9

CHAPTER I
KOREA: NATION, COLONIALISM, DIVISION AND
IDENTITY

The Korean peninsula, although a small nation in terms of geography, has

gained an important place in the world history. Colonization and the postcolonial

division have flagged Korea – a small country – on the global map. Nations that

have undergone the wrath of war, colonial rule, division of the nation have taken up

front seat in world history. In this sense, Korea has experienced all three of these

situations. Under the Japanese colonial rule Korea as a country and the Korean

culture has experienced many laws and rules that has had effect on its collective

national identity. Like many other colonial countries Korea too has battled and is

still battling the aftermath of colonialism. Japan as the colonial power has constantly

attempted to eradicate the Korean culture by forcefully eradicating the teaching of

Korean languages in school, destroying the Korean Emperor‘s palace and removing

the Korean history from the school curriculum. Japan tried to erase the Korean

Identity and replace it with the Japanese identity. Japan further expanded its control

in the area of education. ―The Japanese attempt to annihilate the Korean national

consciousness was even more conspicuous in educational policy‖ (Ministry of

Culture and Tourism, Republic of Korea). It was the March 1st Movement in 1919

that begun the initial step towards the Korean Independence. While the Japanese

history claims that less than half a million protestors participated in the movement,

the Korean history records two million participants to have been a part of the protest.

The Japanese armed forces brutally terminated more than seven thousand protestors.
 10

Japan brutally used the power of Korea and China during the World War II. The

women were sent as sex slaves in the name of ‗comfort women‘ to their troupes.

Even today many Koreans are bitter and antagonistic about the sexual assault of their

women during the colonial rule and World War II. More than 200,000 Korean

women were compelled into sexual being sexual slaves for the Japanese military.

Woo-Keun Han(1970) in his work ‗The History of Korea‘ says that

young girls were taken in trains with other girls and sent to the frontlines of the war

in the Pacific and were forced to work in brothels for the Japanese military . They

were made to stay in shacks that were over crowded near the frontlines with just a

blanket on the floor and were identified by number rather than names, drugged,

beaten, and raped. Lines of Japanese soldiers formed, some carrying condoms

labeled ―Let‘s Attack.‖ However, venereal diseases still ran rampant and left many

of the women swollen with infection.

To keep Korea under its tight control, Japan prevented Koreans from

organizing groups and extinguished any form of political dissent or rebellion. In

protest of the intolerable aggression, oppression, and plundering of the Japanese,

Koreans staged a nationwide uprising on March 1st, 1919, known as the March 1st

Movement (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Republic of Korea). A group of

Korean leaders launched an independence struggle, both at home and abroad,

sending massive street protests throughout the country. In response to the protests,

Japan initiated a brutal campaign of repression, using the military to disrupt the

demonstrations. Six Japanese infantry battalions and 400 military police troops were

brought in to suppress the peaceful protests. In the end, 7,500 Koreans were killed
 11

and 16,000 were wounded (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Republic of Korea).

The iron hand of Japan gripped tightly at the throat of the Korean independence

movement. Defining any independence resistance as criminal, the Japanese used a

policy of massacre to discourage those potentially willing to fight for independence.

Many Koreans were tortured to get information about possible rebellions and

conspiracies. Conspirators were either incarcerated or executed without trial. One

example of Japan‘s efforts to suppress resistance occurred on April 15th of 1919.

Thirty villagers were ordered to assemble in a Christian church by a squad of

Japanese troops. The windows and doors of the church were all closed and the

church which burnt for five hours while Japanese troops fired a concentrated barrage

of bullets at the villagers which included women and infants. Thirty one houses in

the village were set afire, and elsewhere, 317 houses in 15 villages were burnt down

by the military in the vicinity. Such horrendous acts were not rare as Koreans

struggled to survive from starvation and military repression.

The March 1st Movement (1919) of Korea can be compared to that of the

Jalianwalabagh Massacre(1919) that took place in India during the same year. Like

Korea India also has had its experience of colonial rule. The British rule was no

different from the Japanese rule in Korea. For both the Indian and Korean, nations it

was after the World War II that the ray of independence became brighter. World

War II made the colonial powers to gradually understand that the nations under their

rule need to be granted independence for the world super powers became keen on

maintaining peace globally and started watching the internal affairs of the nations.

The Korean independence was nearly at the time of the Indian Independence. When
 12

the British rule ended and Independence was declared in India, another problem

erupted and it was the Indian Partition. The same situation prevailed in Korea too.

