Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon after watching 'Rhee Syngman Documentary': "There are more than a few historical inaccuracies"

"Feeling the National Fate... Heroes Are No Longer Alone"

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon shared his thoughts on the documentary film 'Geon-guk Jeonjaeng' (The Founding War), which deals with the life and politics of former President Syngman Rhee, on Facebook.

In a post on Facebook on the afternoon of the 11th, Mayor Oh said, "Yesterday (the 10th), while watching Geon-guk Jeonjaeng with my wife, I thought it would be good for many people to see it," adding, "Although history has no ifs, I felt the fate of the nation and our people deeply as I thought about what would have happened if former President Syngman Rhee had not been here or had not been the first president."

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is taking photos at the '2024 F/W Seoul Fashion Week' held on the 1st at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

He also said, "Today, I took out 'Syngman Rhee Modern History: The Great Three Years' by In Bo-gil again," emphasizing, "There are many historical inaccuracies I learned during my school days. The objectively corrected history of his merits and faults will be with us at the presidential memorial hall." Mayor Oh concluded his post with the words, "The hero is no longer lonely."

Documentary 'Geon-guk Jeonjaeng' Surpasses 240,000 Cumulative Viewers

Released on the 1st, Geon-guk Jeonjaeng is a documentary film highlighting the sacrifices and struggles of former President Syngman Rhee and the founding generation. As of the 12th, the film has reached a cumulative audience of 240,000, ranking third at the box office, with about 50,000 viewers on Lunar New Year's Day alone. The seat occupancy rate from the 1st to the 10th (the ratio of viewers to seats allocated for the film) was 29.2%, the highest among films released this year.

The main audience for this film is people in their 50s. According to CGV's age-based reservation distribution, those in their 50s accounted for 45.8%, followed by 40s (26.1%), 30s (19.4%), 20s (7.9%), and teens (0.8%).

Documentary film 'The Founding War' featuring former President Syngman Rhee's 1954 New York car parade scene in the United States
[Image source=Provided by Docustory]

Directed by Kim Deok-young (59), who spent three years making Geon-guk Jeonjaeng, the film consists of photos and video materials of the former president, interviews with people around him including his daughter-in-law Jo Hye-ja, and experts. Notably, the film premiered footage obtained directly by Director Kim from the U.S. National Archives showing President Rhee participating in a car parade on 'Avenue of Heroes' in Manhattan, New York, in 1954, which attracted much attention.

Last November, Mayor Oh donated 4 million won to the Syngman Rhee Presidential Memorial Foundation, which is conducting a campaign to build the Syngman Rhee Presidential Memorial Hall. The construction cost of the former president’s memorial hall is planned to be covered by 70% public fundraising and 30% government support, with a fundraising goal of 50 billion won.

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