Archive for February, 2012

The Independent, vol.1 No 17

Editorial

As we announced in our first issue, we believe in Korea for the Koreans, and not Korea for the one who can make the most out of her. We would like to call attention to a fact which is not generally known but which is doing a great injury to the Korean people. It is a fixed law of economics that the rate of interest on money in any place or in any trade is in proportion to the risk which is run.  The English government can borrow money for two percent a year because she is practically sure to pay, while such a government as China or Turkey has to pay more since they are not so certain to pay. In Korea the rate of  interest is exceedingly high, running from five to ten percent a month. This simply means that many who lend money at that rate lose both principal and interest. Now notice, Japanese speculators come in here with a few hundred dollars and lend it to Korean on security of real estate giving perhaps half the market value of the property and often asking interest at the rate of fifteen percent a month.  If payment is not made on the day set for its payment they of course foreclose or demand an emormous bonus, even twice the original sum in some cases. What we would call attention to is the fact that they do this absolutely without risk for if payment is not made on the instant, a complaint is made to the Japanese authorities and the matter is pushed through.

Now we are well aware that there is no direct remedy for this but it is a matter that should receive serious attention from the government.  Some of the finest places in Seoul are being filched from the Koreans and soon we shall see Korean merchants driven from the main streets of the city. We do not consider the Koreans free from blame in the matter. They are improvident and ten dollars today is a great blessing even if they have to pay back twenty for it next month. The Korean’s necessity is the  Japanese broker’s opportunity.  The only wat to handle the question is for the government to mkae a law that no Korean shall mortgage real estate to any foreigner.  It is the only way to save Seoul from their grasp. Let the Korean pawn his furniture and clothes and goods of whatever kind but not his house. If a Japanese wants to buy his house, well and good, but Koreans, unless extremely pressed, will not sell at a great loss. It is only in the hope that something will “turn up” that he puts his house in pawn and the chances are ten to one that he loses it.  We believe the government could make such a law and see that it is kept in spite of pressure that would be brought to bear upon them from certain quarters.

We are thoroughly in sympathy with all fair trade and we believe that Japan has a great commercial future before her but we do not call this fair trade.  It is a matter in which the government has an interest. The moment a piece of property in Seoul passes into the hands of a Japanese that moment the government loses its right of eminent domain over that property in any possible way if its alien owner saw fit to hold it.  The case of Mr. Okamoto is in evidence here. It is an exaggerated case but illustrates the greed for acuisition of real estate by fair means or foul. He was given the use of a house by the government while in its employ and though there is no record of its having been gien to him permanently and he can show no deed and no evidence to prove his case, he calls on his government to keep him in possession of what never was and, it is hoped, never will be his.

A strenuous effort should be made and it should be made imeediately to put a stop to this form of business in Seoul.  And the same is true of Chemulpo. Let every Korean understand that his house is not only his but the government’s as well and hat he cannot pawn without feeling the arm of the law.

Brief Notice

The Magistrate of Yang Ju reports that Im Won Ho of Chun Chun came to Yang Ju district to compel people to join his band for the purpose of looting villages in the name of the “righteous army.”  The Magistrate took the necessary steps to stop it, but some of the people were freightened into joining the gang.

The Governor of Pyeng Yang reports that miners in the gold fields of Eun San marched to the Government buildings and seized the guns and ammunition.  The people of Yang Dok heard of the robbery and gave chase.  The thieves in their flight threw away all the loot, and the articles were restored to their places.

Col. Park Nak Wan reports that 200 insurgents are looting the villages in Yong Dong, Whang Kan and Po Eun districts; and Col. Ku Yng Cho reports that insurgents have begun to congregate at Chun An, Nang Chun, ChukSan, Che Chun and Chin Chun districts. The Magistrate of Su Wun also reports that Yong In and An Sung districts are being troubled from the same cause.  The report of Capt. Kim Hong Keun says that 200 insurgents are roving about in Wun Ju, Hyung Sung, Yang Keun, Chi Pyeng, In Che and Yang Ku districts.  Whenever they see the Government troops approach they run away but reassemble afterwards and continue their depredations. He thinks it will take some time to subdue them entirely.

Some gentlemen started last Saturday at 12 o’clock , noon, from Chemulpo and came up the river on a Japanese steamer arriving in Seoul at seven o’clock Sunday morning. It will be a glad day when a man can go by rail between these points instead of being at the mercy of these poor crafts.

