North Korea: A Filmmaker Walks the Tightrope

> FILM DIRECTOR YANG YONGHI IS A SECOND-GENERATION KOREAN RESIDENT OF JAPAN BORN AND RAISED IN OSAKA.

NORTH KOREA AND JAPAN.

SOME 50 YEARS AGO HER FAMILY WAS TORN APART BETWEEN THE TWO STATES WHICH HAVE NO DIPLOMATIC TIES.

WHEN HER PARENTS, DEVOTED SUPPORTERS OF NORTH KOREA, SENT HER BROTHERS OFF TO LIVE IN THE NORTH YONGHI WAS ONLY SIX YEARS OLD.

SINCE SHE FIRST PICKED UP A CAMERA AT AGE 30 SHE HAS SPENT DECADES EXPLORING THE STORY OF HER FAMILY AND HERSELF THROUGH HER FILMS.

"DEAR PYONGYANG," HER FIRST INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED DOCUMENTARY, EXAMINED HER LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH HER FATHER.

HER SECOND FILM, "SONA, THE OTHER MYSELF," FOCUSED ON HER NIECE WHO WAS BORN IN NORTH KOREA.

YONGHI HAS DEPICTED THE REALITY OF HER FAMILY AND THEIR LIVES IN THE SEPARATE REALMS OF JAPAN AND NORTH KOREA.

THE FILMMAKER YANG YONGHI HAS NAVIGATED THROUGH THE TROUBLED HISTORY OF JAPAN AND THE KOREAN PENINSULA, TORN BETWEEN OPPOSITE PORTS.

WE WILL EXPLORE THE HALF-CENTURY OF HER QUEST FOR ANSWERS TO THE QUESTION, JUST WHO IN THE WORLD AM I?

IN 2022, HER LATEST FILM "SOUP AND IDEOLOGY" WAS RELEASED IN SOUTH KOREA AS WELL AS JAPAN.

YONGHI AND HER HUSBAND, WHO WAS ALSO THE PRODUCER OF THE FILM, TRAVELED WIDELY TO ATTEND SCREENINGS.

THIS FILM FOCUSES ON HER MOTHER'S LIFE INTERTWINED WITH THE COMPLEXITY OF RECENT HISTORY.

THE FILM ACHIEVED AN UNUSUALLY LONG RUN FOR A DOCUMENTARY AND SPECIAL REPORTS WERE CARRIED ON TELEVISION NEWS PROGRAMS.

THIS PARTY CELEBRATED THE 70th BIRTHDAY OF YONGHI'S FATHER, A LEADER OF A PRO-NORTH ASSOCIATION IN JAPAN.

YONGHI WAS BORN IN OSAKA IN 1964.

THEN AND NOW AS WELL THE AREA HAS THE HIGHEST CONCENTRATION OF ETHNIC KOREAN RESIDENTS IN JAPAN.

JAPAN ANNEXED TO THE KOREAN PENINSULA IN 1910.

IT FED WIDESPREAD POVERTY CAUSING MIGRANTS TO SEEK LIVELIHOOD IN JAPAN.

BY THE END OF WORLD WAR II, SOME 2 MILLION KOREANS WERE LIVING IN JAPAN, INCLUDING MANY WHO HAD BEEN MOBILIZED FOR THE WAR EFFORT.

REGULAR PASSENGERS BETWEEN JEJU ISLAND AND OSAKA BEGAN IN 1923, BRINGING A STEADY STREAM OF PEOPLE TO SETTLE IN THE AREA.

YONGHI'S FATHER WAS ONE OF THOSE MIGRANTS.

IN 1945, AFTER WORLD WAR II ENDED THE AREA OF KOREA, NORTH OF THE 38th PARALLEL, WAS OCCUPIED BY THE SOVIET ARMY.

WHILE THE AMERICAN ARMY OCCUPIED THE SOUTHERN PART.

THIS DIVISION OF KOREA WAS FORMALIZED IN 1948.

IN THE SOUTH, THE CAPITALIST REPUBLIC OF KOREA WAS ESTABLISHED.