The division of North Korea and South Korea took place. Unlike the Indian

partition, the Korean Division had super powers involved in the background. China

and Russia influenced the North Korean communist rule while United States of

America backed up South Korea. Even though the reason for the partition of India

and division of Korea is ideologically different, the consequences experienced by the

common people were the same. India and Pakistan partitioned due to religious

differences did leave the people with broken families, lost love, separated friendship

and a sudden thrust of nationalism created by geographical boundaries. The colonial

power that declared the two countries as ‗independent‘ left them to start a new kind

of war that exists till today. Similar was the case with Korea too, which was divided

during the same time when Indian partition happened. North Korea was led by

communist ideology while South Korea had more liberal government.

The Partition of India was to bring about two separate states based on their

religious differences, a Hindu state and a Muslim state so as to create two stable

countries with balanced governments. It was a planned part of the decolonization or

the independence process. The people‘s representatives of both the sides were

consulted and the partition was an elaborate process. Meanwhile the division of

Korea came about because Japan surrendered to the US in World War II. The

Japanese rule ended almost overnight in the Korean peninsula leaving the country in

a ragged and chaotic state. With Soviet Union backing one set of freedom fighters,

occupied the north while the United States of America, backing another group,
 13

occupied the south (Cumings,2010). The decision to divide Korea was taken in

Washington by essentially drawing a straight line halfway all the way through a map

of the Korean peninsula and presented to the Soviet Union as a way of confirming

respective areas of authority. The line was primarily drawn to avoid instantaneous

conflict between the two sides. It was a hurried resolution based on the geopolitical

situation that reflected the pre Cold War environment. The division of Korea was

totally done by the super powers that had had the least Korean connect. The Korean

peninsula was a front of intense power politics. The civil war had multiple

‗international dimensions after June 1950‘because, post Japan‘s defeat in the World

War II the Korean soil became the proxy ground of war to the world super powers

to execute their political agenda(Steuck,2004). William Steuck (2004) in his work

―Rethinking the Korean War” says that the competition among the world super

powers grew out of the alteration in the power structures in northeast Asia due to the

surrender of Japan in World War II and also the extreme ideological conflict

between the Soviet and the United states. Steuck (2004) records that:

― Although these two powers occupied Korea and divided it

at the thirty-eighth parallel without direct input from native peoples,

perceptions in Washington of conditions on the peninsula were

critical in that decision.‖ (Pg 04)

The Korean political scenario had the strong indulgence of the world super

powers. While North Korea as heavily backed by the Communist super powers

Russia and China, South Korea had its support from Unite States of America. As

history says the 38th parallel was as a matter of fact was drawn by the American
 14

soldiers who decided the border of the two countries. Following World War II, the

Korean peninsula was divided along the 38th parallel, with the creation of

communist-backed North Korea and the anti-communist Republic of South Korea.

Just five days before Japan surrendered to the US after the bombing of Hiroshima,

US officials Dean Rusk and Charles Bonesteel were given the task of demarcating

the US occupied zone in East Asia. Without consulting any Koreans, they randomly

decided to cut Korea roughly in half along the 38th parallel of latitude, ensuring that

the capital city of Seoul would be in the American section. (Steuck, 2004)

The Japanese forces in North Korea surrendered to the Soviet while the

troops in South surrendered to the US. The US forces wanted the entire peninsula to

be led by capitalists while the Soviets wanted a communist government. The US

appointed an anti-communist leader Syngman Rhee in South Korea. The South

declared itself a nation in May of 1948. Rhee was formally installed as the first

president of Republic of Korea, ROK (South Korea) in August 1948, and

immediately began waging a low-level war against communists and other leftists

south of the 38th parallel.

1. UN Troopes crossing the 38th parallel [Online Image] Retrived

from Time Life Pictures—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty,
http://time.com/3915803/korean-war-1950-history/
 15

At the same time in North Korea, the Soviets appointed Kim Il Sung who had

served during the war as a major in the Soviet Red Army, as the new leader of

Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, DPRK(North Korea). He officially took

office on September 9, 1948. Kim Il Sung eliminated political opposition, especially

from capitalists, and started the formation of cult of personality. By 1949, statues of

Kim Il Sung were constructed all over North Korea, and he called himself the "Great

Leader." (Szczepanski, 2017)

On June 25, 1950, Kim Il Sung with the intention of unifying both the Koreas

under the communist rule, wagged a sudden war on the South and occupied Seoul

that triggered the three year long Korean War that Killed more than 3 million people.

Unfortunately it was the beginning of a never ending conflict.

2. Statue of Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang [Online Image]

https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/photo/statue-of-kim-il-sung-north-korea-
high-res-stock-photography/86267852

The two nations ended up from where they started, holding positions at the

38th parallel which is now demarcated as the ‗Demilitarised Zone‘ (DMZ) a 4 km

wide and 250 km long heavily guarded strip of land. Contrary to the term
 16

Demilitarised Zone, the DMZ is the most militarized zone that has more than 1

million land mines in it. The signing of an Armistice between the UN, North Korea

and Chinese forces in 1953 created this zone of buffer. This is where the

negotiations and talks between the two nations take place.