Three hundred Japanese soldiers arrived in Seoul yesterday afternoon to relieve the guards.

New Russian guards arrived in Seoul yesterday to relieve those guards from the Admiral Nakhimoff.  The  new guards are from the Demitri Donskoi.

Last Monday 693 packages arrived in the War Office from Vladivostock. They contain 3000 rifles and ammunition. They have been purchased by the Korean government.

We have received a copy of the general statistics of Japan. It is printed in French and Japanese and contains much valuable information about Japan. The title is Resume Statistique de l’Empire du Japon.

Two of the French fathers have been suffering from typhoid fever but are now recovering.

The veteran journalist John A. Cockerill who represented the N.Y.Herald a few years ago in Korea and Japan and wrote many interesting letters to the Herald, was transferred from Japan to the Herald’s London office two months ago and started for England making a stop in Cairo, where he died of apoplexy while sitting in a barber’s chair in Shepherd’s Hotel.  The journalistic world has lost in him one of its most valuable representatives and his many friends mourn his untimely death.

The City Jail has been removed to the old government granary inside the little West Gate.

War vessels in port; British, Pique; Japanese, Atago; Russian, Koreytz, Nakhimoff, and Demitri Donskoi; U.S., The Yorktown.

Ensign R.R. Bellknap U.S. Navy, with fifteen marines arrived in Seoul yesterday from the Yorktown. The Charleston is homeward bound and expects to reach San Francisco July 1st.

The tendency of the typical young lady to have “a good cry” says a scientific journal, seems to have been found physiologically proper. Medical authorities now assert that crying is the best exerciese for young children. One hospital superintendent says that a healthy baby should cry three or four times a night and from ten to fifteen minutes at a time. What does Pa say?– Kobe Chronicle.

The rainfall on Monday was two inches by the gauge.

Foreign News

King Menelik in view of the refusal of the Italian Government to negotiate a treaty of peace, is preparing to fight for the complete autonomy of his Kingdom. He has sent 3000 Italian captives into the interior of Abyssinia. Great mortality is reported among the captives.

I am combining the list of new DVDs of Korean movies with the post I usually do on Tuesday, trailers of Korean movies opening in theaters.  As I said in my last post, I was away this weekend for a radio broadcast and I did not prepare the list.  So I will rectify that right now.

There are two, possibly three, Korean films being released on DVD this week. The first is the documentary of Kim Jong-il’s life, Kim Jong-il: Forbidden Biography.  Number of discs: 1/ Subtitles: Korean and English/ Rating:  all ages/ Format: 16:9 widescreen/ Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0/ Running Time: 52 minutes/ Suggested Retail Price: 16,500 KRW/ Available: February 27

The second movie pictured there is Invasion of the Alien Bikini directed by Oh Yeong-doo and starring Hong Yeong-geun and Ha Eun-jeong.  Number of discs: 1/ Subtitles: Korean and English/ Rating: for ages 18+/ Format: 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen/ Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0/ Running Time: 75 minutes/ Suggested Retail Price: 25,300 KRW/ Available: February 29

I mentioned that there might be three films being released on DVD.. the other one is The Magicians which had been delayed from its original December 2011 date.  The reason it is in doubt is that I have seen two other dates given since then and it is continuously being pushed back.  Information about that film is here.

New movies this week.
There are a total of 12 new movies being released in Korean theaters this week and five of these are Korean films.
First, we have the trailer for Stateless Things, directed by Kim Kyeong-mok and starring Lee Ba-wool and Yeom Hyeon-joon. Being a “queer”-themed film, it will no doubt have a limited release.

Also getting a limited release is the documentary, Welcome Back to Beast Airline 3D. As the title suggests, it features the singing group, Beast, in an encore concert.

Probably the most mainstream release this week is Love Fiction, a romance starring Ha Jeong-woo and Kong Hyo-jin.

Eighteen, Nineteen is another romance being released in theaters this week. It stars Yoo Yeon-seok and Baek Jin-hee and is directed by Bae Gwang-soo.

The last film does not have a trailer available that I have seen or a website. It is a sex-comedy called Man Hwa Bang directed by Heo Jae-hyeong and starring Lee Eun-mi and Im Ah-yeong.

I finished this post several hours later than I usually do. That is because, for the last two days, I have been in Seoul for a live radio broadcast about this blog. It was the second time this winter. The first interview was about the articles in the Independent. The more recent one was about classic Korean films, particularly from the 1960s. But it is a long trip to Seoul and I am so tired I can barely keep my eyes open while typing. I am just going to show the box office listings below with no further comments.

