"Must-Watch 7 Works on Gwangbokjeol That Should Never Be Forgotten"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] Online video service (OTT) company Watcha recommended seven works on the 75th anniversary of Liberation Day on the 14th, connecting the brutal 35 years of Japanese colonial rule and the present after liberation. It is a story of pain and wounds, a history of shame and reflection that cannot be forgotten and must not be forgotten.

◆ "Freedom? It is using the one and only life as I wish"

The name 'Yu Gwan-sun' is the first that comes to mind when Koreans talk about the March 1st Movement. At the young age of 17, she led the independence movement in her hometown and was imprisoned in Cell No. 8 of Seodaemun Prison. The film covers about a year until she died at the age of 18 the following year after suffering torture. The time in prison is depicted in black and white, allowing a more calm and composed perspective to look into her resolute will. Even in physically confined circumstances, her absolute strength to think, act, and breathe according to the 'freedom' she defined until her last moment offers a great lesson to us today.

◆ "Knowing shame is not shameful; not knowing shame is shameful"

There was a person who left the most beautiful traces in a time when even composing poems in the language of the country where I was born and raised was forbidden. The softly spoken 'Sky, Wind, Star, and Poem' murmured in Korean, as if no one could hear, was published in Korean by Yun Dong-ju’s teachers and colleagues after liberation and has been loved ever since. The film alternates between Yun Dong-ju’s last days in a Japanese prison a few months before liberation and flashbacks. The film reminds us once again that everyone who stood their ground and resisted Japan in their own way and temperature was an independence fighter.

◆ "Ten steps by one person are not as good as one step by ten people"

The film Mal-Mo-E tells the story of 'Pansu,' who could neither read nor write, meeting Jeong-hwan, the representative of the Korean Language Society, and secretly collecting Korean words nationwide to create a Korean dictionary during the 1940s Japanese colonial period when the use of Korean was banned and forced name changes were imposed. When thinking of the independence movement, one usually imagines armed fighters with guns and swords, but this reminds us that ordinary people risked their lives to protect 'Hangul,' which embodies our spirit. The 'Hangul' we use naturally today feels even more sacred.

◆ “I am sorry! Is that one phrase really that hard?”

This is why the past cannot be buried as just the past. Because there are certainly people who still suffer from the pain of the past in their present lives. This film tells the story of Ok-bun, called the 'Goblin Grandma' for stirring up the whole neighborhood with complaints, asking Min-jae, a level 9 district office clerk, for English tutoring. However, it is not simply a story of a stubborn old lady and a cold bureaucrat bickering and then growing fond of each other. Only after watching until the end can you understand the true meaning of the title , delivering a touching message.

◆ “If you just cling to life like that, my poem will die too... How can you save only one side?”

This drama highlights the life of poet Lee Yuk-sa, who was an independence activist under Japanese rule, publishing passionate resistance poems such as 'Gwangya,' 'Jeoljeong,' and 'Cheongpodo.' Lee Yuk-sa, who used the prisoner number '264' he received in prison as his name, was imprisoned 17 times during his short life and died at the early age of 40 from the aftereffects of torture. Even amid the personal sorrow of losing his son, his unwavering belief in liberating his country without compromise feels noble. The sincere acting of actor Kim Dong-wan stood out in , which won the grand prize in the special drama category at the 45th Houston International Film Festival in 2012.

◆ “Sorry? The one who should apologize doesn’t, so why should you be sorry to me?”

In 1944, near the end of Japanese colonial rule, poor but spirited Jong-bun and the smart youngest daughter of a wealthy family, Young-ae, board a train to hell on the same day. The two girls face a horrific reality at a Manchurian comfort women camp and make a dangerous decision to escape hell. The drama emphasizes that even amid tragic devastation, there was everyday life, explaining the unhealed wounds from the perspective of surviving victim grandmothers today. The drama makes us reconsider the unresolved issues of comfort women compensation and our perspective toward the victim grandmothers. , first aired as a two-part drama, was re-edited into a film two years later and screened in theaters.

◆ “Do you need a reason to regain your country?”

This drama retraces the traces of the Uiyeoldan, who lived solely for the independence of the country and nation, and contemplates how to move forward from past wounds. Centered on Lee Young-jin, a Korean doctor raised by Japanese, and Kim Won-bong, the armed secret society leader of Uiyeoldan, it depicts the different dreams budding among people sharing the same goal. Despite the harsh history, the reason the Republic of Korea exists today may be because there was faith toward a better homeland even amid differing thoughts. The drama consists of 40 episodes and is available on Watcha.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.