3. South Korean Soldiers Patrol in DMZ

https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/destinations/asia/101114420/point-of-no-return-
how-one-wrong-move-could-cost-your-life-at-the-korean-dmz

Division was not the end of all the prevailing political differences, rather

starting point of a cold war which continues to the present day. Partition or division,

the macro level political resurgence left the micro level common people with broken

identities and disturbing memories. The never ending war scenario had become a

part of the country‘s nationalistic goals both in India or Korea. The memories of the

separated families have grown to be a part of the national identities. North Korea and

South Korea never signed a peace treaty after armistice in 1953 which implies that

the two nations are technically still at war.

 17

Today the Korean political situation is always given an important slot

in the global media. Apart from the South Korea‘s well developed economy,

People‘s Republic of Korea‘s (North Korea) policy of closing the doors to the rest of

the world makes the nations get significant media attention.

4. Satellite image of the Korean Peninsula showing a scarcely lit North Korea [Online Image]
http://bigthink.com/strange-maps/218-koreas-dark-half

North Korea‘s strict elusiveness is one major factor of the prevailing political

tensions. L.Salter and F.Griztner (2007) in their book „North Korea‟ say that ―Since

its founding in 1948, North Korea has been more inaccessible and less interactive

than any other nation in East Asia. In fact, it has remained one of the most

deliberately isolated of all of the world‘s countries.‖ (Pg 08)

North Korea and South Korea share the same cultural past, the

infringement of colonial Japan and the indulgence of the world super powers in

shaping the political ideologies, which led to their division and left their families

fragmented. The political ideologies had least influence on the common masses; it
 18

can rather be said that Korea thrived as a stage for the super powers to enact their

political drama. The people were the ultimate victims in an intertwined political play

by the capitalist and communist powers of the world. The internal conflict between

North Korea and South Korea has been a political drama on the world stage that the

media is always keen to capture.

The Korean War was a multifaceted event in world history. Since the

war, the Korean history, culture, identity and memory has been under strong scrutiny

of the academics in world universities. Like the holocaust and Vietnam War, which

has been a major field of study for Cultural Critics and Memory Studies scholars, the

Korean scenario has also become one of the major scopes for the research. The area

of Korean studies has seen tremendous growth in the academic circle. Many

universities across the globe have set up Korean Study Centers for the exclusive

focus on politics, economy, literature, culture, identity and memories of war. Some

of the noted global educational institutes that have Korean study centers to promote

Korean studies are The Centre for Korean Studies (CKS), Jawaharlal Nehru

University(established in the year 1976); Centre of Korean Studies University of

London, created in 1987; The UCLA Center for Korean Studies established in the

year 1993;The Center for Korea Studies University of Washington, established in

1988 within the East Asian Institute (now the Weatherhead East Asian Institute); the

Center for Korean Research, Columbia University 1993. The Korea Institute at

Harvard is devoted solely to support the development of Korean Studies and was

established in the year 1981 and The Centre for the Study of Korea (CSK);

University of Toronto which was established in 2006. There are many more notable
 19

educational institutions that have prominent centers solely dedicated to Korean

studies

While academicians have been contributing to the study of Korean

war, the media fraternity has also been busy recording the Korean war from its

prism. Literature, art and media have played a crucial role in recording the events of

war. Media, especially films had done major contribution in the representation of

Korean War on screen.

Film makers across the globe have constantly been inspired by war

scenarios and have shown wars from various aspects. Films have been a great way to

portray the plight of the victims of war and the troubles of a common man stuck in

the political combat of one country and another. Hollywood, as the largest film

industry in the world, has brought out many war films right from Casablanca to

American Sniper, the films have portrayed the lives of the soldiers, their families,

people caught in the midst of war etc. Hollywood films have represented the

Holocaust in movies like Schindler‘s List. Films like Saving Private Ryan, Forrest

Gump, Full Metal Jacket, and Apocalypse Now are films that focused on depicting

Vietnam War. It was not only in Hollywood but other film industries had their own

version of war stories to tell.

Films like Das Boot, Cross of Iron, Stalingrad and The Downfall showed the

World War stories. Indian films on the other hand, had their stories about the Indian

Independence and partition to show. Films like Megha Dhakka Tara, Earth, Hey

Ram, Garm Hava, Train to Pakistan, Subarnalekha are films that dealt with the

aftermath of partition and identity crisis of the people. Partitions and divisions are
 20

the pivotal recursive themes of war films in Asia. Post Colonial situations are

common pan Asia. South Asia, Israel Palestine and the Korean Peninsula have their

own versions of colonial past and post colonial struggles.