SHORTLY THEREAFTER, THE COMMUNIST, DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA WAS FORMED IN THE NORTH.

THIS DIVISION WAS REPLICATED WITHIN JAPAN.

ASSOCIATIONS OF KOREAN RESIDENTS WERE DIVIDED BETWEEN CHONGRYON SUPPORTING THE NORTH AND MINDAN SUPPORTING THE SOUTH.

ALTHOUGH YONGHI'S FATHER WAS FROM SOUTHERN KOREA HE BECAME AN ACTIVIST IN THE NORTH AFFILIATED CHONGRYON AND DEVOTED HIMSELF TO CARRYING OUT ITS PROGRAMS.

HE MARRIED YONGHI'S MOTHER WHO ALSO HAD ROOTS IN JEJU ISLAND WILL BUT WAS BORN IN JAPAN.

THE COUPLE BECAME PARENTS TO YONGHI AND HER THREE OLDER BROTHERS.

HER HARD-WORKING MOTHER MANAGED A RESTAURANT WHILE SUPPORTING HER ACTIVIST HUSBAND AND THEIR CHILDREN.

YONGHI WAS WELL LOVED HER PARENTS AND RAISED SIDE-BY-SIDE WITH THE BOYS.

IT WAS YONGHI'S OLDEST BROTHER WHO EXERTED THE STRONGEST INFLUENCE ON HER LIFE.

THESE HAPPY DAYS FOR THE FAMILY'S CHILDREN WERE BROUGHT TO A SUDDEN END.

IN THE LATE 1950s, CHONGRYON BEGAN MOBILIZING A MOVEMENT OF REPATRIATION TO NORTH KOREA.

WHILE KOREANS FACED DISCRIMINATION AND POVERTY IN JAPAN, THE NORTH WAS PROMOTED AS A PARADISE ON EARTH.

SOME 93,000 KOREAN RESIDENTS AND JAPANESE SPOUSES LEFT FOR THE NORTH.

YONGHI'S FATHER WAS AN ACTIVE ORGANIZER OF THIS MOVEMENT.

IN 1971, HIS SECOND AND THIRD SONS, THEN ONLY 16 AND 14 YEARS OLD, DECIDED ON THEIR OWN TO REPATRIATE.

SEVERAL MONTHS LATER AN UNEXPECTED NOTICE CAME FROM CHONGRYON.

IT DIRECTED THE FAMILY TO SEND THEIR ELDEST SON, THEN 18, TO NORTH KOREA AS WELL.

SUPPRESSING HER SADNESS OVER BEING SEPARATED FROM HER BROTHERS, YONGHI ATTENDED CHONGRYON-AFFILIATED KOREAN SCHOOLS.

SHE BEHAVED LIKE A MODEL STUDENT, BUT IN HER HEART, SHE CONTINUED TO STRUGGLE.

DESPITE HER MISGIVINGS, YONGHI ATTENDED THE PRO-NORTH KOREA UNIVERSITY IN JAPAN.

AFTER GRADUATION, SHE TAUGHT KOREAN LITERATURE AT A KOREAN SCHOOL AT THE DIRECTION OF CHONGRYON.

DURING THAT TIME, EVEN MORE THAN THE TENSIONS WITH HER FATHER, YONGHI FELT CONFLICTED ABOUT HER MOTHER.

AFTER HER OLDEST SON WENT TO NORTH KOREA, HER MOTHER QUIT HER JOB, BECAME A FULL-TIME CHONGRYON ACTIVIST, AND DEVOTED HERSELF TO SENDING CARE PACKAGES TO THE NORTH.

CONFORMING TO THE DEMANDS OF HER PARENTS AND CHONGRYON, YONGHI'S LIFE IN JAPAN PROCEEDED INTERTWINED WITH NORTH KOREA.

IT WAS HER BROTHER, KONO, WHO SPURRED HER TO CHANGE DIRECTION.

IN 1992, YONGHI MADE A VISIT TO NORTH KOREA WHERE SHE HAD DINNER WITH HER BROTHERS AT A RESTAURANT IN PYONGYANG.

