Answer: < Breaking the Wall (Seongbyeong-eul ttulhgo) (Han Hyeong-mo, 1949)

The first Korean anti-Communist film is known as < Breaking the Wall> (1949), the debut film by director Han Hyeong-mo who later became famous for < Madame Freedom(Jayubuin)>, but the film has not been preserved. This movie was made before the Korean War, but the 38th parallel line had already been drawn by then and the two Koreas were acutely sensitive regarding the ideological issue of an independent South Korean government. The fact that < Breaking the Wall> was an independently produced anti-Communism movie and not a government made anti-Communist film produced during and after the Korean War indicates that the levels of anti-Communist awareness and ideological conflicts were already high. The story is based on the Yeosun incident in 1948, which is about the time this movie was made. It tells about two men who are classmates and brothers-in-law at the same time. One is Communist and the other, a second lieutenant in the Korean army. The Communist friend attempts to bribe his brother-in-law into Communism but the lieutenant refuses to budge. In the end, the two meet in the Yeosun coup by fate and must aim their rifles at each other.

The lieutenant persuades his brother-in-law but he does not waver and the lieutenant has no choice but to shoot and kill his Communist brother-in-law. Most films made during the Korean War were documentaries of war scenes or military action, produced by the Korean and US intelligence agencies. These documentaries provided valuable war information to the people participating in the war, enhanced anti-Communist awareness, and even served entertainment functions when general movies were inaccessible. Among them, < An Assault of Justice (Jeongui-ui jingyeog)> is a film still preserved to this day. The film was directed by Han Hyeong-mo and produced by various people of the film industry. It records the background of the Korean War, how it all began, the armistice, and the ceasefire conference in close detail. Animosity is expressed towards People’s Republic of China and USSR, the two allies of North Korea, the instigator of the Korean War, and the UN who was on the side of South Korea is portrayed as a great savior of the Korean people. The film draws upon ideological conflicts and the conflict between USSR and the U.S. to accentuate their propaganda.

Movies made in that period of time reflected wartime situations and anti-Communism became a major trend in Korean films before and after the Korean War. Personal experiences and sufferings from the war led to drastic levels of anti-Communism and the government enthusiastically supported the production of anti-Communist films. War films such as < Assail Order (Chulgyeogmyeonglyeong)> (Hong Seong-gi, 1954), < Beat Back (Gyeogtoe)> (Lee Gang-cheon, 1955), and < The Hill of Immortal Bird (Bulsajo-ui eondeog)> (Jeon Chang-geun, 1955, this is a promotional film produced by the information agency of Korea for the UN troops. No South Korean or North Korean soldiers appear in the movie, and all lines were spoken in English. UN troops are the protagonists, with Chinese soldiers portrayed as their arch-enemies) and films that deal with North Korean guerilla soldiers and spies such as < The Box of Death (Jugeom-ui sangja)> (Kim Gi-yeong, 1955), < The Hand of Fate (Unmyeong-ui son)> (Han Hyeong-mo, 1954), and < Piagol (Pi-agol)> (Lee Gang-cheon, 1955) were all made then. The interesting point is that amongst the long trail of anti-Communist film production, some movies were criticized for sending out pro-Communist messages such because they portrayed Communists as human beings (South Koreans believed that they did not deserve to be seen as humans). This shows you how sensitive the mood was at the time when it came to issues of Communism.

As a matter of fact, the classification of anti-Communist films itself may be problematic. This is because the degrees to which films deal with ideological conflicts and the perspective they take on may change according to the time when the movies were made. Also, it is difficult to classify films as anti-Communist films with just the subject matter. In fact, in the case of < The Hand of Fate>, Communists (North Korean spies) are used in the film to define the genre of the movie and to add entertainment, rather than to convey true anti-Communist messages. Until 1955, just after the war, many movies took on an earnest and serious approach to Korean War, ideological differences, and Communism, but as time passed and as people slowly put the war behind them, it can be seen that the war becomes a subject matter rather than a message. Toward the late 1950’s, the Korean War was used as the material of melodramatic movies to express the pains of dispersed families, and after the 1960’s, it became the setting and material for war action movies and entertaining spectacles for movies such as < Five Marines (O in-ui haebyeong)> directed by Kim Gi-deok, and < Marines Are Gone (Doraoji Anneun Haebyeong)> director by Lee Man-hee.