Shiri And The Korean War

Korea was divided at the 38th parallel at the “conclusion” of the Korean War (1950-1953) between Communist North Korea and Democratic South Korea. The trauma experience by the Korean people is clearly shown in the three films (Shiri, JSA, and Brotherhood), where the characters are haunted by the separation of the land (Teo Stephen). The division of Korea has been portrayed in films and other media in a different ways, varying from portraying the division as being the cause of separation of family/friends (JSA) to depicting the opposing side as monsters (Shiri) and showing that both Koreas were responsible for the bloodshed (Brotherhood). All three films share the theme of a hope for reunification between the two Koreas and the nostalgia of

The name “Shiri” refers to a fish that inhabits the waters of both Koreas; the character Park Mu-young delivers a monologue where she explains that this fish does not care that there is conflict between the two Koreas and swims freely between both territories without knowing where it really belongs. Shiri (1999) depicts the division with a Cold War mentality that is: a clear and defined line of good versus evil where the North Koreans are portrayed as malevolent “Monsters” who are out to wreck havoc and destroy the South Korean way of life. The South Koreans are depicted as keepers of the peace who attempt to stop the North Korean agents from detonating a bomb, CTX, during a friendly soccer match between North and South Korea (Choi). In the opening of the firm, the North Korean agents train by killing without remorse and those who show guilt are killed by their comrades. The film shows the female lead, Hee, struggling to choose between her lover (a South Korean agent) and her duty to her country (as a North Korean Assassin). Hee loses her identity as a North Korean as shown when she burns the family picture but she gains a new identity when she receives cosmetic surgery and replaces Yu’s girlfriend. In the end she makes a choice to participate in the bombing but she also leaves a message for her lover, informing him about the

JSA reveals the optimism of improved North and South relations during the era of the Sunshine Policy (Yecies). The Sunshine policy was a foreign policy towards North Korea from 1998 to 2008 (Swe); it emphasizes three principles with the goal of a nonviolent coexistence between both countries rather than government change. The movie deals with the possibility of forming a friendship bond between enemies especially when fraternizing with the enemy comes with the threat of death. The movie depicts the fragile peace by showing the scene where the foreigner’s hat lands on the North Korean side and everyone tenses when the North Korea soldier picks it up; this shows that any small event can eventually trigger a full-scale war. The two North Korean and two South Korean soldiers agree to exclude politics from their clandestine meetings which shows that the ideology ingrained within them to hate and exterminate the enemy loses its authority when confronted with reality of friendship. The division temporarily vanishes when the friends are together, but there are reminders that their friendship is brittle such as the scene when the soldiers are taking a picture but the North Korean leaders in the background are shown. At the end of the movie, Sergeant Lee commits suicide because he feels guilty for killing his North Korean friend and ensures that his