AT THE TIME, CLASSICAL MUSIC AS A SYMBOL OF THE WEST WAS PROHIBITED IN NORTH KOREA.

THE RECORDS KONO BROUGHT FROM JAPAN WERE EXPOSED, AND HE WAS FORCED TO ENGAGE IN SEVERE SELF-CRITICISM OF HIS CAPITALIST TENDENCIES.

HE BEGAN TO SUFFER MENTAL ILLNESS.

IN 1997, YONGHI MOVED TO NEW YORK.

SHE HAD DECIDED TO USE THE MEDIUM OF FILM TO EXPRESS THE THOUGHTS SHE HAD KEPT LOCKED INSIDE AND SHE WAS SIX YEARS OLD.

DEFYING HER FATHER'S INTENSE OPPOSITION, SHE ENTERED GRADUATE SCHOOL IN THE U.S., WHERE SHE STUDIED DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING FOR SIX YEARS.

SHE WORKED AT BARS LATE INTO THE NIGHT TO FUND HER STUDIES AT THE NEW SCHOOL.

FOUR YEARS AFTER ARRIVING IN NEW YORK, THE FAMILY PLANNED TO GATHER IN PYONGYANG TO CELEBRATE HER FATHER'S 70th BIRTHDAY WITH HER BROTHERS.

KNOWING THIS WOULD BE AN IMPORTANT SCENE FOR HER FILM, YONGHI BEGAN PREPARING TO SHOOT THE GATHERING.

THAT WAS WHEN THE SIMULTANEOUS TERROR ATTRACTS ON NEW YORK AND WASHINGTON TOOK PLACE.

WHETHER WE BRING OUR ENEMIES TO JUSTICE -- THE U.S. HAD PREVIOUSLY DESIGNATED NORTH KOREA A STATE SPONSOR OF TERRORISM.

AFTER 9/11, YONGHI LEARNED HER VISA STATUS MIGHT BE IN JEOPARDY.

THE PERSON WHO PROVIDED SUPPORT TO YONGHI AT THE TIME WAS A SUPERVISING PROFESSOR, DEIDRE BOYLE.

WE OFTEN GOT TOGETHER, AND SHE CRIED.

I THINK THIS WAS ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE CRYING MOMENTS.

SHE SAID, WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?

I HAVE TO GO, BUT I DON'T WANT TO GO IF I CAN'T COME BACK.

I SAID TO HER, LET ME SEE WHAT I CAN DO.

I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT I COULD DO.

BUT IT WAS SUCH A STRANGE TIME THAT EVERYTHING WAS OR WASN'T POSSIBLE, AND YOU JUST HAD TO FIND OUT.

I WENT TO THE DIRECTOR OF THE PROGRAM AND I SAID, WE NEED TO WRITE A LETTER FOR HER.

THIS IS NOT SOMEONE WHO IS A TERRORIST COMING FROM NORTH KOREA, BECAUSE THAT WAS ALREADY SEEN BY MANY A STRIKE AGAINST HER.

YONGHI SUBMITTED THE UNIVERSITY'S LETTER, OBTAINED PERMISSION TO RE-ENTER THE U.S., AND LEFT FOR NORTH KOREA.

WHEN BOYLE SAW HER OFF, SHE TOLD YONGHI SHE BELIEVED IN HER FILMMAKING, IN HER LOVE FOR HER FAMILY, AND IN THEIR LOVE FOR HER.

THE FILM YONGHI MADE, "DEAR PYONGYANG," WAS ACCLAIMED IN JAPAN AND OVERSEAS.

IN THE FILM, SHE CONFRONTS HER FATHER WITH THE QUESTIONS SHE HAD BEEN UNABLE TO ARTICULATE FOR MANY YEARS.

IT TOOK NINE YEARS FROM THE START OF THE PROJECT UNTIL ITS COMPLETION.

YONGHI LATER WROTE, WHEN I WAS EDITING, I HAD NO HESITATION ABOUT USING THE SCENE WHERE MY FATHER VOICES REGRET.

I ANTICIPATED THIS WOULD CAUSE ENDLESS REPERCUSSIONS, BUT I DIDN'T WAVER.

