Ths Chosun Ilbo ran an interview with director Kang Woo-suk, whose new film “Hanbando” will open on July 13. We’ve discussed what promises to be an exercise in Korean hypernationalist fantasy before, but why read my tripe when you can get it straight from the director’s mouth?
For example, Kang on the looming threat of Japanese invasion:
- Do you really feel that there is a danger of invasion by Japan?
- Yes, I do. And my normal feelings about Japan are not good. How brazen they are! If we look back on the issues of wartime comfort women, the Japanese prime minister’s visits to the (Yasukuni) shrine, and the recent controversy over the Dokdo islets, a Japanese invasion seems eminently possible. I’m constantly angry because of that. But without this kind of anger, “Hanbando” wouldn’t have been born.
Jesus, the guy doesn’t need a camera; he needs an anger management program.
43 Comments
And duck tape on his mouth.
I just hate Kang.woo.suck.
Kang is the D.W. Griffith of Korean cinema.
This guy is on the Chinese payroll. Hey, wake up, KJI refused the inter-Korea railroad.
Why?
Even a 5-yr old child know, why give up what is already yours? KJI will never loosen his grip on NKs. Just ask him to give up his Gipumjo. He will laugh at your face.
Open up North Korea? If KJI wanted this, he would have done it twenty years ago, with NO HELP from SK.
These pro-North jerks are clueless. Or, are they just pretending to be clueless? I think they are pretending.
Yep, they are on the Chinese payroll!!!
See the head of Jolla Commies, Kim DaeJung, went to Europe for one year. He looked at the German reunification.
And, he got a stupid idea into his birdbrain that two Koreas will be united like Germany.
F***ing asshole.
Two Koreas will be united for sure. But, in VietNam way. Yes, NK attacking SK by force and SK imploding like VietNam.
As soon as the US troops leave, SK will be eaten up. Korea is not Germany. Never was and never will be.
It is VietNam.
Two Germanies united under the US control. There was no rally to kick out the US as is done in Korea.
Why is it then, Kim DaeJung and his lieutenant Rho Muhyun support anti-American Commies and support the US withdrawal, in stark contrast to what happened in Germany? Why?
They just want to take Korea to Chinese camp! This is their hidden agenda, also carried out by this Commie movie director. Well, if they like China, then just go over to NK individually! They have no right to take entire Korean population to the Chinese rule, which will result in untold suffering - poverty, lawlessness, dictatorship, etc.
They have no right.
I just watched the trailer and noticed something interesting…. I’ve seen the imperial Japanese flag used more in Korean entertainment then I’ve seen in Japanese entertainment, lots more. (I can only recall seeing it in historical Japanese dramas/movies, yet see it in both historical and future Korean dramas/movies.)
Stupid premise.
Why make a movie about a fictional hypothetical invasion by Japan. SK is already invaded by foreign troops. In fact, they have been for the past 53 years…duh.
bluejives,
Go to NK. There is no American troops there. Go now, the Great Leader wait for you, to welcome you to Worker’s Paradise.
Work there for your Great Leader, the Sun of 21st century, till you die of hunger. If you are lucky, you may escape to China and serve a Chinese farmer. At least, you will eat.
At least the foreign troops wear uniforms.
The U.S. has been invaded by sleeper cells.
Anyhoo, you have that other simpleton director’s movie about Korean godzilla being created from six gallons of diluted formaldehyde solution dumped in the Han River by evil white U.S. soldiers.
baduk,
You seem so certain of Red China’s ulterior designs behind North Korea’s actions. The last time I checked, China does not maintain thousands of PLA troops on the north side of the DMZ.
The biggest impediment to unification is the unchanged state of war status between NK and the US. The US maintains a heavy military presence in SK and Japan. The US continuously threatens and hints of possible military action against NK. This is the way it has been for the past half century.
Where are we now?
bluejives,
Have you heard of Korean war? What happened there? There was no US troops in Korea.
Do you like Korean Unification so much that you are willing to live under KJI? Do it. Do it now.
Are you a dork? Are you so stupid that you want all Koreans live under KJI?
KJI will not commit suicide or go into exile when the last US troop leave Korea. What then? Shake hands and be friends?
