However, there is the claim that they have secret audio recordings of them talking with Kim Jong-Il. I cannot find a reproduction of these recordings yet, but the content of them could very easily vindicate the kidnapping story. I see countless references to these recordings existing, but nothing other than two or three sentences of quotations in terms of their actual content (and the quotes aren’t helpful for our purposes).

Things can get incredibly muddy when you ask what happened after Shin Sang-Ok arrived in NK. Perhaps she was legitimately invited as a guest - even invited under secrecy because she didn't want to ruin her reputation in the West - and then heard the movie pitch and decided "Nah, this sucks, I don't wanna".

All Kim Jung-Il would have to say to put leverage on her is "I'll tell the western press you were here." And he could have suggested a whole lot worse than that, ranging from "I'll suggest you're a spy working for me" to "I'll accuse you of spying on behalf of the west before you leave". Because of the highly volatile nature of North/South relationships, its incredibly easy to get leverage over a resident on the wrong side of the border when you're a ranking government official.

I am slightly more inclined to believe that they are lying

There's definitely a heavy political angle to this that hinges on the question "What was Shin Sang-Ok doing when she started making a film in North Korea?" If you simply assert "She was kidnapped", all the other messy details melt away. But if she accepted a legitimate offer? Or she simply decided to visit on a lark and got embroiled in international politics? Or she was lured there under false pretenses and trapped? Anything is possible. The degree to which we might judge the Kims personally, or the nature of the NK State, varies heavily based on a very fine reading of what these movie makers knew and when they knew it.