Before I begin this review, I want to say that I am using the title, Mist, with the greatest reluctance.  While making the index plates I have been posting, I have found that a fair number of Korean films of the 60s and 70s had English names at the time of their release. Often these names appear on the advertisements and posters but when KOFA built its website, it did not have access to most of these (many posters were donated sometime around 2005 by a collector) so the Film Archives simply provided literal translations of the titles.  In this case, 안개 became Mist.  However, there was no need to do this.  I do not know if they had the poster on hand when they added the this movie to the website, but they certainly had the film.  As we can see on the image above, the movie was to be called Foggy Town in English and this title is also written on the title card during the opening credits of the film.  But as this DVD of this film is sold as Mist in English, that is what I must call it. But Wwy the change?  I can understand if the title is awkward or grammatically incorrect..and I have even seen some that were spelled wrong in English… but there is nothing wrong with Foggy Town and it is certainly descriptive of the film’s location, Mujin.  

Mujin appears to be a fictional city. Judging from how long it takes to get there from Seoul, the fact that it is on the coast, and the fact that it has salt marshes and no crashing waves, it must be meant to be located on the south or southwest shore. One person on the bus mentions that it has a fairly large population but we learn that most people in the town looks down on his or her neighbor as, at best, mediocre examples of humanity. It seems to be many of the citizens’ dream to escape the boredom and loneliness of Mujin and go to Seoul or risk losing their minds.

Yoon Gi-joon was one of the lucky few that managed to escape and better his life. Not through his own work though, because he met a rich widow and married her, putting himself in a position to become heir apparent of his father-in-law’s successful pharmaceutical company. In order to ensure this occurs, his wife has arranged a board meeting and is pulling her father’s strings but Gi-joon’s actual ability stand in the way so, to be certain of success, she sent him to visit Mujin, his hometown until she sends for him.

Gi-joon’s relationship with his wife is interesting. It certainly does not seem to be based on love. In his case, he was attracted to her money, the lifestyle it brought, and probably the fact that marriage to her came with a guaranteed job.  Why would she marry Gi-joon? He was sickly in his younger days and became a draft-dodger– an important issue in Korea even in these days, but even more so in past decades. Men who evaded their mandatory military duties had a very difficult time securing jobs and interacting successfully with other men in society. Certainly his looks helped in landing Gi-joon his wife, he is after all being played by Shin Seong-il, but I think it was more than that. His wife wanted someone that she could control. She wants to run the company and, although she is already very involved in management, there was a glass ceiling that would have prevented her from easily achieving her goals. She knows that Gi-joon is at heart weak. She states bluntly to her father that Gi-joon is nothing without them and reminds her husband he would not even be in Seoul if it were not for her. Perhaps that is why it was so easy for him to get involved with the pretty new school teacher in Mujin, In-sook.

In-sook was the top of the music department at the university she attended in Seoul, and when she was offered a job immediately after graduating, she jumped at the chance to take it… at least that is what we were told.  Supposedly, In-sook studied Korean classical music but the only songs she ever sings are Korean popsongs.  She could be lying, or Mr. Park exaggerating her credentials as he is silently in love with her. It is known by some that her family background was not good at all and the only reason she stays in Mujin is because her hometown is worse. She wants more than anything to return to Seoul and she is willing to do anything to get there even when warned that “No city will give you back your college days.”

Gi-joon does not particuarly want to go back to his past, he tried too hard to escape it to want that. He sees a lot of himself in In-sook (sometimes quite literally– when talking to her we sometimes see Gi-joon of the past in her place) and promises to take her to Seoul. She for her part makes a promise. “When I am in Seoul, I will have an affair with you.”  It turns out he didn’t have to wait that long for the affair to start.  Oddly, soon after it begins, In-sook changes her position and decides that she doesn’t want to go to Seoul anymore, prompting Gi-joon to reply that they have to promise to stop lying to each other.  Because she is so much like his former self, Gi-joon realizes that the promise extends to himself and that he has been lying to himself the entire time. We see things in a new light with that realization, and he is then back on the train to Seoul alone.