NO! NO! NO! A WAR! A BIG F***ING WAR.
And, this time, NK will win. All Koreans will be serving KJI, who is a puppet set up China.
Bluejives wrote:
The US continuously threatens and hints of possible military action against NK. This is the way it has been for the past half century.
I think you’ve got it backwards, BJ.
Where are we now?
You are apparently still stuck in an ivory tower somewhere.
USFK owes its continued existence to agreements drawn up and signed by democratically elected governments of South Korea and the US. 민주주의 is alive and well, and if a majority of Koreans did not support the presence of the US military, the troops would not be there. Bluejeeves, are you naive enough to believe that KJI would just surrender his kingdom to the south if the US military left? Germany was re-united only after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the East German Communist regime.
Germany’s reunification was not hindered by its participation in NATO or by US military bases in the western half of the country.
Well, actually KJI’s father is a puppet set up by USSR. However, after Korean War, after millions of Chinese died to bring him back to life, China became his new master.
His son,KJI serves China just like his father.
Do you know KJI’s dictatorship will be finished if China cuts off oil to NK? Without oil, NK will go back to 18th century. Horse and cart to carry weapons. Hunger will mount and NK will just implode.
But, China will never do that because NK is a good servant of China. China knows that Korea will be very useful when China goes to war with Japan.
Maybe I misunderstood you, Bluejeeves. Maybe you meant unification under KJI. In that case, yes, you’re absolutely right: the US military has been the biggest impediment to reunification.
QUOTE The US maintains a heavy military presence in SK and Japan. The US continuously threatens and hints of possible military action against NK. This is the way it has been for the past half century. UNQUOTE
Dear bliuejives, last time I checked it was NK which actually started a war and then spent decades not just “threatening and hinting” but sending their troops and agents to fight and kill in SK. They ceased to be active in the late 1980s when - what a coincidence! - their economy began to crumble. However, I have good reasons to suspect that your worries about the US presence are not founded, the “occupying” forces will soon leave Korea. It seems that their withdrawal is essentially decided, and not only because of the current SK political climate, but also because of the strategic value of the Korean peninsula for the US diminished significantly. I doubt whether it will be a good news for Korea, but let’s wait and see. My personal feeling (which might be wrong) is that Korea will be dominated by the Chinese, as it has been for many centuries, and that this time their control will be rather unpleasant. But again, let’s wait and see. One can be almost sure that by 2020, if not earlier, there will be no US soldiers present here. And what will happen next, will be really interesting…
I strongly believe that a formal peace treaty signed by both the US and NK is a primary must for any constructive measures for the future. This necessarily means that US forces must vacate the Korean peninsula.
South Korea must stop relying upon the US for protection. They must take onwership of their own defense. THEN, henceforth, we can talk about joint economic projects, re-attaching roads and rail, etc.
Any reconciliation policy can only truly succeed when former enemies have declared peace.
If these measures are not taken, then things will only continue to get worse, not better. That is already whats happening at the current time.
Blujives, you generally sound like a reasonable person, then you spew some of the silliest pseudo-leftist nonsense that’s ever gone down the Marmot’s Hole–are you another Korean who thinks South Koreans are hapless victims who are unable to control their own country? I’ve got a lot more faith in Korean society than you do.
Also, China has repositioned thousands of PLA troops on the border with N.K. in the last couple of years, ostensibly to keep out refugees, but they could easily be used to invade southward if it came to that.
The nonsense about USFK having been the biggest impediment to reunification (unless, as Sonagi pointed out, you meant reunification via North Korean tanks, although obviously that no longer applies), the fact remains that Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun have had nine years to ask the “invaders” to go home. Instead, you got Kim Dae-jung reportedly trying to convince Kim Jong-il that the continued presence of US troops in Korea would be a good thing even after reunification.
“This necessarily means that US forces must vacate the Korean peninsula.” And what about North Korea’s hundreds of thousands of forward-deployed troops and the artillery batteries pointed at Seoul? Would KJI stand down these troops? Do you really think so? No offense, but you’re being naive if you think N.K. with its “military-first” policy is going to willingly take apart the very foundation of its government, i.e., the military.