AFTER "DEAR PYONGYANG" WAS RELEASED, CHONGRYON URGED ME TO WRITE A LETTER OF APOLOGY.

WHEN I IGNORED THEM, I WAS PROHIBITED FROM ENTERING NORTH KOREA.

AFTER MY LAST VISIT IN 2005, I'VE BEEN UNABLE TO SEE MY FAMILY.

EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS A UNABLE TO SEE HER BROTHERS, YONGHI DID NOT GIVE UP DEPICTING HER FAMILY THROUGH HER FILMS.

IN 2011 SHE TRIED HER HAND AT DIRECTING HER FIRST DRAMATIC FILM.

HER YOUNGEST BROTHER, CON MEN, DEVELOPED A TUMOR AND AFTER FIVE YEARS OF PLEAS BY HIS PARENTS, HE WAS ALLOWED TO COME TO JAPAN FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT.

THIS HAPPENED IN 1999.

YONGHI DEVELOPED A SCRIPT BASED ON THESE ACTUAL EXPERIENCES.

"OUR HOMELAND" IS THE STORY OF AN OLDER BROTHER WHO RETURNS TO JAPAN FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT AFTER AN ABSENCE OF 25 YEARS.

YONGHI WAS ABLE TO EXPLORE PROFOUND EMOTIONS AND CONFLICTS IN WAYS THAT HER DOCUMENTARIES COULD NOT CONVEY.

THE SISTER TAKES HER ANGER OUT ON HER BROTHER'S NORTH KOREAN MINDER, WHO URGED HIM TO RECRUIT HER AS A SPY.

"OUR HOMELAND" WAS HONORED AT THE BERLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL AND ELSEWHERE AROUND THE WORLD.

YONGHI APPEARED TO STAND ON THE WORLD STAGE WITH GREAT CONFIDENCE.

HOWEVER, OUT OF THE LIMELIGHT, SHE WAS STRETCHED TO THE LIMIT PHYSICALLY AND EMOTIONALLY.

HER BROTHER, KONO, WHO INTRODUCED HER TO THE WONDERS OF CINEMA, HAD DIED IN JULY 2009.

IN NOVEMBER OF THAT YEAR, HER FATHER, WHO HAD BEEN FIGHTING THE EFFECTS OF A STROKE, ALSO DIED.

HER MOTHER TOOK HIS ASHES TO INTERRED IN PYONGYANG.

UNABLE TO VISIT HER BROTHERS OR HER FATHER'S GRAVE IN PYONGYANG, YONGHI OFTEN QUARRELED WITH HER MOTHER, WHO WENT SO FAR AS TO BORROW MONEY TO SEND CARE PACKAGES TO THE FAMILY IN THE NORTH.

AFTER "OUR HOMELAND," YONGHI WENT 10 YEARS WITHOUT MAKING A NEW FILM AS A DIRECTOR.

THE ONE WHO HELPED EASE YONGHI'S PAIN WAS HER MOTHER, WITH WHOM SHE HAD A TROUBLED RELATIONSHIP EVER SINCE HER BROTHERS WERE SENT TO NORTH KOREA.

YONGHI'S MOTHER BEGAN TO TALK ABOUT THE TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCES SHE HAD KEPT LOCKED INSIDE SINCE SHE LIVED THROUGH THE APRIL 3rd UPRISING IN 1948.

AT THE END OF WORLD WAR II, JUNGHI EVACUATED FROM JAPAN TO HER MOTHER'S BIRTHPLACE ON JEJU ISLAND.

SHE BECAME ENGAGED TO A MAN WITH HER PARENTS' APPROVAL AND WAS ENJOYING THE FLOWERING OF HER YOUTH.

HOWEVER, AFTER THE WAR, THE KOREAN PENINSULA WAS DIVIDED BETWEEN AMERICAN AND SOVIET OCCUPATION, AND THE STANDOFF HAD DEEPENED BY THE SPRING OF 1948.

ON JEJU ISLAND, COMMUNISTS OPPOSED A PLAN TO HOLD ELECTIONS LIMITED TO SOUTHERN KOREA, AND THEY LAUNCHED AND ARMED UP RISING THAT WAS VIOLENTLY SUPPRESSED BY ARMY AND POLICE FORCES.

