Kelvin Kyung Kun Park

"You belong to the country for the next two years." The film describes Woo-cheol's struggles with becoming part of a group while trying to maintain his individuality throughout his military service period. A humorous yet cynical portrait of military groupism.

Korea's past was whale worship; its present is industry. Is the future whales AND industry?

Korea's past was whale worship; its present is industry. Is the future whales AND industry?

Jun, a young man of North Korean origin who had illegally emigrated to South Korea, works in a gas station. After protecting a colleague, Sun-hee, a Chinese immigrant of Korean ethnicity, Jun gets fired. When he goes back to the station for his pay, Jun hits the boss and he runs away with Sun-hee. Two young outsiders have a great time exploring the city which they had never seen before. Hyeon is a young homosexual and he is living in his sugar-daddy’s luxury apartment. Hyeon sometimes feels suffocated with his situation. These two finally find each other through an internet site, with disastrous results.

Cheonggyecheon is a small industrial area in the city of Seoul where small metal workshops are located. Cheonggyecheon had played a key role in the industrialization of South Korea from the remnants of colonialism and war. Following the liberation of the country from Japanese rule in 1945, many industrial complexes became abandoned, resulting in a flood of scavenged machine parts on the market.. In the 1960s, Vietnam War veterans brought many machines into Cheonggyecheon, initiating small-scale production and what’s now considered “copy” production unique to the economies of developing nations. In the past five years, the business on Cheonggyecheon has declined as the surrounding neighborhood is in the process of renovation and gentrification, as part of a beautification initiative by the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

Cheonggyecheon is a small industrial area in the city of Seoul where small metal workshops are located. Cheonggyecheon had played a key role in the industrialization of South Korea from the remnants of colonialism and war. Following the liberation of the country from Japanese rule in 1945, many industrial complexes became abandoned, resulting in a flood of scavenged machine parts on the market.. In the 1960s, Vietnam War veterans brought many machines into Cheonggyecheon, initiating small-scale production and what’s now considered “copy” production unique to the economies of developing nations. In the past five years, the business on Cheonggyecheon has declined as the surrounding neighborhood is in the process of renovation and gentrification, as part of a beautification initiative by the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

Kelvin Kyung Kun Park’s Invitation to a Peaceful City, poetically mediates on the various forms of cultural resistance and simple quotidian ways of making do, that a variety of displaced Korean villagers have made after being first displaced by the Japanese and then the US Air Force. Park’s work sensitively speaks about the conflict that has arisen between the locals who are now tied into the economy of the base and others who still live under its shadow.