This movie is interesting for many reasons.  The setting of Mujin is one of them. I think it is important that Mujin is not a real city. Most Korean films of this period use existing cities when setting their films. The fog the nighly covers the city is also important.  The narration states that it isolates Mujin from the rest of the world and Gi-joon’s journey there seems more like a journey into his subconscious than an actual place.. with a little more strangeness thrown in, it could seem like an old Twilight Zone episode.  It is stated the Mujin has no special food, grows no special crop and even though it is a coastal city, there is no port or trade.  In fact, it seems like there is little reason for people to be there, yet we are told it is well populated.  Why?  Could it be that everyone there is a lost Seoul searching for some evasive piece of him or her self? 

My only complaint with this film is that some of the flashbacks are not clearly delineated as such. With most, it becomes easy enough for the viewer to realize that we are now in the past, there was one that left me confused as it showed Gi-joon standing by a bus watching an insane prostitute being harrassed by street urchins.  Gi-joon’s clothes in that scene are quite good and I thought it was happening in the present but in fact what we saw must have occured as he left Mujin the first time as the scene switches to him still on the bus. It is a confusing moment.

However, don’t let that one point deter you from watching the film when you get the chance. It is part of the Kim Soo-yong Box Set and, while pricey, is well-worth seeking out. 

Below, you can hear the title song of this movie, Mist, sung by Jeong Hoon-hee is 1967. Even if you can’t understand it, it has a beautiful, haunting melody and is very relaxing.

Director Jo Gwan-soo was born in 1947 and made two movies in the latter half of the 1970s.  And that is all I know about him through the Encyclopedia of Korean Directors. After 1979, he disappears from the world of film.  Information on his two films, Why Do You Ask About My Past? and Promise On The Last Day is listed below. Just click the thumbnail and expand to see a full-sized image. You can access information about the movies of other directors of this decade by clicking the tab at the top of the page marked “the 1970s”

,   Maybe I should have included another director’s work in this post, but the next director on the list to be done is Jo Moon-jin and he has quite a few films. He deserves his own post.

  With the following editorial, I think it is important that I remind readers that the opinions expressed were written by the editor of the Independent in 1896, nearly 120 years ago and are definitely not shared by me. Unfortunately, the attitudes reflected here are accurate examples of how many in western nations viewed the east at that time.– tom

Editorial

There are many papers in the home land which ridicule the idea that Japan is or will soon be a serious competitor in the markets of the world. <We saw an example of the ridicule in the April 30th issue of the Indendent via an exerpt from the New York Maritime Register–tom> We think differently and can show more or less reason for our belief.

In the first place notice that in these days of minute division of labor the manufacturer of even delicate instruments is largely a matter of turning the crank. Machinery does it all and there is less call for that all-round, intelligent skill in the individual that was found a century ago. Now the Japanese are celebrated for their deftness and they can learn to run machinery and they have learned to run it about as well as the Westerner.  They have not as yet gotten machinery of a fine enough quality to begin to compete seriously with English or American goods that are shipped from Europe to supply eastern peoples who are not extremely particular as to the finish of the goods so long as they can get them cheap. Here is where the Japanese competition has already been felt.  For instance, Japanese matches are not quite up to standard of the Austrian matches in the point of finish but they light a fire about as well and are astonishingly cheap.  It did not take the East long to decide between the two. These Eastern peoples are not going to pay a large bonus for a little extra finish.

In the second place, no enlightened people can at present compete with the Asiatic in the cost of living. Why is it that the Japanese can live on so much less than the American? Simply because the Japanese people have for centuries been schooled in the matter of economy, their population being so large compared with the arable area of their country, while the American people have been living like a young man who has just fallen heir to a great fortune and doesn’t know how to spend it fast enough. Among the rural population of France or Germany we should probably find the cost of living much nearer the Japanese figure for there too populations is relatively great. This factor in the problem will right itself gradually for we see a constant tendency in the U.S. to a reduction in the cost of the necessities of life while in Japan te tendency toward manufacturing has resulted in a rise all along the line of wages. Every commodity has appreciated in value so that we find a gradual equalizing tendency at work. The more Japan advances the more numerous will be her needs for civilization is nothing more than a creation of needs to be supplied.