THE INTENSE CONFLICT CONTINUED FOR SIX YEARS, SWEEPING UP MANY INNOCENT ISLANDERS.

ONE OF EVERY 10 ISLANDERS, SOME 30,000 PEOPLE, WERE KILLED IN THIS TRAGEDY.

JUNGHI'S LOVER AND HIS FAMILY WERE KILLED, AS WERE THE RELATIVES WHO HAD TAKEN HER IN.

FLEEING FOR THEIR LIVES, SHE AND HER YOUNGER SIBLINGS WERE SMUGGLED OUT BY BOAT AND MANAGED TO RETURN SAFELY TO OSAKA.

AFTER THAT, JUNGHI NEVER SPOKE ABOUT JEJU, AND SHE TOLD YONGHI SHE HAD NEVER BEEN THERE.

IN THE LATE 1980S, AS SOUTH KOREAN DEMOCRATIZATION PROGRESSED, INVESTIGATIONS OF THE INCIDENT BEGAN.

THE GOVERNMENT FOUND THAT THE STATE HAD COMMITTED SEVERE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS, AND IN 2006 THE THEN-PRESIDENT APOLOGIZED TO THE ISLANDERS.

MORE THAN 70 YEARS AFTER THE UPRISING, SURVEYS OF THE SURVIVORS AND EFFORTS TO COMPENSATE THE FAMILIES OF THE VICTIM CONTINUE.

AFTER YONGHI'S FATHER DIED, HER MOTHER CONTINUED TO LIVE ALONE.

WHEN YONGHI VISITED HER IN OSAKA SHE WOULD SOMETIMES SHARE SOME OF HER MEMORIES OF JEJU ISLAND.

YONGHI BEGAN TO DOCUMENT THESE FRAGMENTARY MEMORIES AS A FORM OF TESTIMONY.

HOWEVER, SHE HAD NOT YET FOUND THE DRIVE TO PRODUCE A NEW FILM.

THE TURNING POINT CAME WHEN SHE MET A JAPANESE MAN WHO WOULD BECOME HER HUSBAND.

THIS DAY WAS THE FIRST TIME HE HAD MET Y OCONGHI'S MOTHER.

HER MOTHER HAD ALWAYS SAID YONGHI SHOULD MARRY A KOREAN MAN, BUT HER STANCE THAT DAY WAS SURPRISING.

SHE SPENT HOURS PREPARING HER SPECIALTY, A JEJU ISLAND-STYLE CHICKEN SOUP.

IN APRIL 2019, SHE BROUGHT HER MOTHER TO VISIT JEJU ISLAND AFTER THE UPRISING.

HER MOTHER HAD BEGUN SHOWING SYMPTOMS OF DEMENTIA SEVERAL YEARS EARLIER.

SHE AND HER HUSBAND, WHO SUPPORTED THE FILM AS ITS PRODUCER, WERE COMMITTED TO PRESERVING THE FADING MEMORIES OF HER MOTHER.

THEY PAID A VISIT TO AN INSTITUTE THAT CARRIES A TRIBUTE TO THE APRIL 3rd UPRISING.

IN JANUARY 2022, HER MOTHER PASSED AWAY BEFORE THE FILM WAS RELEASED IN JAPAN.

IN NOVEMBER 2022, SHE BROUGHT THE FILM ABOUT HER MOTHER TO JEJU ISLAND.

THE FIRST SCREENING WAS SPONSORED BY AN ORGANIZATION THAT IS INVOLVED IN PRESERVING THE MEMORY OF THE APRIL 3rd UPRISING.

THE AUDIENCE INCLUDED SURVIVORS AND FAMILIES OF THE VICTIMS.

HOW WILL THEY RESPOND TO THE STORY OF HER MOTHER, WHO LOVED JEJU ISLAND, BUT SAW NO CHOICE BUT TO PUT HER FAITH IN NORTH KOREA.

> SHE HAS AN IDEA FOR A NEW DRAMATIC FILM.