Bhaskar Sarkar, in his work „Partition: The Political Horizons of

Contemporary Indian and Korean War Films‟, writes that Palestine/Israel, South

Asia, and the Korean Peninsula linger as the three prominent case of ‗postcolonial

partition‘ in Asia. Of these, Palestine/Israel has transformed into ―an agonizing ambit

of occupation and segregation, its future shrouded in uncertainty.‖ Hence

contemporary Israeli and Palestinian cinemas are proliferating in making films on

partition. Films such as Wedding in Galilee (1987), Divine Intervention (2002), The

Bubble (2006) and Waltz with Bashir (2008) unfold around borders and checkposts,

displaced communities, fractured selves. However, the region‘s tormented history

and shifting cartography mark it as fundamentally distinct from the South Asian and

Korean experiences of post-partition nationhood (Sarkar, 2009).

This research centers on studying the memories of a post colonial/ post war/

post division society that are represented in a film. The Korean history provides this

study a productive frame to study the cultural memory and self-identity of the

individuals of the society through the lenses of cinema. Films have always been an

important media in all the societies to represent the past struggles to the present

generation. Films are, in a way, a mode of remembering the past. Literature, art and

media serve as a creative platform for the artists and authors to bring about an

alternate perception of the projected dominant history. In countries like India and

Korea the filmmakers and writers took up to films and literature to show their views
 21

on innocent political victims of macro level politics. Korean cinema has

autonomously carried out an analogous rethinking of the Korean history over the

past few decades since the democratic status of the South Korean state. During this

period film directors also have expanded their handling of the Korean War ahead of

that of official history, as well as curved into other highly susceptible and delicate

areas of Korea‘s post division history including the ‗government plans to assassinate

Kim Il Sung (Silmido, 2002) and the 1980 Kwangju massacre (May 18, Hwarynhan

hyuga, 2007)‘. Many films have also portrayed the ever-occurring student protests.

Those, like Joint Security Area (2002), play with the idea of friendly North-South

relations. (Paquet, 2010)

After the Korean Division, the South Korean film makers came up

with films that spoke about the martyrs and concentrated on inculcating nationalism

in the audience. The North Koreans were always portrayed as heartless and cruel

savages who treated South Koreans with extreme brutality. The communists were

shown as villains and the films spoke about the sacrifice of the South Korean

soldiers. The South Korean Government had strict censorship rules until the court

was hit by the International Monetary Fund crisis. The influence of Hollywood films

in the South Korean industry led to the fall in number of the Korean films. The

number of films made locally began to decrease greatly due to the emergence of

Hollywood blockbusters. It was in the mid 1990‘s that the Korean Film Industry

began to see resurrection. The directors during this time were called the 386

generation of film makers. This period can be called as the New age of Korean

Cinema; with a new wave of Korean directors stepping on to the front stage, there
 22

were more of Korean blockbusters which also caught the attention of the global

audience. This opening up of the Korean Film Industry led to the show case of an

alternate history. More films that showcased the historical past of the Korean state

were released. Unlike the initial war films that showed North Koreans as villains, the

films makers started portraying the North Koreans in positive light.

The ‗humanisation‘ of North Koreans was vivid in the films. Films like, JSA,

Shiri, Taegukgi, Welcome to Dongmakgol did not promote nationalism or show

North Koreans in poor light, and rather they spoke of the untold history of

individuals stuck in the havoc of war. Such films concentrated on the situations and

troubles of the common people, their mental/emotional conflicts and their identity

crisis. These films showed what the mainstream history failed to cover.

5. Posters of Korean War Films: JSA, Welcome to Dongmakgol and Tae-guk-ki [Online
Image] http://asianwiki.com/

The events that were left untold in institutional history were shown as

visuals. These films unfolded the memories of the past from an alternate prism of

history wherein the enemies were shown as humans and foes as friends. These films

put forth the morale that victory in war is not going to make individuals happy; the

situation of the cold war is never-ending and the memories of war are wounds of the
 23

present. A counter history to the dominant historical record of the war was illustrated

on the screen. These films spoke of peace and friendship by showing the experiences

of the people and making the audience remember the national trauma. The characters

in these films are an entity of an untold history evoking the audience to look back at

the past events from a sympathetic outlook for the enemies. The characters break the

stereotypes of the identity of an enemy that were created previously by the political

super powers and show that the ‗enemy‘ can be their own family member killing

their own kin and kith in war; it brought to the forefront that the categorization of the

enemies was mere political game of the external forces. The true enemy is shown as

the outsider (US & China) in these films. These films do not explicitly talk about the

need for unification of the two countries. They rather pave way to the present and

future generation to perceive the possibilities of unification.

