Dear Pyongyang

Aug 26 2006 Not Rated 1h 47m
Documentary

Dear Pyongyang is a documentary film by Zainichi Korean director Yang Yong-hi (Korean: ???, Hanja: ???) about her own family. It was shot in Osaka Japan (Yang's hometown) and Pyongyang, North Korea, In the 1970s, Yang's father, an ardent communist and leader of the pro-North movement in Japan, sent his three sons from Japan to North Korea under a repatriation campaign sponsored by ethnic activist organisation and de facto North Korean embassy Chongryon; as the only daughter, Yang herself remained in Japan. However, as the economic situation in the North deteriorated, the brothers became increasingly dependent for survival on the care packages sent by their parents. The film shows Yang's visits to her brothers in Pyongyang, as well as conversations with her father about his ideological faith and his regrets over breaking up his family.

Plot

A Japanese-born ethnic Korean filmmaker chronicles her father's fierce loyalty to North Korea and the radical choices he makes due to his Marxist ideology. The father as a teen had moved from South Korea to Japan. He grew Marxist in his views and declares himself a North Korean due to his experiences of Japanese occupation, Korea's division and the Korean War. He envisioned a unified and communist Korean Peninsula. In 1971, he sent his three sons to Pyongyang. Thirty years later, his youngest child explores her father's choices. She filmed multiple trips to Pyongyang, offering unprecedented access to daily life in the secretive country.

Written by

N/A

Directed by

Yong-hi Yang

Cast

N/A

Crew

View crew

Production Countries

Japan

Languages

Awards

4 wins & 2 nominations

Trailers
Dear Pyongyang -- Official US Trailer
Scores
# of Votes
221
Average Rating
7.8 out of 10
Metascore
NA
Popularity
NA