According to a survey by the U.S. military government in 1946, 78% of the South Korean people wanted socialism and only 14% capitalism. In this situation, by appointing the pro-Japanese collaborators and the rightists, Syngman Rhee, who had not received the people’s support, massacred those groups and civilians that were political stumbling blocks. In dealing with the Jeju 4.3 uprising in 1947 and the Yeosun incident in 1948, the Syngman Rhee administration began to establish a radically anti-communist country, eliminating both the conservative right-wing and the leftist forces. The Korean War having broken out, massive civilian massacre became regularized. In the beginning of the war, the National Guidance Alliance (NGA), which had been established to guide and enlighten the leftists, became a target of the massacres. It is partly true that the ex-pro-Japanese military and police made the massacres more gruesome in order to ensure their own survival.

The Korean War that broke out following the Jeju 4.3 and Yeosun uprisings was part of an era of barbarism when the massacre of civilians reached its peak. At that time, the police, the military, the U.S. Army, the right, the left, and the People’s Army committed civilian massacres without distinguishing the elderly, men and women. Modern Korean history has been distorted and disguised due to the McCarthyism prevailing in our society. It is a sad thing that the history of the massacre of one million civilians right before and after the Korean War has become a history that even the people of Korea, the principal agents of the nation, do not understand properly. The film Haewon is a documentary that reflects on the history of civilian massacres in our modern history. Through this film, I wish to embrace the tears of the bereaved still suffering at this age and hope that their identity is released. Also, it is my hope that this film could serve as a small foundation so that a history of conflicts may terminate in an investigation after the truth, and the nation may move forward with forgiveness and reconciliation.

World Premiere