▲ ‘Kim Dae-jung on the Road’ movie poster and ‘National Foundation War’ movie poster. <네이버 영화 갈무리>
[비즈니스포스트] Former President Syngman Rhee and former President Kim Dae-jung, representative figures of the conservative and progressive camps, were called into the center of the ideological war in the political world ahead of the April 10 general election. It is through the movies ‘National Foundation War’ and ‘Kim Dae-jung on the Road’.
Key figures from the ruling and opposition parties are making efforts to rally support by publicly viewing the two films or leaving reviews, and some see this as a reflection of our society’s extreme political polarization.
Based on the Korean Film Council’s integrated computer network on the 14th, ‘The War for the Founding of a Nation’ attracted 380,000 cumulative viewers until the previous day after its release on the 1st, following ‘Roh Moo-hyun’, which ranked first with 1.85 million viewers, the highest box office performance in the field of political documentary films. Ranked 2nd in history. ‘Kim Dae-jung on the Road’ has attracted 120,000 viewers to date.
The movie ‘National Foundation War’ focused on highlighting former President Syngman Rhee’s achievements, such as his youthful independence movement, his belief in liberal democracy, and land reform during his tenure. ‘Kim Dae-jung on the Road’ focuses on the life of former President Kim Dae-jung, who fought desperately to put down the roots of democracy.
Key figures from the ruling and opposition parties, including People Power Party Emergency Response Committee Chairman Han Dong-hoon and Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myung, are rallying support by visiting theaters and leaving reviews after watching the movies ‘Founding the Nation’ and ‘Kim Dae-jung on the Road’.
In this way, there have been many instances in the past where what politicians wanted to say was projected through movies.
When former President Moon Jae-in was a presidential candidate in 2017, he watched the movie ‘Retrial’ and shed light on the life of a teenager who was falsely accused by the police’s coercive investigation and the prosecution’s wrongful indictment, and sent the message, “I will definitely change this world.”
Former President Park Geun-hye watched the movie ‘Don’t Cry Mommy’ when she was a presidential candidate in 2012 and appeared to emphasize the need for a social safety net for women as a female president.
People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo also paid attention to the virtues of a leader, saying after watching the movie ‘Gwanghae, The Man Who Became King’ when he was a presidential candidate in 2012, “I thought about the sincerity of a leader who treats the weak.” Moon Jae-in, then presidential candidate, also wiped away tears after watching the movie, recalling former President Roh Moo-hyun.
However, recently, there has been a growing tendency for movies to become ideological battlefields to rally support.
Thanks to the passionate performance of lead actor Hwang Jung-min, the movie ‘Seoul Spring’, which depicts former President Chun Doo-hwan’s December 12 military uprising, exceeded 13 million cumulative viewers. As ‘Seoul Spring’ became a hit, the opposition party made comments comparing the current regime to a military dictatorship and publicly encouraged people to see the film.
Jeong Cheong-rae, a supreme member of the Democratic Party of Korea, mentioned the ‘Seoul Spring’ at a supreme committee meeting held at the National Assembly on December 27 last year and said, “Instead of military uniforms, we wore prosecutor’s clothes, and instead of guns and swords, we wore legal masks. “The military dictatorship and the current prosecutorial dictatorship have only changed in appearance,” he criticized.
Former Justice Minister Cho Kuk also shared more than five posts related to the Seoul Spring movie on Facebook, saying, “There are still forces threatening the Republic of Korea.”
In response, Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, said, “It was the civilian government, the root of our party, that eradicated Hanahoe, which caused December 12,” and added, “Our party is doing its best toward the future, embracing not only past achievements but also mistakes.” emphasized.
At the same time, he said to the Democratic Party, “They are trying to use the movie Seoul Spring to cast a negative image of the military dictatorship on the Yoon Seok-yeol government and the People Power Party,” and “It is nothing more than a ploy to incite the people to cause division and gain votes through this.” and criticized.
Following the box office success of ‘Seoul Spring’, a political documentary film was released that sheds light on symbolic figures of progressives and conservatives, and the tendency to use it as a means of political debate is growing stronger.
As ‘Kim Dae-Jung on the Road’, which was released on January 10th prior to ‘The National Foundation War’, exceeded 100,000 viewers, conservative supporters began encouraging advance reservations for ‘The National Foundation War’ on social media and internet communities. I also did it.
▲ Han Dong-hoon, chairman of the People Power Party Emergency Response Committee, is answering questions from reporters after finishing watching the documentary film ‘National Foundation War’, which highlights the life and politics of former President Syngman Rhee, at a movie theater in Yeouido, Seoul on the afternoon of the 12th. <연합뉴스>
The ruling party also joined in, igniting a historical war.
According to the political world, President Yoon Seok-yeol is said to have praised the ‘founding war’ to his staff, saying, “It is an opportunity to properly recognize the process of founding the Republic of Korea and the history of our country, which was at the center of it.”
After watching the founding war on the 12th, Chairman Han said, “It is not at all that everything about him (former President Lee) should be glorified, but there was a very important decision of the times, and that decision must be thought through thoroughly.”
Influential figures in the ruling party, including former People Power Party lawmaker Na Kyung-won and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, also showed moves to rally conservatives by leaving reviews of their viewing of the founding war on social media.
The issue of historical distortion was also raised. It may differ depending on how you view it, but some say that the part in the movie, ‘Former President Syngman Rhee laid the foundation for becoming an IT powerhouse,’ is a plot that steals the achievements of former President Kim Dae-jung.
Former President Kim Dae-jung’s representative scientific achievements include fostering the space industry, including the development of Naro and the Naro Space Center, and promoting the Ministry of Science and Technology to the Ministry of Science and Technology. During the ‘people’s government’ led by former President Kim, it invested heavily in venture companies, leading to successful start-ups of leading IT companies such as NHN and NCSoft, which are also evaluated as laying the foundation for becoming an IT powerhouse.
In addition, the number of Internet users, which was only 1.63 million at the beginning of the Kim Dae-jung administration, exceeded 26 million in five years, and the number of mobile phone subscribers, which was less than 7 million, also exceeded 32 million.
There was even a spark that flew at a celebrity who watched the founding war.
After watching the ‘Founding War,’ singer Naul posted a movie poster on Facebook along with a Bible verse: “Christ has given us freedom to set us free. Therefore, stand firm in Him and never again be subject to the yoke of bondage.” certified. Then, netizens who support the opposition criticized his political inclinations, saying, ‘Naul is certified as a conservative supporter’ and ‘I didn’t see it that way, but my affection is falling.’ Naul eventually closed the comment window.
In this way, the two films that are at the center of the current ideological war in politics have become a means of showing off the support of both political parties, and there is an analysis that they show a self-portrait of our polarized politics.
Chae Jin-won, a professor at Kyung Hee University’s Public Governance Research Institute, commented on the phenomenon of one person being overly highlighted and buried in a public fight, such as in the ‘nation-founding war’ on Facebook, saying, “It is said that the good and bad deeds of many people were done by one person as a ‘hero’ and a ‘villain.’ “The view of excluding the majority of people by simplifying things seems to be far from the ‘republican view of history,’” he said. “Doctrinal ‘creating a hero’ is ‘idolism,’ and ‘creating a villain’ with a dogmatic approach is a ‘witch hunt.’ “I can see it,” he said. Reporter Lee Jun-hee