We are in sympathy with the demand along the Pacific coast of the U.S. that American labor shall not be called upon to compete with Japanese labor in America. It would mean that the American laborer would have to give up some of his legitimate needs and descend in grade of civilization where he would eat, work and sleep and little else. <This offhand reference refers to a particularly shameful period of American History which attempted to ban Asian immigrants from entering the US after the railroads were completed. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 banned Chinese, and later all Asians (1924), from owning land in the US, marrying whites and, eventually, from legally entering the US even if they had been living there for years. Japanese and other Asians were included in this act which was strengthened several times over he decades but were not specifically targetted until the Gentleman’s Agreement Act of 1907 which banned the immigration of Japanese men–women were still allowed to enter, often as ‘picture’ (mail-order) brides.  These acts were not repealed until after WWII. With his attitude, it is easy to forget that editor and founder of the Independent, Philip Jaisohn, was a US immigrant himself from Korea albeit not of the laboring class and living on the Atlantic coast where Asian immigrants were relatively rare–tom>

The Eastern market is so vast and the demand is increasing so rapidly that Japan can never supply it and in the effort to do so the cost of wages will be so enhanced that European goods will still be able to hold their place.

Brief Notices

Rev. H.G. Appenzeller returned on Saturyday from his trip to Pyeng Yang.

The score of the baseball game Saturday was twenty-three to neneteen in favor of the American residents. The game was well attended by the ladies and by several Korean officials. It was hoped that some of our English friends would participate in the game but they did not find it convenient to do so.

The Royal Messenger to the North, Yi Chong Keun, has returned from his mission to Ham Kyung province. The disturbances there have ceased and the condition of things is normal.

On Saturday, Capt. Cho Kwan Heun started for Kang Neung with 200 soldiers, Lieut. Yu Sung Wun for Su Won with sixty and Lieut. Yi Pyung Kyu for Kwang Ju with one company.

On Saturday the eight criminals convicted of complicacy in the events of Oct. 8th, started by steamer from Chemulpo for their various places of banishment.

At the request of the students of the Royal English School they have been allowed to assume military dress.  It will be a great change in student life. We commed the spirit of these progressive yung Koreans and trust that with western garments they will also adopt some of the more useful western ideas. <This becomes a serious issue in the weeks to come and touches off a dangerous rivalry between the editor of this newspaper and conservatives in the government. This will be played out in the coming months–tom>

A male child named Sun Kapi, four years old, wearing red cotton clothes and red shoes, was lost last Saturday. If any one finds himhe will please send him to his parent, Yi Gab Keun, a policeman in Ke Dong.

Sim Neung Wun of Tong Chin has been feeding the poor of that district for the last three months for his own granary. His beneficiaries number over 140.

Minister of Finance, Sim Sang Hun, will assume the duties of his office today. Minster of Education, Sin Ki Sun will return to Seoul in a few days. Minister of the Royal Household returned to his country home yesterday.

The police department has posted guards at several places on Nam San to watch for timber thieves.

Capt. Kim Whang Whan met a band of insurgents in Kim Wha district on the 5th and had a sharp engagement. The insurgens lost heavily and the remainder were dispersed. The captain caught three men and executed them in the public street.

No Chil Sung of Kwang Ju, formerly of Seoul, had a lottery establishment here on the broad street. Last year the Government prohibited he lottery in the city and so No went to Kwang Ju and became a farmer. A few days ago, three Seoul men went down to his place and arrested him ostensibly by order of the Commissioner of Police. While making the arrest, they looted his house. They then brought him to Seoul and, leaving him in the street near the pagoda, made off. No went to the Police Headquarters and found that no order had been issued for his arrest. He lodged a complaint and two of the culprits have been caught.

300 Japanese soldiers arrived in Seoul a few days ago to relieve the guard who will start for Japan today. They are 800 in number and have been here for two years.

Saturday afternoon the Japanese residents of Chin Ko Kai gave a farewell reception to the Japanese army officers and soldiers who are leaving. Minister Komura, Consul Uchida and other prominent officials made speeches and the Colonel made a reply. At the end the whole assembly gave three cheers for the Emperor of Japan.

To the Editor of the Independent: Dear Sir,   Since last February the courts of Seoul have refused to take up and adjudicate cases involving business relations. I would call the attention of the authorities to the fact that the refusal to entertain such cases has caused much inconvenience amont the people as there is no way to adjust such matters according to law. I voice the sentiment of the peopl in expressing the hope that the courts of law will soon be open to any and every case that is brought before them. Yours respectfully, Kim Yun Po

There are a lot of new movies coming the theaters this week–14 to be precise. Of them, two are listed as Korean films. The first trailer shown below is for the movie Angel’s Breath directed by and stars Han Ji-won and co-features Kim Yeong-seon. It is the story of a young man who dreams of becoming famous as a star, but has little ability and no idea how to go about making his dream a reality. His mother works hard to support and encourage him, but more often than not has to bail him out of trouble.

