"This Government's Pro-China and Pro-North Korea Behavior Is Sickening"… Kim Jin-tae Condemns Domestic Screening Approval of the Film Geumseong Battle

"Is There Any Other Country in the World That Openly Screens Movies About Annihilating Its Own Military?"

Screenshot of Jin-tae Kim, Chairman of the Chuncheon City Party Committee of the People Power Party's Twitter

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] Amid national outrage over the domestic screening approval of a Chinese film based on the 6.25 War's 'Geumseong Battle,' Kim Jin-tae, chairman of the People Power Party's Chuncheon City Party Members' Council, who had opposed the plan to build a 'Chinatown' in Gangwon Province, strongly criticized the government.

On the 7th, Chairman Kim stated on SNS, "The Chinese Communist Army glorification film 'The Great Battle of Geumseong,' which boasts of annihilating 50,000 South Korean soldiers, has been approved for screening," adding, "This government's pro-China and pro-North Korea behavior is nauseating, but now it has become beyond imagination."

He lamented, "Is there any other country in the world that openly screens a film where its own military is annihilated?"

He then sarcastically said, "Then let's get our film 'Taegukgi' approved for screening in China," and "No, let's quickly make a film about the Battle of Paroho, where 20,000 Chinese Communist soldiers were annihilated, and have it screened in China."

Earlier in April, during the controversy over the construction of a 'Chinatown' surrounding the planned 'Korea-China Cultural Town' in Chuncheon and Hongcheon, Gangwon Province, Chairman Kim pointed out, "China's Belt and Road Initiative is an attempt to cover the world with the Chinese Dream, which is a nightmare we must escape."

Also, according to the minutes of the Gangwon Provincial Council's Budget and Accounts Special Committee meeting on December 2, 2020, during discussions on the 'Activation Plan for the Korea-China Cultural Town,' some Democratic Party provincial council members caused controversy by referring to the Chinese Communist soldiers who died in the 6.25 War as "pitiful souls" and saying "they should be properly comforted."

At that time, Provincial Councilor Heo So-young suggested, "Many Chinese Communist soldiers came to Hwacheon and died. They died because of a third country's fight," and proposed, "Comforting those souls well could become a form of tourism."

Meanwhile, the Korea Media Rating Board granted a '15 years and older' rating to the Chinese film titled '1953 The Great Battle of Geumseong (original title: Geumgangcheon)' after reviewing it on the 30th of last month.

The film stars Chinese actors Wu Jing and Zhang Yi, was produced with a budget of about 100 billion KRW, and was released in China in October last year. The applicant for the film's rating classification is Wisdom Film Co., Ltd., a company based in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, established last year.

According to a report by Chosun Ilbo, the film company's representative Lee stated, "It was imported not for theatrical release but for sale as home-use IP-TV content," adding, "The film only depicts the confrontation between the US and Chinese armies; the South Korean army does not appear."

However, on Chinese portal sites such as Baidu, it boasts, "Along with the ruthless bombing by the US army, a large-scale offensive by the South Korean army, burning with ambitions to advance north, begins. The People's Army engineering corps prepared for a desperate defense. The final battle of the People's Army stained Geumgangcheon with the blood of the South Korean army division."

It also promoted the film as commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army's War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, depicting the heroic acts of volunteer soldiers fighting tenaciously with bloodied bodies despite the significant power gap between enemy and allied forces.

Despite this, ahead of its domestic release, major portal sites introduced the film simply as "In the summer of 1953, over 400,000 US and Chinese Communist soldiers prepare for the final battle over the Geumseong protrusion of Mount Geumgang," showing a significant difference from the promotional content at the time of its release in China.

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