The films show that the condition of the people during war was no different

from that of their enemies and the impacts left are similar on both sides. They

attempt to make the audience invest themselves emotionally in the sufferings of the

opposite side. These films act as a crossing point of the politically constructed reality

to lived reality of the common people. North Koreans are no longer antagonists in

these films but are as emotionally broken as the South Koreans. War is not the

choice of the commons but a prerogative of bureaucracy is the essence of these

films. Films act as a visual memorial of the past tragedy and are an interface for the

present generation to look into the precedent events and perceive the possible future.

This alternative historical portrayal flips the outlook of the identities of the soldiers

and the civilians. War films by enlarge; deal with the idea of identity politics and
 24

memories. Understanding identity politics has been an important study in the field of

Cultural Study. Identities in a way are socially and culturally constructed. The

understanding of any text depends upon how the text is perceived by the audience.

Films as texts are read by the audience according to their identity. While the film

texts try to act as memorials of the past event, it also stresses in creating new

memories. Annette Khun (2016) opines that:

―Films may reference or commemorate past, often

traumatic, events or bring to mind ones that have been

forgotten or repressed; and they may even actively construct

cultural memory. Memory can also, arguably, constitute a

mood or sensibility in a film, and memory can be expressed

and evoked through formal and stylistic features that are

peculiar to cinema. Cinema‘s entire corpus can even be

regarded as a repository, or an archive, of memory.‖ (Pg 20-

25 )

It is always argued that media texts are perceived by audience according to

their personal, social, national and cultural identities. Films, in particular which are

based on past events of a nation, contribute towards building the identity of the

audience and re-imagine the history.

An individual‘s self-identity is also a construction of social and cultural

environment. Anthony Giddens says that in today‘s world self-identity is shaped by

the developed modernity which makes people to decide who they have to be, what

they need to do and how they need to behave. Early societies had defined roles for
 25

each individual but as modernity enveloped the societies, social changes encouraged

people to look at themselves and decide what kind of person they have to be and

thereby sculpt their identities. The self identity became a reflexivity of transforming

social environment. The contemporary situation in which people lives decides on

their identity. The people as individual ‗agencies‘ either accept the changes by

‗macro‘ institutions or decide to change their ways depending on their present

setting.

An individual‘s identity is also created by the past experience, both personal

and collective. In a society like Korea that has experienced war and trauma, the

identity of the individuals and the nation as a whole is influenced by the past.

Memories work in different levels of identities of the people, be it collective identity,

personal identity or cultural identity. Personal memories can be called as untold

history, a counter history to the mainstream institutional history promoted by the

government. When such memories are recorded or objectified in the form of artistic

outcome, they become cultural memory of the society. Literary works on the past

events, folklore, art forms, architectural forms of remembering (memorials) and

media texts can be categorized as forms of cultural memory. These cultural

memories act as a point of remembrance of the past and a reflection of the present

and a message to the future. This process of implicating the history makes these

cultural memories play a vital role in reminding the past and also secure the cultural

identity of the society. Korean films even today, deal with the representation of the

earlier times of colonial and post colonial past and identity crisis of the nation.
 26

In the case of Korea, there has always been a crisis of maintaining the

Korean identity. Initially, under the imperialist Japan, Korean cultural identity was

rupture to inculcate the Japanese identity. Later the Korean society got caught in the

political web of communist vs anti communist identity. Even though both the

countries shared a common cultural and historical identity, the division and cold war

situations sculpted the identities of the people. The country itself had a ‗post

colonial‘, ‗post war‘ ‗Cold war‘ labels attached to it on a global front indicating that

its citizens have had a traumatic past of experiencing war. The national identity of its

people was created based on the communist, and anti communist ideologies. The

political and cultural past of the nation has provided the artists a bigger canvas to fill

in with their personal memory and portray the collective memory of the masses.

Since 1953, the Korean Armistice was signed; the Demilitarized Zone has served as

an inspiration for many screen writers and directors.

The Motion Picture Law of Korea, which was relaxed in the year 1996 and

was re introduced as Film Promotion law, paved wave for the new wave directors to

experiment with their newer ideologies to the past miseries. The Government with

its liberal attitude promoted the domestic film market. The period from the 1990s to

the mid-2000s is considered as the renaissance period for the South Korean cinema,

as the industry began to gain international recognition. (Paquet,2010)

Jennifer Rousse-Marquet,(2013) in her article „The Unique Story of the South

Korean Film Industry‟ mentions that the South Korean film industry has a unique

history. From their propaganda movies to their Golden Lion award films at the

Venice Film Festival, the South Korean films have exceptional reception. Rousse-
 27

Marquet states that South Korea is one of the few countries where local productions

have a dominant share of the domestic market, surpassing American movies. Not

only do Korean movies garner public attention in their homeland, but they also win

awards in prestigious international film festivals such as Cannes, Berlin or Venice:

in September 2012, during the 69th Venice Film Festival, the best film award went

to ‗Pietà‘, by the South Korean director Kim Ki-Duk.

