Episode 371: 9 University Students Hijack A Japanese Plane to North Korea
There’s this fascinating little town called ‘Little Japan.’ It’s a gated community with cookie cutter houses, though they boast beautiful chandeliers, heated floors, and all of them have a matching set of priceless portraits hanging on their walls.
The residents are nine Japanese families, hence the name, and they have their own private chefs, maids, even chauffeurs in black Mercedes. A small movie theater, a massive sauna house, and a grocery store where they never have to pay. The catch? If they ever want to leave the community ‘gates,’ they must ask for permission from the Supreme Leader… The town itself is not even an hour outside of North Korea’s capital.
The families themselves are neither Japanese nor North Korean royalty, nor are they diplomats or even government officials either.
They’re a gang of hijackers. Hijackers who stole a plane and flew it into North Korea—and now the distinguished guests of Kim regime’s were to become his secret weapon.
Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com
Sources
Book: “Destiny: The Secret Operations Of The Yodogo Exiles” - by Koji Takazawa
https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/korea-north/
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/sep/09/japan.jonathanwatts1
https://en.namu.wiki/w/일본항공%20351편%20공중%20납치%20사건
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minorities_in_North_Korea
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_North_Korea
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_North_Korea
https://www.prb.org/resources/north-korea-census-reveals-poor-demographic-and-health-conditions/
https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL33324.html
https://www.businessinsider.com/counterfeit-supernote-found-in-south-korea-2017-12
https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/23/magazine/23counterfeit.html
https://www.reddit.com/r/papermoney/comments/166u5x6/fake_bill_that_was_confiscated_at_work_today/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIIHZMVMOHc
https://www.vox.com/2016/3/29/11326472/hijacking-airplanes-egyptair
https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/north-korea-population/
https://mediaburn.org/video/inside-north-korea-an-african-americans-journal/
https://dbpedia.org/page/Japan_Air_Lines_Flight_351
https://www.nknews.org/2020/04/destination-pyongyang-the-yodo-hijacking-incident-50-years-on/
http://monthly.chosun.com/client/news/viw.asp?ctcd=&nNewsNumb=200307100029
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0OWnRPSa2Y
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/yamamura-shinjiro-forgotten-hero-james-jim-hoadley
Production Note:
Rotten Mango has not done original reporting on this case. The stories are based on existing material (listed in show notes).
The RM team works hard to make sure everything you’re listening to is as accurate as possible and we try to use multiple sources to verify the facts. Creative liberties may be taken in certain cases during the presentation of the case. Please email us at rottenmangop@gmail.com if you have any questions!