When a documentary opened on the deep sea divers who retrieved about 300 bodies, mostly schoolchildren, from a South Korean ferry disaster, tickets sold out — but it played to half-empty cinemas.
There was no indication at the time, but Diving Bell — about the controversial 2014 sinking of the Sewol — was a victim of the sprawling corruption and power abuse scandal that has brought millions of people onto the streets and seen South Korean President Park Geun-hye impeached.
The film’s distributor, Kim Il-kwon, was one of thousands of artists secretly blacklisted by the conservative government for voicing “left-wing” thoughts — meaning criticism of the authorities.
Photo: AFP
“I was so surprised” by the vacant seats, he said. “The movie was the talk of the town and many people had showed interest before its release.”
The explanation emerged last month, when former South Korean minister of culture Cho Yoon-sun was arrested over accusations including ordering bulk ticket purchases in a bid to prevent the public seeing Diving Bell.
The government blacklist was aimed at starving artists of official subsidies and private funding and placing them under state surveillance, prosecutors probing the wider scandal said.
Its existence has sent shivers across the nation’s filmmakers, who say it took a devastating toll on the freedom of expression that helped transform what was once an army-ruled backwater into a celebrated cultural powerhouse.
South Korea is now democratic, but many describe the cultural landscape under Park as reminiscent of the 1961 to 1979 reign of her own father, the late dictator Park Chung-hee, who imposed ruthless censorship on the arts.
South Korea’s vibrant entertainment industry has since taken Asia by storm, with its TV dramas, films and stars enjoying avid followings in the past decade, and its Busan International Film Festival hailed as Asia’s top cinematic event.
Cho and former chief of staff Kim Ki-choon on Tuesday were both indicted for abuse of power and coercion over the blacklist, along with two of the impeached president’s former aides.
The list of nearly 10,000 artists in film, theater, dance, music, fine arts and literature reads like a Who’s Who of Seoul’s art scene. They include novelist Han Kang, winner of last year’s Man Booker International Prize, and film director Park Chan-wook, whose Oldboy took the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2004.
Many had voiced support for opposition parties, or criticized the president, such as over the botched Sewol rescue efforts — and some simply expressed support for the victims’ families.
State backing for Kim’s niche distribution firm, Cinema Dal, ended after Diving Bell, he said, and he had had to let three of his seven staff go.
“Officials told me directly that there would be no government support once I distribute Diving Bell,” Kim said.
Several employees discovered that their phone records had been tapped by police and intelligence authorities, he added.
“I’ve been in this business for over two decades but never seen anything like this,” Kim said. “It’s truly frightening.”
The Busan film festival screened Diving Bell in 2014, and has since seen an unprecedented cut in state funding and a flurry of official probes, with the director’s contract not renewed. Many suspect political motivations.
“We have gone through so many indescribable ordeals for past two years ... now we know why,” current film festival codirector Kang Soo-yeon said in a statement last month.
“Those in power tried to tame the culture in line with their taste... by silencing all voices they find uncomfortable,” she said.
Under Park Chung-hee, South Korean arts were subject to strict control. Any scenes or lines describing or deemed to suggest poverty, corruption, or “generally negative aspects” of society were banned, film director Lee Jang-ho said.
Among the few remaining options were “mindless romance,” he said., adding: “It was a dark age for South Korean cinema.”
Lee, 71, circumvented the restrictions with 1970s and 1980s hits that contained no overt criticism, but featured rebellious youngsters and were seen as a symbol of public frustration with the government.
The 1992 election of the nation’s first president with no army background for decades opened the floodgate for uncensored films, songs and TV dramas, which he said laid the foundations for the so-called “Korean Wave” that has swept Asian pop culture.
However, that success is now under threat, said Choi Hyun-yong, head of the Korea Motion Picture Industry Strategy Center.
Most Seoul movie investment firms secure some funding from the government, which has increasingly dictated which films they should back, he said.
“It has encouraged more investments on ‘patriotic’ projects, like a film featuring soldiers fighting against the North, or that hails economic growth during the rule of Park’s [Geun-hye’s] father,” he said.
He warned against following Beijing’s heavy censorship, which has stifled artistic creativity.
“Look at China. It is Asia’s biggest movie market, but is not exactly known for its soft power or films popular beyond its own border,” Lee added.
“Freedom of expression is the root of our strength as a cultural powerhouse,” he said. “We can’t let that hard-won jewel be taken away like this.”
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was