The financial assistance of multinational companies like Samsung, Hyundai

and Lotte to the film industry gave the film makers freedom to nurture their creative

output in a better way. Rousse-Marquet states that the year 1992 marks the year of

the very first film sponsored by ‗chaebol (Korean conglomerates)‘. The

multinational company of Samsung became the first Korean conglomerate to step

into the film industry by investing quarter percentage of the film Marriage Story by

the director Kim Ui-seok . ―The movie was a box office hit, drawing 526 000

admissions in Seoul alone. A new source of finance was born for producers. Other

chaebols which got involved in the film industry in the early 90‘s include Daewoo

and Hyundai‖ (Rousse-Marquet, 2012). Since 1998 the Korean films, Korean drama

and popular culture has been of great interest to the global audience. The South

Korean government supported the domestic film production and also promoted the

films in international market. Apart from its contribution to investment funds, the

government created the the Korean Film Council (KOFIC), a self-administered body

played a significant role in stimulating and protecting the domestic industry.

Launched in 1999, this organization was set up to support and promote the Korean

film Industry in the local and international markets. (KOFIC). The KOFIC supports

the film industry by providing funds for production, supporting independent

 28

productions, assisting in the marketing activities of the films in international film

festival and also promoting art house theatres. The KOFIC also sponsors and

organizes film festivals, and publishes a number of books and magazines in English.

It also helps in the release and screenings of Korean productions, including

documentary and animation films in foreign countries. The organization has also

established The Ancillary Market Distribution Management System, a distribution

platform for copyrighted online cinema content and runs KoBiz, an online business

center for international PR for Korean films. South Korean Ministry of Culture and

Tourism With the intention of promoting the art and culture of the nation has been in

regular attempt to help the film industry grow internationally. In 1996, the Busan

International Film Festival (BIFF), the first international film festival in Korea, was

constituted to launch and support new directors and cinema with specific

concentration to Asian cinema.

South Korea‘s Ministry of Culture and Tourism mentions in their

official website that in the year 2000 Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF) and

chiefly throws spotlight on ‗digital, independent and art films‘. In the first edition of

the BIFF the 173 films from 31 countries was screened and during 2012, 304 films

from 75 countries was staged. South Korean Government also conducts other

international film festivals like the Puchon International fantastic Film Festival

(PiFan) which was inaugurated in 1997. The reception of the Korean films has been

relatively increasing among the global audience. This can also be attributed to the

economical growth of the Republic of Korea. After the great financial crisis, the

South Korea grew into a country which is the home for the above mentioned
 29

Multinationals that spread its industrial wings globally. India also has these

companies‘ branches in its important cities. Chennai, one of India‘s important

metropolitan is a hub for more than 300 Korean Companies. The Special Economic

Zone of Chennai In Sriperembedur houses not only small Korean companies but also

huge Korean multinationals like the Samsung, Hyundai, and Lotte. These companies

along with the Korean Consulate support the cultural growth of Korea in the city.

Promoting the culture of one‘s country in foreign environment helps to retain their

cultural identity and also promote their cultural practice. Chennai is home to nearly

five thousand Koreans.

The progress of information technology and the deep dispersion of high-

speed internet in the country demonstrate Korea‘s regional appearance, as it has

come into view as the leader of information and communication technology (ICT)

and telecommunications products and services. South Korea is the world‘s most hi-

tech country with super speed internet its cultural products like drama serials,

movies, pop music and online video games are now received by the world

population. Korean cultural products are a vogue among the consumers of culture

industries.

The strong trends in the South Korea‘s domestic media content is aptly

referred to as the Korean Wave (Hallyu in Korean) (Dal Yong Jin and Tae-jin

Yoon,2017) and the music is famously called as K-POP. The fame of Korean culture

in terms of overseas consumption has been escalating. The export of Korean cultural

products between 1998 and 2015 increased by 21.4 times, from U.S.$189 million in

1998 to U.S.$4 billion in 2014 according to the South Korean Ministry of Culture,
 30

Sports and Tourism. The spread of these trends in the neighboring states is an

indication of the recognition of South Korean cultural product The Korean Wave

first and foremost began with a few well scripted television dramas that were

popular in Asian countries like India, China, Japan and Indonesia and the local

cultural industries have highly developed numerous cultural forms, including

popular music (K-pop), animation, and digital games, which have gradually

dispersed in the global markets. Dal Yong Jin and Tae-jin (2017) Yoon in their

article „The Korean Wave: Retrospect and Prospect‟ in The International Journal of

Communication, state that:

