Korean abductions People from Gyeonggi Province People from Gwangju, Gyeonggi