@Lankov: “My personal feeling (which might be wrong) is that Korea will be dominated by the Chinese, as it has been for many centuries, and that this time their control will be rather unpleasant.”
Most posters here believe in the China threat, but I am skeptical. I highly respect your informed views and would like you to elaborate. If you have a website, we could take this conversation over there. You could also email me.
Michael, efforts at intra-Korea reconciliation must be given a chance to proceed without “outside” variables monkey-wrenching it. That is what it has been thus far.
Behave like the only option with NK is outright war and by golly that will be the self fulfilling prophesy.
I like the title “The Nationalist Rage of Kang Woo-suk”. Anyway nothing has ever convinced me, had Korea gone through a successful period of modernization instead of that which Japan did after the meiji restoration, that they would have not done the same thing and started “colonizing” other countries and raping and burning down villages and what not. In all of the accusations I see against Japan, wether it be rewriting history, forcing women into prostitution, hyper nationalism, I see the same abuses over here.
*if you have trouble seeing this, please consider the culture of their “brothers” to the north, as they would be included in any such scenario, having not been divided in the first place.
The movie sounds like a total bore, and compared to Park Chan Wook, Kim Ki Duk, Bong Joon Ho, Hong Sang Soo, etc. etc., Kang Woo Suk is a hack. “Slimido” and “Public Enemy” are entertaining enough, but this would be like, say, Michael Bay making some grand political statement in a movie… I guess he already did in some way by making “Pearl Harbor,” which I’ve never seen.
Has anybody seen 2009: Lost Memories with Kang Dong Gun? It’s an alternate reality sci-fi flick in which Japan maintains control over the Korea throughout the century. The movie itself is pretty bad and forgettable, but the premise is interesting.
I’m still wondering why this turned into yet another China rant. That was some serious thread-jacking baduk. You need to eat a bag of prunes and evacuate all that anger. Seriously.
Bluejives wrote:
South Korea must stop relying upon the US for protection. They must take onwership of their own defense.
How many countries around the world, besides the present, erstwhile, or future superpowers of the US, Russia, and China do NOT rely on other countries to some degree for their own defense? That’s what alliances are all about.
South Korea spends $1 out of every $40 of GDP on defense, and its male citizens spend an average of two years doing military service, at a significant opportunity cost to the economy.
Yet the guarantee of an ally if attacked is key to Korea’s security. Ditto with Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, all of Europe, etc.
Anyway, Bluejives, you’re doing yourself a disservice by swallowing the Bruce Cumings version of Korean history. Korea needs its friends, and there is no ounce of shame in that.
Blujives, I understand and am sympathetic to wanting to see the Koreas reunited, all I’m saying is that U.S. troops or not, there can’t be reunification as long as N.K. maintains a military dictatorship–they can’t and won’t give up power in any way, because N.K. is defined by its military. It has no civilian gov’t–look at KJI’s official title, Chairman of the National Defense Commission. There can’t be any intermediate stages where N.K. modifies its gov’t structure to suit reunification, because it is all subordinate to the military.
I don’t think this means war is the only option–if S.K. and China phase out support while allowing (as Mr. Lankov has suggested) amnesty to the leadership, N.K. might implode in a somewhat manageable way. But the U.S. should still be involved to ensure that China does not fill the power vacuum with a puppet gov’t.
If I were KJI, I would do the following things.
1) First tactic: Go for Korea-wide vote. I will be one of the candidate. All North Koreans would vote for me. Or, they would disappear at night. I would also get sufficient vote from Jolla Commies to make the president of Korea. As soon as I get elected, I will rewrite the constitution to get rid of election process. I will be the absolute ruler of Korea as I have been in NK.
2) Second tactic: If I lose, I will see to it that Commie party gets at least half of every government function. the Defense minister will be a Commie. The Commerce minister,the head of police and Treasury secretary will be Commies.
3) Real tactic: I will do what Commies did in Russia. Go underground. Set up a mob system with former NK military officers. We will hide in the background but, by using threats, assissinations and bribes, we will rule Korea.
Thank god we have you here to protect us from the Red Menace.