―The interest in Korean popular culture and digital media

has triggered the growth of several relevant areas, such as

tourism, Korean cuisine, and Korean language. Due to the

increasing role of the Korean Wave for the national economy

and culture, the Korean government has substantially changed

its cultural policy, in particular to capitalize on the Korean Wave

as a means of soft power to enhance the national image.‖ (Pg

2242)

In India Chennai and Delhi are two major cities that has a significant Korean

population. According to The Consulate General of The Republic of Korea in

Chennai, Chennai houses are more than 300 Korean companies, and have 5,000

Korean people as its residents. The South Korean community is the biggest émigré

community here. The increasing Korean population in these cities can be attributed

to the presence of the Korean companies in the cities. Chennai in particular has a
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brighter cultural presence of the Koreans compared to other places in India. The

Tamil Korean connection dates back to early centuries when the two countries were

connected by sea routes traced for the purpose of commerce. Certain researches also

indicate that the Korean queen Heo Hwang Ok, the first queen of the Gaya

Kingdom, was originally from Tamil Nadu. Kannan Narayanan (2011) in his paper

‗The Tamil-Korean Relationship‘ states that, there are nearly 500 words in Tamil

and Korean that have similar meaning and sounds. The classic example is the use of

‗appa‘ and ‗amma‘. The Koreans like the Tamils call their father and mother as

‗appa‘ and ‗amma‘. The word ‗Aphada‘ is similar to the Tamil word ‗Avathipadu‘

which mean ‗in pain‘ in both languages. Likewise ‗Vanakkam‘ in Tamil is

‗Vangapta‘ in Korean, ‗ Manaivi‘ in Tamil is ‗Manura‘ in Korean meaning ‗wife‘,

‗Nal‘ in Korean is ‗Nal‘ in Tamil which means ‗day‘, ‗pul‘ in Korean and ‗pul‘ in

Tamil means grass. ‗Na‘ in Korean is ‗Nan‘ in Tamil which means ‗I‘. There are

more words like Pambu meaning a snake in Tamil, is Bambu-baem in

Korean. Apparam (later) in Tamil is Appuro in Korean. The syntax and grammar of

both the languages are also similar. The two cultures share similar cultural and

traditional practices too, like having green chilies hung in front of the house to avoid

negative vibes, girls playing five stones, bowing in front of elders as respect and

leaving the footwear outside the house. The food culture of the Tamils and the

Korean too is similar, with rice being a staple diet for both the population. The

Tamil-Korean culture overlaps in many aspects especially the family structure,

values and customs. Hence the cultural collaboration has its roots way back to the

13th century. Kannan Narayanan records that smallest similarity is something both

Tamils and Koreans have to be proud of. Like how the Tamils cannot have a meal
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without pickle and Koreans too can't have food without Kimchi. Not only the food

habits, the Korean drum dance has nearly 12 similarities to the Tamil drum dance

‗Thappattam‘. (Vedhprakash, 2018)

The Tamil-Korean connect provides us with an expansive area for social

and cultural research. The growing industrial and trade ties, influence of popular

culture, inspirations of artistic works are major facets of such intercultural connect.

With a considerably large population of Koreans in the city, the cultural significance

in the neighborhood is noteworthy. Korean food, Korean restaurants, residential

areas housing large Korean population, Korean drama (First Stop Coffee Prince,

Full House, You are Beautiful, Boys over Flowers, Decendants of the Sun, Healers

and and more), K-Pop (Psy‟s Gangam Style) and Korean films (My Sassy Girl, My

Desparado, Seven days, 3Iron etc) have become a part of the city‘s essential

intercultural feature. Dal Yong Jin, Tae-Jin Yoon (2017) say that the Korean Wave

(hallyu in Korean) marks a historical point and celebrates its 20th anniversary in

2017.

The cultural connect, the similarities of political situations (colonial, post

colonial and division of nations), linguistic connect (Tamil and Hangul), the visible

increase of the Korean population in the city, the artistic inspirations of Korean films

in Indian films are major basis for this study. Some of the notable Indian remakes of

Korean films are Jazzba, 2015( Seven Days, 20017), Jigarthanda 2014(A Dirty

Carnival, 2006), Yaam Iruka Bhayamey, 2014( A Quiet Family, 1998), Ugli Aur

Pagli,2008(My Sassy Girl, 2001) and Kadhalum Kadanthu Pogum, 2017(My

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Desperado, 2010). The cultural connect makes it easier for the Indian film makers to

adapt the screenplays of the Korean movies to the Indian context.

This research aims to study how a Korean War film works as a carrier of

cultural memory, that might possibly influence the self-identity of the Koreans in

Chennai or whether the films are perceived based on the existing self-identity and

are accepted or rejected as cultural memories.

