Towards a lasting solution

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s controversial speech on the 104th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement prompted me to watch two movies: “A Resistance” and “Anarchist from Colony.” Both are based on the heartwrenching fate of courageous Koreans who as teenagers joined the massive anti-Japanese protests of 1 March 1919.

- LEE KYONG-HEE

A presidential speech customarily marks the watershed event. Yoon, no stranger to delivering fuzzy logic, kept his first March 1 address so brief that he hardly appeared to acknowledge the historical meaning of the day.

Yoon has reiterated that mending diplomatic relations with Japan is a priority in his foreign policy. But if his equation for a like-minded partner includes only a fleeting glance on the deep scars of the past, there is little hope that his outreach will enjoy broad public approval.

In both films, the protagonists were born in 1902, when their country was a contested arena for hegemonic imperial powers. Their future is mercilessly cut short. One dies in prison of injuries from torture, at age 18. The other receives a life sentence. Japan’s surrender in World War II finally frees him from prison 22 years later.

“A Resistance” focuses on the last 15 months in the life of Yu Gwan-sun, one of the most famous and revered Korean independence activists, at Seodaemun Prison in colonial-era Seoul. The film begins with her arrival at the prison, barefoot and blindfolded, her face already severely swollen from torture. Flashbacks show her role in organizing and conducting anti-colonial rallies in her hometown, where she lost both of her parents.