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II.
Film as a product of cultural struggle
In this section I
would like to investigate the foundations which
enabled the South Korean documentary film movement
to exist in a politically repressive situation and
show how cinema is used as a tool to represent
inequalities within South Korean society. Firstly,
I think it is necessary to understand Korea's
economic and cultural situation. Therefore, I would
like to summarise the history of foreign economical
and cultural influences within Korea.
Korea entered the
20th century under dependency on China. Global
powers such as Russia, Japan, Britain and the USA
tried to seize control of the peninsula since the
1870's. In 1905, Russia was defeated by Japan.
Korea became a colony of Japan in 1910 which lasted
until Emperor Hirohito's surrender in the Pacific
War in 1945. The Democratic People's Republic of
Korea (North) was finally founded by Kim Il-Sung in
1945 and operated under the protection of Stalin's
USSR. The Republic of Korea (South) was under a
full American military government until Lee
Sung-Man became its first president in 1948. The
civil war between the North and South began in 1950
and lasted for three years. The United Nations sent
troops to fight alongside the South Koreans, and
China eventually stepped in to aid the North. After
the Korean War in 1953, foreign capital started to
move into the Korean market, making it more
competitive internationally.
Since then, the
structure of the manufacturing industry has changed
due to the investment of multi-national, mainly
American investment. However, the working
conditions have not. Korea today still has the
longest working hours and highest number of
industrial accidents. Foreign investment changed
the structure of the manufacturing industry. It was
mainly the presence of American military after the
war which eventually contributed to this trend. The
Korean people were subject to American cultural
imperialism and started to see western lifestyles
as desirable. After the war, the new structure of
the Korean economy promised the people a more
materialistic lifestyle, offering consumer products
at affordable prices.
Following this,
Korea was subject to a fast growth in economic
production in the 1960's and 1970's. The country
has changed vastly from an agrarian based economy
to an industrialised and modernised economy.
General Park was re-elected for almost 20 years
because it was under his government that Korea rose
to a modernised and industrialised nation. The old
replaced the new with terrifying speed, while Park
reinforced his own position by passing laws that
established him as a dictator.
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