The second Korean movie is actually a Korean/Canadian co-produced animation Bolts and Blip. Apparently it is a movie based on a television series, but I know nothing about it. The trailer is English below.

The other 12 movies that are coming to theaters are listed according to region. From Asia we have the animated Legend of a Rabbit (ch), Nintama (jp), Naruto (jp) and The Last Chushingura. From Europe, Amelie (fr), Womb (fr), Turin Horse (hungary), and Iron Lady (uk). And from North America, Underground 4 (us), Big Miracle (us), Man on a Ledge (us) and Nitro (ca)

It was a tough call as to which movie would take the highest rank in this weekend’s box office charts and the result, when looking at percentages, was a virtual tie. However, when counting tickets sold over the weekend, Howling managed to beat back the former number one movie, Nameless Gangster, taking over the top spot.  That was not the only percentage-war that took place this weekend. The fight for the number four and five spots was also very close with just 2,000 tickets sold separating the two films, the Icelandic animation Thor and the US film The Grey. 

I really have to wonder why it was decided that Ghost Rider 2 received so many screenings.  The first film did not do very well in Korea– did someone think the 3D gimmick would lure people into the theaters in droves?  It didn’t work. If you look at the MEQ (Met Expectation Quotient– I babbled on about MEQ last week in the box office report)– you see the Ghost Rider 2 fell well outside the standard deviation, earning a score of only 45.7.  Woman in Black did not fare much better with a score of 52.2 and Papa just missed the lowest range of what is acceptable with a score of 62.8. 

Tomorrow:  The movies opening for this coming weekend—

This coming week we have four Korean movies being released onto DVD for the first time.

First is Winter Butterfuly directed by Kim Gyu-min and starring Park So-yeon and Joeng Seung-won.  Never heard of it… you’re not alone. The movie was only seen by 520 people but that is not necessarily an indication of its quality. The film had an extremely limited release. It is the story of an 11-year old boy who lives alone with his sick mother. One day he gets into an arguement with her before going out to gather firewood, but he becomes lost in the woods… Number of discs: 1/ Subtitles: Korean and English/ Rating: for ages 15+/ Format: 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen/ Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0/ Running Time: 88 minutes/ Suggest Retail Price: 22,000KRW / Available: February 21st.

Also pictured above is Beast. It is directed by Hwang Yoo-shik and stars Jeong Seok-won and Jeon Se-heung. It is the story of a man who must find his kidnapped sister before she is raped on a live internet program.  Number of discs: 1/ Subtitles: Korean and English/ Rating: for ages 18+/ Format: 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen/ Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1/ Running Time: 90 minutes/ Suggested Retail Price: 22,000 KRW/ Available: February 21st.

The more mainstream movies are getting DVD releases later in the week. Perfect Partners– directed by Park Heon-soo and starring Kim Yeong-ho and Kim Hye-seon. Two professionals, a writer and a cook, struggle to find new ideas discover creativity and romance with a pair of students. Number of dics: 1/ Subtitles: Korean and English/ Rating: for ages 18+/ Format: 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen/ Audio: Dolby digital 5.1/ Running Time: 125 minutes/ Suggested Retail Price: 22,000 KRW/ Available: February 22nd.

Penny Pinchers– directed by Kim Jeong-hwan and starring Han Ye-seul and Song Joong-ki. An unlikely couple forms between a woman whose only interest seems to be saving money and a man who never earns a cent on his own. Number of discs: 1/ Subtitles: Korean and English/ Rating: for ages 15+/ Format: 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen/ Audio: Dolby digital 5.1/ Running Time: 114/ Suggested Retail Price: 25,300 KRW/ Available: February 23rd.

Director Jeong’s 20 year career as a director started in the late 1960s and he made 21 films during the 70s.  He is famous for the series creating a four part series of movies that were incredibly popular but whose English name varies– It is listed here as “Farewell My Love” because that is what KOFA entitled the third edition of this film, released in 1970 and thus the first I encountered while building this index. However the title is often listed as I Hate You but Once Again, or Love You Again, or even just Again as with the 2002 remake. Regardless, Jeong was a master of melodrama as you will be able to see from the 12 movies listed below. His other nine from this decade were listed at an earlier date and information on them can be viewed by clicking the tab at the top of the page marked ‘the 1970s’ .  To view the thumbnails below, click and then click again to expand the image.

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Next: the movies of Jo Gwan-woo