Private Project

HAEWON

Following the 1945 Liberation, massive civilian massacres in South Korea began in Daegu in 1946. The Daegu ‘October People’s uprising’ that occurred under the U.S. military government in South Korea (USMGSK) and spread throughout the South “resulted from the civilians and a part of the leftist force confronting the police and administration authority with discontent about the USMGSK, by hiring pro-Japanese managers, delaying a land reform and strongly enforcing the food delivery policy.”

The pro-Japanese collaborators, who had suppressed, tortured, and executed the anti-Japan independence army, having not been liquidated but instead having become leaders of the police and state agencies, this incident was the prelude to the civilian massacres to be committed later on and the beginning of a history of treason.

What the anti-nationalist, pro-Japanese collaborators, who should have been liquidated, found as a means to live on by depending on the U.S. was eradicating the communists. In order to cover the pro-Japanese traces of their past and to survive, currying favor with Syngman Rhee who was working to establish an anti-communist country, they began to remove anti-government activists, the leftist forces, and the nationalists.

According to a survey by the U.S. military government in 1946, 78% of the South Korean people wanted socialism and only 14% capitalism. In this situation, by appointing the pro-Japanese collaborators and the rightists, Syngman Rhee, who had not received the people’s support, massacred those groups and civilians that were political stumbling blocks.

In dealing with the Jeju 4.3 uprising in 1947 and the Yeosun incident in 1948, the Syngman Rhee administration began to establish a radically anti-communist country, eliminating both the conservative right-wing and the leftist forces.

The Korean War having broken out, massive civilian massacre became regularized. In the beginning of the war, the National Guidance Alliance (NGA), which had been established to guide and enlighten the leftists, became a target of the massacres. It is partly true that the ex-pro-Japanese military and police made the massacres more gruesome in order to ensure their own survival.

  • Jahywan Gu
    Director
  • Jahywan Gu
    Writer
  • Chae Young Hee and others
    Key Cast
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    해원
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 37 minutes 6 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 14, 2017
  • Production Budget:
    47,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Korea, Republic of
  • Country of Filming:
    Korea, Republic of
  • Language:
    English, Korean
  • Shooting Format:
    HD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Seoul Independent Film Festival, 2017
    Seoul
    Korea, Republic of
    December 2, 2017
    premiere
    Special Invitation
Director Biography - Jahywan Gu

Place of Birth: Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, Republic of Korea
Affiliations: Korean Independent Film Council, Documentary branch
Occupation: Reporter/ Documentary Director
Contact Details: 010-7131-0618 / documob@hanmail.net

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Director Statement

2003: Short Documentary 'No pioneer'
2005: Short Documentary 'Asphalt Farm'
2007: Full length Documentary 'Grey City' - Screened in the competitive section of the Seoul Independent Film Festival
2013년 : Full length Documentary 'Red Tomb' - Screened in the competitive section of the Seoul Independent Film Festival "SECOND PRIZE"

7. Awards

2013 : Full length Documentary 'Red Tomb' - Screened in the competitive section of the Seoul Independent Film Festival "SECOND PRIZE"

2016 : Wildflower Film Awards Korea, 2016 - Documentary Newcomer Award