A invasion of the Korean peninsula by Japan? It’s nearly impossible. The amphibious landing operation would be a killer for Japan. And on land, the ROK army would create a bloodbath on them Japanese “invaders”. Geez, has Kang ever counted the numbers of modern K1A1-tanks and K9 self-propelled artillery stationed on home turf?
Every freaking invasion army could lose nuts and nose in the land of the morning massacre…
He needs a lobotomy; ditto for the knucklehead making the new monster movie.
one of the reasons korea was vulnerable in the late 19th century is because of its isolationism, and its lack of an indigenous self-defense force. neither of those conditions exist today.
all of south korea’s neighbors have intricate economic interdepencies with south korea. even north korea relies on south korean aid to a certain extent. and the south korean military would certainly wreak havoc on any invasion force.
so invasion by japan? foolish and hard to imagine. invasion by china? they’d rather try to dominate economically. russia? no historical precedent. north korea? hmm. but unlikely as of today.
and i disagree with lankov that korea has ceased to be strategically important to the u.s.. it doesn’t make sense that the u.s. is pursuing a ‘ringing’ policy of china and at the same time give up its only presence on the east asian mainland.
and whatever leftist anti-u.s. stance that commenters may opine of the roh administration, it’s korean troops are still the 3rd largest presence in iraq while japan is withdrawing its contingency. like all alliances u.s.-rok relaions are going through a lull, a re-examination, but i can’t see it going away any time soon, much less by 2020.
“The US continuously threatens and hints of possible military action against NK. This is the way it has been for the past half century.”
Thanks for the troll comments, Bluejives. Where would South Korea be now, if the US hadn’t been here for the past 50 years? It would exist as the southern part of the DPRK under the benevolent tutelage of the Dear Leader.
I saw the preview in the theater and half the audience snickered or cracked up when it was over. I don’t think anyone, certainly not rational Koreans, probably not even weirdos like Kang Woo-suk really think an invasion is possible. I don’t know why people are getting bent out of shape about a flick that’s obviously destined to go straight to into Super Action’s Saturday afternoon mindless entertainment action/adventure rotation.
I’ll ignore the Bluejives trolling snortfest and address something donnieknutts mentioned:
You know what annoyed me about that movie? The utter lack of imagination. I know that the director and screenwriter were just following the anti-Japan plotting of the book, but if you could really change the destinies of both countries, the moral choice would’ve been to plot a third history for Korea and Japan that left both countries independent and prosperous. Instead, for the sake of Korean pride, the film winds up with the evils of the 20th century repeated all over again for Koreans and Japanese alike.
But, hey, who needs deep philosophy when “F— Japan” (or “F— the US”) is the only political statements that make their way into your popular movies?
Hey now Matthew. A time traveling lump of rock from Manchuria (Korean, natch) is mighty imaginative.
1. ‘lost memories’ was a fantastic movie. i highly recommend it even if a few scummy expats were offended.
2. i can’t wait for the ‘hanbando’ dvd.
3. don’t like how the koreans portray japan? then don’t watch them. it’s that simple.
4. china won’t be dominating korea since the conditions that existed in the past do not exist today. think about it.
Not a scummy expact nor was I offended, but 2009: Lost memories was a forgetable movie. The initial premise and indeed the first half of the movie was quite interesting. I disagree with Matthew in that I didn’t think it was unimaginative. The fact that it parallels real history and could actually have happened makes it more interesting. The problem with the movie is that it is too imaginative. The time traveling plotline thrown into the middle of the film and the deus ex machina induced ending are simply retarded. It could have been much better.
I bet you like “Fighter in the Wind” as well paw-boy. Ugh….
I think it’s important to note that 2009:Lost Memories was a co-operative effort with both Korean and Japanese film studios.
I’d also like to throw in my opinion about the movie: It was absolutely terribly stupid. I can see how people would take it as an ‘anti-Japan’ movie, but it’s pure stupidness as a movie greatly overshadowed that to the point that I don’t even bother…
Didja hear that nulji? That movie you like was a Japanese co-production. Maybe that “Japanese” director who did that Bond film was involved too!
Silly ignant kyopo.