Joint Security Area: A tale of War and Friendship

Joint Security Area is an area of heavily fortified border that separates North and South Korea. Park Chan-wook takes up this controversial subject as his third film as a director. The film is based on the novel by Park Sang-yeon and entitled ‘DMZ’. The 2000 film ‘Joint Security Area’ becomes a critical and commercial success. It becomes the highest grossing film in Korean film history at the time of release. The film also wins prestigious awards like Blue Dragon Film Awards and Grand Bell Awards.

Swiss Army Major Sophie E. Jean arrives at DMZ on behalf of Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission to investigate a shootout there, in which two North Korean soldiers have died and one North Korean soldier and one South Korean soldier are injured. Both the countries are putting allegations on each other, and eager to break the war on this issue. Officer Jean interviews both the surviving soldiers. She finds the inconsistency in the reports.

Sergeant Lee Soo-hyeok, a South Korean soldier, confessed that he shot three North Korean soldiers leaving two dead in order to escape the kidnapping by them. On the other hand, Sergeant Oh Kyeong-pil, North Korean soldier, claims that the South Korean soldier, Soo-hyeok barged into their side and opened fire and killed two soldiers. He denies the kidnapping story. But, the real story is far simpler and tragic.

When Major Jean interviews Private Nam Sung-sik, security companion to Soo-hyeok and his close friend, in spite of answering a simple query, he attempts suicide by jumping out of the window. This incident strengthens Jean’s belief that the truth is different from what is reported. Both sides do not like Major Jean’s scrutiny as they wanted her to believe the official story. So she was removed from the investigation on the background that her father had North Korean ties. But, before she left, she met both the surviving soldiers to know the truth.

The truth is presented in the flashback. Though both surviving soldiers belongs to enemy armies, they were very good friends. Once Soo-hyeok accidentally lost into the North Korean side and stepped on a mine, Kyeong-pil and Woo-jin deactivated the mine and befriended him. This incident led them into friendship. After the exchange of messages they started meeting on North Korean side. The friendship of these three is soon joined by Private Nam Sung-sik. All of them started meeting each other and playing games. They kept politics aside to maintain loyalty to their duties and friendship. When the tension escalates between two countries, Soo-hyeok and Sung-sik decide to meet them last time to bid their friends farewell and give birthday wishes to Woo-jin. In this last meeting, all four of them were found out by North Korean commanding officer. In spite of Kyeong-pil’s efforts and requests to lower the weapons, in the panic Sung-sik shoots the commanding officer and then kills Woo-jin.

Kyeong-pil slaps Sung-sik, takes the gun from him and kills the, still alive, commanding officer. And then he persuades both South Korean soldiers to create false alibi of their kidnapping, asking them to escape, creating the story that in the process they killed two officers and injured Kyeong-pil. He also evaporates all the evidences of the four soldiers’ fraternity. Sung-sik runs to the other side before the army arrives. Injured Soo-hyeok is taken to the safer side by the army. Thus, it is believed that only Soo-hyeok is kidnapped. Officers from the both sides give the statements that fit the narrative showing the loyalty to their friendship.

The hostility between North and South Korea is well-known. The movie begins with the dichotomy of the two nations where the North Koreans are called Commie and the South Koreans are Yankees. And these terms recur in many of the dialogues. The dichotomy has to be seen from a neutral stand-point, that is, from the point of view of Swiss Army Major Sophie E. Jean. She analyses the entire shootout. As a spectator, the case is presented to us neutrally; we as a spectator are supposed to decide who is at fault. But, as the film proceeds, we come to know the fact is very different from the official story. And film gradually moves to the dichotomy of enemy and friend.

The selfless friendship has to be concealed for the larger animosity. The soldiers who used to address each other as ‘brother’ had to fight against each other to save each other. The fake hostility is not concealed from the neutral observers. Sung-sik attempts a suicide so that the truth can’t come out. The antagonism is so bad that the truth of friendship would have been more harmful than the fake hatred for each other. The world doesn’t want to see the story of love and loyalty, because this world has redefined the concept of love. If the love is across the border, the person will be considered an enemy of the state; s/he will be considered a threat to inexistent peace process.

It is not just about North and South Korea. It is a statement and it says that human relations are over and above any borders. The four soldiers not only spent the time with each other, but they also learn from each other. They were quite aware that their leaders have a very different understanding of the concept of people. In one scene, Woo-jin asks his pet dog to go to the other side of the border because there is more food on the other side. He does this because he cares for the dog. South Korean friends used to bring cassettes of famous musicians and singers for their North Korean friends. Chocolates, cigarettes, and lighters were exchanged. They used to have a good time together.

The film raises many important questions. What is more important: a man-made, artificial line or naturally connected human hearts? The border between North and South Korea becomes more important than the wish of friendship of Korean people. Stepping on a land-mine, Soo-hyeok is not ashamed of asking for help from the enemy soldiers. Kyeong-pil and Woo-jin help the soldier from enemy troop without thinking about their lives. Kyeong-pil conceals the truth throughout, though two of North Korean soldiers have died. He tries his level best to save his South Korean friends. On the other hand, Soo-hyeok tries his level best to save his friend and does not provide the correct information. Sung-sik’s attempt to suicide affects both Kyeong-pil and Soo-hyeok, and they successfully lead the investigation on the path of alibi, understanding the fact that both the parties are not interested in truth, but allegations.

The film ends on the frame of a photograph taken by an American tourists in which all four friends can be seen. The scene was presented earlier in the movie, but at this time it is in black-n-white minimizing the difference between them in terms of the color of their uniform. Before that, Soo-hyeok commits suicide out of guilt when he is told by Major Sophie Jean that he is the one who shot first at Woo-jin, understanding that the entire shootout was his mistake. If he had not shot first, the results would have been different. The film makes a clear statement that loyalties to the hearts are more important than the loyalties to the uniforms and borders.

Published in: The Hills Times – Heritage July 27, 2017. Page No. 07