內容簡介

被普遍認為是「日本911事件」的北韓綁架日人事件，揭露了北韓政府全球間諜行動的陰謀，與日韓之間長達一世紀的衝突，更重要的是，透過本書看見一群原本無憂的自由之人，突然被迫活在極權政權下的悲慘狀態。

「一本傑出的作品，是北韓與日本觀察家的最佳選擇。」-《圖書館期刊評論》(Library Journal Review)星級評論

1970年代晚期，日本沿岸的城鎮有數十個人無端消失，北韓矢口否認他們與綁架有關。但是到了2002年，北韓因飢荒處於崩潰邊緣，領導人金正日為了獲得日本的援助，進而承認綁架了13名日人，並且送回了5名俘虜。

在這綁架與遣返日人近30年的時間裡，北韓政府再教育了這批日本俘虜，以從事這個國家的全球間諜活動計畫。當計畫終止，這些日人被迫教導北韓特工日文，以此為謀生工具。他們在一個名為「非請勿入」(Invitation-Only Zone)的特區中被監管，在那裡結婚、生子、活得像個北韓人，予以外人一種活在特區而非監獄的假象。

這些日本人在20出頭的年紀被迫與故鄉分開，在一個怪異且仇視日人的國家活了四分之一世紀，當他們被送回故國時，這個遮遮掩掩的國家幾乎沒有給他們任何一句道歉的話！

本書作者Boynton解析了這些綁架案背後奇怪的邏輯思維，獨家採訪了這些俘虜，再現了他們活在北韓的故事，並且思考這個事件對俘虜和日本政府的影響。除了俘虜，作者也與國族主義者、特工、叛逃者、外交官、甚至漁夫深入交談，探索韓國與日本長達一世紀以上在文化與種族的衝突與張力。


A bizarre, little-known tale about the most secretive culture on earth

For decades, North Korea denied any part in the disappearance of dozens of Japanese citizens from Japan’s coastal towns and cities in the late 1970s. But in 2002, with his country on the brink of collapse, Kim Jong-il admitted to the kidnapping of thirteen people and returned five of them in hopes of receiving Japanese aid. As part of a global espionage project, the regime had attempted to reeducate these abductees and make them spy on its behalf. When the scheme faltered, the captives were forced to teach Japanese to North Korean spies and make lives for themselves, marrying, having children, and posing as North Korean civilians in guarded communities known as “Invitation-Only Zones”―the fiction being that they were exclusive enclaves, not prisons.

From the moment Robert S. Boynton saw a photograph of these men and women, he became obsessed with their story. Torn from their homes as young adults, living for a quarter century in a strange and hostile country, they were returned with little more than an apology from the secretive regime.

In The Invitation-Only Zone, Boynton untangles the bizarre logic behind the abductions. Drawing on extensive interviews with the abductees, Boynton reconstructs the story of their lives inside North Korea and ponders the existential toll the episode has had on them, and on Japan itself. He speaks with nationalists, spies, defectors, diplomats, abductees, and even crab fishermen, exploring the cultural and racial tensions between Korea and Japan that have festered for more than a century.

A deeply reported, thoroughly researched book, The Invitation-Only Zone is a riveting story of East Asian politics and of the tragic human consequences of North Korea’s zealous attempt to remain relevant in the modern world.