motivation of the film
what is this grey gap between me and you?
Korea has developed very rapidly and is still in progress. My grandfather said that he built a house from used boxes from the United States military base located in Korea. My grandparents' generation experienced Japanese colonial rule(1910~1945) and the Korean War(1950~1953). My parents' generation spent their youth during the military regime of 18 years. I spent my childhood in front of the computer, using social media. Each of us has experienced a completely different world. Maybe this is why I always had a question, 'Where am I from?'
I always felt lonely after talking to my parents or grandparents. It was as if there was an invisible, thick, and big wall between us. The values and ideologies we have are so different, that it made it impossible to share our vision.
Meanwhile, I got to know Songrim-dong(place where my grandparents lived) and started asking my mother and maternal grandparents about their life in the place. Their stories are very intertwined with society, politics, and economy. So the more I listened to them, the more I could acknowledge the changes I could not see. I felt like I had found a place that was not on Google Maps.
After doing several interviews with grandparents, three stories kept running through my head as if they were clinging to my hair, stuck in my stomach, and bleached my clothes. So I decided to comb, digest, and color it little by little by making a film.
first, where is Korea?
Korea is sharing a border with China. It is close to Russia, China, and Japan.
when, why, and how did the war break out?
The reasons why wars in the world break out are really intertwined and complicated. It is related to the economy, ideology, religion, and so many other things between at least 2 countries. My perspective will be one sided. So if you are interested in the topic, I recommend you to read more about it.
The Korean War was held in 1950-1953. Before we talk about the Korean war, it is important to understand that Korea was colonized by Japan from 1910 to 1945. When Japan was defeated in World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union divided Korea, which was under Japanese colonial rule. In 1945, the Soviet Union administered the north area of the 38th parallel and the United States administered south of the 38th parallel under “trusteeship”.
The trusteeship was determined in the Moscow Conference(1945) of Foreign Ministers, which was held in 1945 december. However, the countries who joined the conference made a decision without a single member from Korea attending this meeting1.
In the paper record of Moscow Conference 1945, the section on Korea consisted of four paragraphs. The third paragraph called for the establishment of a Joint Commission, under the control of a consortium of the United States, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, and China, including the decision that a four-power trusteeship of up to five years would be needed before Korea attained independence. Both the political left and political right of Korea opposed this trusteeship plan, with it being suggested that such a plan made Korea a vassal of the four powers.2
Koreans were traumatized by colonialism because of Japan. So many people were afraid that trusteeship would cause another period of colonialism. So there were many protests against trusteeship. The U.S. and Soviet Union tried to make a US-Soviet Joint Commission. But the problem was that the U.S. wanted to approve only the political party that is pro-america. And the Soviet Union wanted to approve the party that agreed on trusteeship. Additionally, within the Korean peninsula, there was a divide between those who opposed and those who favored trusteeship rather than the unification of North and South Korea, and this rapidly developed into a conflict between left and right.
As the trusteeship period came to an end, the United States transferred the Korean Peninsula issue to the United Nations. The United Nations initially decided to hold elections in North and South Korea to establish one united government. However, the Soviet Union refused to allow the UN delegation to come north of the 38th parallel(the UN was composed of pro-US countries). Because of this, it became impossible to hold general elections both in North and South Korea under UN supervision. So the UN General Assembly eventually decided to hold elections only in South Korea that can be monitored. However, this later became a decisive cause of the division between South and North. Because “officially” the South held elections by itself and the North held elections within itself.
Here we need to look a little more into the creation and execution of the United Nations. This is because most people think of the UN as “neutral” but it was(and is) not.
1. Kang Man-gil , 『 Our history in the 20th century』 ,2009, <How did the Korean War occur?>
2. Moscow Conference (1945) - Wikipedia
UNC
what is UNC? and how is the military situation in South Korea?
The big feature of the Korean War was that for the first time in history, the UN took the lead in a war. But the key point is that although the name is the UN, in reality the hegemony of the UN was the United States. Nowadays, many countries are involved in the UN and voting takes place, but especially in the early days, the influence of the United States was very strong in the UN. (Even now, the United States exerts great influence at the center of power. Because the United States holds capital. 3 )
The United States' Command was able to act as if it were a United Nations military force under the name “United Nations Command” during Korean War and even now. In Korea, the UNC established the Northern Limit Line of South Korea and is still in charge of the rules of engagement. The UN Command is headed by the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.
