[USFK Forums] Musical Depicts NK Prison Camp Horrors [Korea Times]

[C. Y. Lee]

Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Musical Depicts NK Prison Camp Horrors

Defector Tells Story of Cruelty and Forgiveness

The Korea Times, Tuesday, March 14, 2006By Bae Keun-min, Staff Reporter

Kim Jung-hyun, 52, was not clapping when some 600 others in the audience were applauding the successful first preview of the musical ``Yoduk Story’’ at the Seoul Education Culture Center in southern Seoul, Monday night.

Having a blank face, as if she was scared stiff, the ordinary housewife Kim and her two friends remained seated for some 10 minutes after the 170-minute-show about the infamous North Korean political prison camp while all the others left.

``I can’t calm myself down because colors and portrayal of the brutality at the camp are so vivid in this musical. I can’t think of anything at all right now. I am horrified,’’ Kim told The Korea Times with gloomy face. ``It was heartrending that a son is forced to whip his father accused on false charges of espionage.’’

Based on a true story, the musical tells of Gang Ryun-hwa, a celebrated, nationally decorated actress in North Korea, who was once held in high esteem but then one day loses everything.

Gang and her family are detained in the Yoduk Prison of Political Crime in Hamgyong Province, North Korea, on false charges that her father, as chief finance official of the North Korean government, spies for South Korea’s intelligence agency. They encounter a harsh reality they thought they would never experience.

``My heart is so full of pride that I have achieved something and become a part of realizing something important,’’ said singer Park Wan-kyu, 32, who plays one of political detainees in the prison camp. ``But I hope this musical is not used for any political purposes such as an excuse for a war between the North and the United States.’’

Director Jung Sung-san, a former North Korean defector, said the show is not about political ideology but about human rights and he does not want any war. ``We have come through many hurdles and the show needs some more polishing. But this is just a beginning,’’ Jung said. ``Yoduk Story’’ is the first part of a four-part series of musicals he plans to make.

The second will be ``Son of Chicago,’’ the story of a U.S. soldier who was detained by the North during the Korean War, swung to the communist nation and later was detained in a camp after failing to escape the country.

``It will be a cultural nuke bomb to dissolve the camps,’’ Jung told The Korea Times. ``The third installment will be a mix of the first two parts. The last episode, taking a form of concert, will deal with defectors as a whole.’’

[PHOTO: Unloadable]The musical "Yoduk Story," based on a defector's experiences living in a North Korean prison camp, opens Wednesday at the Seoul Education Culture Center in southern Seoul.
/Korea Times Photo by Shim Hyun-chul

For Jung, the musical carries a personal mission too. Jung and his family were part of the North’s elite class. However in 1994, while serving in the military, Jung was caught listening to South Korean radio programs.

He escaped from the North as he was being transported to Sariwon camp and came to the South in 1995.

Jung’s father was hit on the head with stones until he died at a prison camp in Yanggang Province, North Korea in 2002, when the drama ``Chindallekkot Pil Taekaji (Until a Time When the Azalea Puts Forth Blossoms),’’ which he wrote about defectors, was broadcast by a terrestrial TV network.

``I planned to make a theater of cruelty when I heard of my father’s death. But, strangely, the play became beautiful as I wrote. I was surprised too,’’ Jung said, adding the main theme of the story is forgiveness.

``I hope that people weep from watching the show. Rather than delivering a specific message, I want that people find hope and acknowledge importance of family,’’ he said.

Jung said he will embark on the next step in his plan this October. Each installment will have a film version, which is not a new genre for him as he participated as a screenwriter for ``Shiri (1999)’’ and ``JSA (2000).’’ In June, Jung will also make his debut as a film director with ``Ppalgan Chonsadul,’’ meaning red angels, a story of North Korean children with no Christmas.

His plan, however, may face harsher troubles than those he has seen for the past few months. Jung said, in the process of producing ``Yoduk Story,’’ money had been the biggest hurdle for him. Jung visited 30 investment companies last year to raise the estimated 700 million won for production costs which includes wages for some 80 cast and crew. They listened to him in an absent sort of way, which made him feel lonely, he said.

``A company revoked its 300-million-won investment because one of its main investors, who is a member of a pro-government party, opposed the venture. He didn’t want to spend his money on such things,’’ Jung said.

``My biggest sponsors are the public, from high school students to senior citizens, who sent me small amounts of money, gold rings and earrings, to raise some 50 million won,’’ he said. At Monday’s preview night, there was also a big white box for donations.

A Norwegian film company has sponsored 150 million won, while the Defense Forum Foundation donated $2,000 (1.96 million won) enclosed with a letter of encouragement.

Jung has invested some 40 million won of the key money for his house lease in the musical project, while other defectors collected 25 million won from their thin wallets. Jung even borrowed 20 million won from a loan shark after signing a mortgage to his kidney, promising he will donate it if he fails to reimburse the money by April.

However, what frustrated him most was the political intervention. As soon as his first interview about the musical was published last November, South Korean government officials came to him and demanded he rewrite the script to lower the level of detailed description about the reality in the camp.

The officials also told him that some content in the drama, such as having a portrait of the late North leader Kim Il-sung on the wall and playing songs of the North, see him in violation of the National Security Law.

Moreover, he was turned down by two theaters including the one that promised to lease its stage last November. "I have been receiving threatening messages on my mobile phone, such as `You are a traitor of the nation’ and `you will be beaten to death like your parents,’’’ Jung said.

After two previews, the show will open Wednesday with some 10 defectors on hand, including those who told Jung of their experiences at the camp. Tuesday night, people from embassies to South Korea were invited.

The musical will also be staged overseas to raise public awareness and spark more positive campaigns to dissolve the 15 prison camps for political offenders in the North, Jung said.

``The show will be performed in Norway and Poland this year. We also are promoting it to present it in the United States too,’’ Jung said. ``But we will focus now on local showing for the time being.’’

Jung said he dreams of putting the drama on the stage in the North after unification of the two Koreas.

``Yoduk Story’’ will run until April 2, with English supertitles. Tickets range 20,000-80,000 won. For more information, call (02) 569-4483 or visit www.yoduk.com.


kenbae@koreatimes.co.kr

03-14-2006 17:33



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