Films, Cultural Memories and Culture:

Talking about the cultural products of South Korea, films form an integral

part of the cultural industry of a country. Films can depict the war in a way no other

medium can. Most of the films have the backdrop of the official history and tend to

tell the story of individuals, feelings and loss of war. War films try to recreate and

remind what had happened in the past. These films connect a community to their

past through stories and images that stir the audience‘s memory and feelings. These

films become a war monument in themselves as they show images that would give a

sense of how it is to be part of a war to the audience who have not witnessed war

directly. The films portray a collective history and are carriers of the memories of

the past. This makes a war film a medium to make the audience remember their

cultural and political history. Memory making becomes one important aspect of war

films.

First and foremost, it is necessary to know the working of memories in

social, individual and cultural contexts. Memories are a link between the present and

the past. As Joanne- Hansen (2011) claims, memories not only connect the past and
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the present but also link the present generation to its history, community, family,

culture and heritage, all the aspects that contribute in creating one‘s self-identity.

Most of the time memories come out of nowhere. Like a flash of lightening

memories are triggered all of a sudden taking us back to the past and reliving it in

the mind. Even a little aspect can trigger vast memories. For example the smell of

lighting a match stick might remind an ex-soldier about the smell of guns fired in the

war field and can bring back memories of his experience on the war field. When we

encounter things that remind us of the past, our memories travel back in time in

micro-seconds. As Maurice Halbawchs (1950) puts it, each individual comprises of

memories that are socially mediated and relates to a group. Memory is knowledge

with an identity index, it is knowledge about one‘s self, one‘s own diachronic

identity, be it as an individual or as a member of a family, generation, community,

nation or cultural and religious traditions.

Cultural memory can be understood by familiarizing the concept of

‗Collective Memory‘. Maurice Halbawchs, a French Sociologist came up with the

concept of ‗Collective Memory‘. Halbawchs in his book Les cadres sociaux de la

memoire(The Social frames of Memory, 1925), and La memoire collective

(Collective memory, 1950), talks about the idea of collective memory as a collective

knowledge of a community about their past. Collective memories define cultural and

group identities. Wulf Kansteiner explains Halbwachs‘ idea of Collective memory as

―not history though it is made out of similar material. It manifests in the action and

statement of individual. Social and Historical events form the base but it privileges

the contemporary.‖ (Kansteiner, 2004)

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It was Jan Assman, a German Egyptologist who took up Halbwachs‘

‗Collective Memory‘ and classified into ‗Communicative Memory‘ and ‗Cultural

Memory‘ in his work Das kulturelle Gedachtnis (Cultural Memory, 1992).

Communicative memories refer to daily mode of communication in which the past

events are spoken about and a meaning of the event is created through oral

communication. Communicative memory is subject to the individual perception of

the past event. Oral communication about the past is a form of remembrance that is

very short-lived. It may last through only one generation and eventually fades away.

Moreover, communicative memory of historical events is based on the individual‘s

experience of the event.

In contrast to Communicative Memory ―cultural memory consists of

objectified culture, that is, texts, rites, images, buildings and monuments which are

designed to recall fateful events in the history of the collective‖ (Kansteiner, 2002).

Cultural memories provide a narrative to the historical event and have the capability

to create new meanings according to the contemporary social and political context.

The main aspect of cultural memory interlinks the past and the present in the context

of socio-cultural phenomena of the present. The consumers of such cultural

memories transform the meanings of the same according to their pre-existing

perceptions and their contextual knowledge of the past. The cultural memory is

defined mainly by its exteriorized, objectified and stored symbolical forms that can

be transferred in different contexts and times, using the external objects as carriers of

memory (J. Assmann, 2008). Aleida Assmann puts forth a distinction of two areas of

cultural memory, the canon and the archive. The canon is an actively circulated

memory that keeps the past present, and the archive is the passively stored memory
 36

that preserves the past (Assmann, 2008). The main criteria of cultural memory is that

it permits the formation of identity through the community of its receiver while the

second criterion is its ability to be constantly rebuilt according to the present

situation.

In this sense, this research is aims to study the South Korean film Welcome

to Dongmakgol as a carrier of cultural memory and the reception of the film by the

South Korean population in Chennai. The study aims to focus on:

 How film texts become the carriers of cultural memory of a group of

people who share a common past.

 The function of the film as carriers of cultural memory in modifying

the way the audience look at the present and the future.

 How each film text (story, characters, scenes, shots, camera angles,

music etc) can become carriers of cultural memory to the audience.

 Studying the function of the film in playing a vital role in shaping or

altering the self-identity of the people.

 The acceptance or rejection of the film texts as cultural memory

based on the receiver‘s self-identity.

Chapters two and three will elucidate on the required literature for the

research, theoretical framework, research methods and discussions based on the

findings. The research is taken forward using unstructured interviews with a select

audience and analysis of the film text with reference to the film Welcome to

Dongmakgol (Park Kwan Hyun ,2005).