It should not happen, but if North Korea collapses or is occupied due to war, the governing body of North Korea is the UNC (a.k.a. the United States), due to the UNCURK(United Nations Commission for the Unification and Rehabilitation of Korea)’s resolution on Oct 7th 1950.4 Additionally, the UNC can start a war in the Korean Peninsula right away without the need for any procedures. Therefore, I wish North Korea never collapses. Because it means high risk of future war between U.S. and Russia(&China) and death of Koreans.
3. Jean Ziegler 『 Chemins d'esperance 』 , 2018
4. Lee Siwoo 『 United Nations Command 』, 2013
1-3 Post Exchange
what is post exchange?
Post exchange is a retail store on an army installation that sells goods and services to military personnel and their dependents and to certain authorized civilian personnel. : PX 5
how did PX in Korea changed throughout time and why are you interested?
The first PX emplaced in Korea was inside of the US Military Government Building on October 16th, 1945. The US used the building where Japan used it as the Japanese General Government Building during the colonization of Korea.
One of the buildings that the U.S. military used as Seoul PX was the building that Japan built as a department store. Department stores, considered as a “flower of capitalism”, first opened in Korea around mid 1920s, by Japanese colonial rule. The building was a symbol of transplanted modernity. Such buildings were also used as “exhibition halls” that displayed “modernized and culturalized” life.
Lucky Strike, Kamel cigarettes, Milky Way chocolate, Lux soap, Nabisco biscuits, Charms candy, Pond's cream, Colgate toothpaste, and other American products gathered in shiny and colorful on the stalls were eye candies. It aroused unconditional admiration for the United States. These small stalls, which looked like flower fields out of nowhere in a shabby market, were symbols of America's wealth and culture. 6
The reason I am interested in the PX is that it shows how capitalism and modernism was introduced to Korea. Showing off the “good life” formed the admiration of “modernized and culturalized” life. It was such an effective way to deceive people. Korea has become one of the wealthiest countries due to the hard work and help of the U.S. However, it is also one of the countries with the highest suicide rate.
5. POST EXCHANGE Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com
how was Yankee Market formed?
Yankee market was a black market that was formed by Koreans trading secretly stolen goods from American PX. Yankee Markets were located not only in Incheon but also all over Korea. Below is a diagram of the structure of the Korean black market, drawn by U.S. soldier in 1952.
The black markets during the U.S. military government in Korea continued from the 1947 and even after the establishment of the Republic of Korea government. It was a more frequent phenomenon in large cities. At the time, the black market was a place for the general public to make a living. Therefore, black market activities were the main means of livelihood for the socially disadvantaged, such as refugees and the unemployed. Transactions were carried out by making a contract with who actually owned black market goods and also by people who worked as brokers. 8 The goods traded in these black markets were mainly daily necessities, including luxury goods that could not be produced in South Korea, as well as high-quality cigarettes and medicines for the U.S. military.
This is an article in 1955, telling how the stolen stuffs ended up in Yankee Market. I translated part of the article.
｢”stealer” ; a speciality made during the decades of liberation｣ 1955, Aug 20th, Article from Dong-A News.
- “Why?”
“Had they fought against Korea, they would have been robbed by Korean stealers before even loading the atomic bomb into the plane”
Well, the difficulty of living after liberation produced numerous strange creatures called “Yamsaengi(stealer)”. The US military base which had abundant supplies became their only active stage. The objects that disappeared overnight would be found in the market called “Yankee Market” every day. 9
7. Lee Dong-Won, ｢U.S. Military PX Operations and the Evolution of the Black Market before and after the Korean War｣ 『역사와 경계』 126 , 2023, p43~80
8. Lee Dong-Won, same article
9. ｢stealer ; a speciality made during the decades of liberation｣ 1955, Aug 20th, Dong-A News.
