The Tears of My Soul: The True Story of a North Korean Spy

On November 29, 1987, two North Koreans were arrested in Bahrain, suspected of the terrorist bombing of Korean Air Flight 858 in which 115 people died. One of the suspects committed suicide on the spot; the other, the author of this memoir, swallowed poison but survived. Extradited to Seoul, Hyun Hee confessed, was tried, convicted and sentenced to death. The court later granted a full pardon, ruling that she was not the true culprit in the bombing but an innocent victim of North Korean indoctrination. Here Hyun Hee reveals how she was recruited and trained, and provides details of the bombing. Her depiction of North Korea's Orwellian society is convincing and vivid: it is a world where children patrol the streets and report the slightest ideological infraction and where a citizen speaking disrespectfully of ``Beloved Leader'' Kim Il Sung can be summarily bludgeoned to death. Also affecting are Hyun Hee's comments about the culture shock she experienced in Seoul and her search for redemption through Christianity. This is a chilling account of brainwashing and subsequent deprogramming. Photos. (Oct.)