Nudity, Profits Anger Surviving Comfort Women
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by Choe Seung-hyeon
Korean actress Lee Seung-yeon, 36, said Thursday that she has taken some nude photographs about the'comfort women'. Plans are for it to be made available on the Internet -- for a fee. The 'comfort women' and Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan have strongly denounced the photographs, saying, "the fact that they are trying to earn money through our painful history is unimaginable".
Lee Seung-yeon, Lototo Inc. and Netian Entertainment Inc. held a press conference Thursday and said "we are taking photos and making a film on the subject of the 'comfort women' starring Lee Seung-yeon, and it will be made available from early March by way of a paid service through the wireless service provider, Syswall".
They said they were motivated by the recent "Dokdo Islet dispute' between Korea and Japan, and chose the subject because they were distressed to see the 'comfort women' issue being forgotten all the time.
They also said that the "'comfort women' were the model upon which the sexuality of women was commercialized and were the starting point for a wrong history. They said that much of the profit from the collection would go to help the women who were 'comfort women.' About the level of exposure, they said that "it is not important how much of the breasts or legs is exposed. We are worrying about how much we'll reveal".
The production company said that the filming was done on Palau Island in the Pacific, where the 'comfort girls' were really taken to, and plans to conduct second and third filmings in Japan, Nepal and other countries.
Lee Yong-su (77), who was taken as a 'comfort woman' and returned, said in a phone interview with the reporter, "I was terribly shocked. I have been living my life alone trying to soothe my heart... how can they do this?" She could not stop crying. Kang Man-seok, a researcher at Korean Broadcasting Institute, pointed out that "there is the risk that painful history might become commercialized".
Korean Films Draw Record 3.24 Mln. Moviegoers in January Updated Feb.13,2004 12:49 KST
Korean films are gaining widespread popularity among local movie goers, drawing a record 3.24 million people to theaters throughout the capital last month alone.
A monthly report by film production company IM Pictures shows locally-produced movies held a 64.5 percent market share in January, the highest since last October when they accounted for a little over 70 percent of the total.
In particular, the blockbuster Korean film "Silmido" based on a true story about a group of South Korean prisoners involved in a secret government project to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Il-sung in the late 1960s clocked 1.7 million admissions in Seoul.
Adding to the momentum, movie experts forecast the new record set by "Silmido" could be short-lived as new Korean War film "Taegukgi" got off to a flying start at its silver screen debut last week.
Arirang TV
Korean actress Lee Seung-yeon, 36, said Thursday that she has taken some nude photographs about the'comfort women'. Plans are for it to be made available on the Internet -- for a fee. The 'comfort women' and Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan have strongly denounced the photographs, saying, "the fact that they are trying to earn money through our painful history is unimaginable".
Lee Seung-yeon, Lototo Inc. and Netian Entertainment Inc. held a press conference Thursday and said "we are taking photos and making a film on the subject of the 'comfort women' starring Lee Seung-yeon, and it will be made available from early March by way of a paid service through the wireless service provider, Syswall".
They said they were motivated by the recent "Dokdo Islet dispute' between Korea and Japan, and chose the subject because they were distressed to see the 'comfort women' issue being forgotten all the time.
They also said that the "'comfort women' were the model upon which the sexuality of women was commercialized and were the starting point for a wrong history. They said that much of the profit from the collection would go to help the women who were 'comfort women.' About the level of exposure, they said that "it is not important how much of the breasts or legs is exposed. We are worrying about how much we'll reveal".
The production company said that the filming was done on Palau Island in the Pacific, where the 'comfort girls' were really taken to, and plans to conduct second and third filmings in Japan, Nepal and other countries.
Lee Yong-su (77), who was taken as a 'comfort woman' and returned, said in a phone interview with the reporter, "I was terribly shocked. I have been living my life alone trying to soothe my heart... how can they do this?" She could not stop crying. Kang Man-seok, a researcher at Korean Broadcasting Institute, pointed out that "there is the risk that painful history might become commercialized".
Korean Films Draw Record 3.24 Mln. Moviegoers in January Updated Feb.13,2004 12:49 KST
Korean films are gaining widespread popularity among local movie goers, drawing a record 3.24 million people to theaters throughout the capital last month alone.
A monthly report by film production company IM Pictures shows locally-produced movies held a 64.5 percent market share in January, the highest since last October when they accounted for a little over 70 percent of the total.
In particular, the blockbuster Korean film "Silmido" based on a true story about a group of South Korean prisoners involved in a secret government project to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Il-sung in the late 1960s clocked 1.7 million admissions in Seoul.
Adding to the momentum, movie experts forecast the new record set by "Silmido" could be short-lived as new Korean War film "Taegukgi" got off to a flying start at its silver screen debut last week.
Arirang TV
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