2-2 Songrim
The place where my grandparents lived was songrim-dong, Dong-gu, Incheon. The place has many names. It was called “Sudoguksan”, “Ddong(poop) hill”, “Huffing hill”, and so on. Now the place looks completely different from when my mother lived. In the fall of 2021, I happened to go to Hyundai Market located in Dong-gu, Incheon. When I told my mother that I had been to Hyundai Market, she said that she spent her childhood around there. The area around the market was scheduled for redevelopment, so all the residents left and there were only ruins. Newspaper wallpaper blowing in the wind, and full-length mirrors that someone might have looked at preserved the appearance of people once living there. At the same time, the no-trespassing tape aggravated the desolation of the abandoned house.
The image of houses full of hand-built traces was powerful. I couldn't forget that image in my mind, so I wandered the abandoned house like a stray cat until it was about to be demolished. I wondered what this attraction was. At the same time, I started asking my maternal grandparents about the time they lived in Dong-gu, Incheon.
Before it was demolished in 2022, I could visit there with my grandparents and asked questions.
pictures of my grandparents walking around the place where they used to live
As soon as the grandmother riched the place and got out of the car, she apologized for coming so late and spoke toward the Salvation Army church building where she had her wedding. She said she felt like crying. She thought the neighbors and place would stay the same as before. Also she said that it would be nice if all her neighbors who lived with her would also come back and live there together.
I also want to introduce two writings from two articles which wrote about their memory of Songrim. It shows how Songrim was called and formed.
Our neighborhood in Songrim-dong was also called “Donggogae(poop hill)” and there was a large reservoir containing seawater nearby. Beyond the reservoir dam was the sea. Now it is land and many factories and apartments have been built, but at that time, the western region was “Gae-guunu(across the sea)”. In the summer, I lost track of time because I was swimming and fishing for gobies. In front of the house was ‘Buddha Mountain’, named because it was the place where the stone Buddha statue was located. It is where Jaeneung University and Chungwoon University are located today. 10
Songrim-dong was divided into inner Songrim and outer Songrim. Inner songlim refers to the neighborhood from behind the old Hyundai Theater to Seoheung Elementary School. The houses and alleys here are relatively spacious and nice. In inner songrim, refugees from Pyeongan Province, who lived there immediately after liberation, who returned from evacuation from the War and who came to South Korea during the January 4 Retreat, lived together.
The outer Songrim was always inferior to the inner Songrim due to the lack of regional solidarity. Refugees from Hwanghae Province came in large numbers and settled in the outer Songrim, but they were different from the refugees from Pyeongan Province. Since they fled from Yeonbaek, Jangyeon, Songhwa, and Chodo, which are relatively close to Incheon, without being prepared for division, most people made a living by catching fish in the sea or owning a few boats. Because they made my living mainly by boating around Hwasu wharf, it took a lot of difficulty and time to establish a basis for living.*
10. Yoo Pilwoo, Incheon is a city that gave me pride, 2020
* Unfortunately, when I visited the article, it was gone. So I could not find the link.
2-3 Happy one room
When I was a college student, I lived in a place calle goshiwon, a single-person residence. The origin of goshiwon was a space created for people preparing for the exam(Tests for obtaining qualifications/licenses or selecting public officials). The form of the residence is said to have first appeared in the early 1970s. This space was created for people who aim to “study” and “pass exams,” so it was a place that can (barely) satisfy only the most basic needs such as sleeping. It is a very tiny room, so your head and feet often touch the wall when you lie down, and you're only given a desk in the room. Depending on the price of the room, some rooms have a shower room inside.These goshiwons did not disappear but rather became prevalent. More and more people were entering universities in Seoul, and goshiwons were established around university areas to accommodate students and the urban poor.
Not only was the rent much cheaper than a studio apartment or officetel, but the advantage was that there were no management fees or very small deposit, so there was nothing to worry about. Therefore, it was bound to be attractive to the housing poor who had no suitable options or to those who needed temporary living space. Goshiwon rapidly expanded not only in the university area but also in other areas, and is now a place that can be easily found anywhere in Seoul. 11
Goshiwon is no longer just a space for people preparing for government exams, but has also become a space for people who cannot afford to pay a deposit.
11. The birth and evolution of goshiwon 고시원의 탄생과 진화 – 3siot