KOREA

Decades Apart

August 2000 - 23'30"

SCREAMING WOMAN HITTING MAN ON FLOOR - T13.47.26

0’16

(UPSOT SCREAMING 13.47.26 )

Although closely related - these people know each other only as distant memories

COLOURFULLY DRESSED WOMEN GREET AND CRY OVER MAN.

13.37.56

0’23

Brothers and sisters husbands and wives - they’ve been separated for fifty years - victims of a war that divided their nation and destroyed their lives

SYNCH RED CROSS DIRECTOR

IN KOREAN

**mostly t/track over meeting relatives

0’38

T/T THEN BRIEF SYNCH: T4.25.55:

THE PARENTS AND SIBLINGS OF THOSE WHO WENT NORTH NEVER FORGOT THEIR LOVED ONES AND WAITED FOR THEM TO RETURN THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO DIDN’T MOVE FOR 50 YEARS JUST WAITING FOR THEM TO COME BACK 26.08

(OK)

OLD MAN WALKS IN HOLDING UP PHOTOS. T13.17.59

0’52

The most powerfully symbolic result of Korea’s Cold War thaw - these extraordinary reunions are the first step towards what many hope will eventually be their country’s reunification.

01’05

BRIEF UPSOT OLD MAN WITH PICTURES: t13.19.10 ALTHOUGH HE KNOWS ME HE MAY NOT RECOGNISE ME - HE’S 75 YEARS OLD...

FROM BEHIND - SAME MAN WITH PICTURES GREETS BROTHER - CRYING - 13.36.13

01’20

(UPSOT CRIES 13.36.13)

A gift to a dying generation - this is only the second time North Korea has allowed any separated families to meet - it promises more later in the year - approval that’s seen as proof Pyongyang is willing to finally open up.

RANTING WOMAN

T13.47.38

01’41

QUICK UPSOT WOMAN:

13.47.38: (OUR MOTHER) KEPT ASKING, IF YOU WERE HEALTHY WHY DIDN’T YOU COME HOME 47.45.

01’50

But for a cash-strapped North Korea the real motives are much more than just humanitarian..although desperate - the world’s last stalinist state is far from finished.

02’15

MAP: KOREA

PYONGYANG

SEOUL

MT KUMGANG

SHIPSIDE - NICE EVENING LIGHT

TAPE 10: 13’13-19’57...could cut with TAPE 9 29’28-33’00

02’20

**CLD USE SHIP AT DOCK - DUSK - DAY ONE TAPE ONE - EVAN - END

(UPSOT HAUNTING MUSIC)

We’re on a journey to one of the most secretive state’s on earth...

Beyond an almost impossible official visa - the only way a foreign journalist can enter North Korea these days is by ship - with a group of South Korean tourists.

TOURISTS INSIDE - EDUCATION CLASS

T9

02’36

It’s a new route that’s meant to show the North’s friendlier side - but part of the tour’s preparation is a reminder that North and South Korea are still technically at war.

EDUCATION COURSE

tape 9 12’20

02’48

(UPSOT EDUCATION)

T9.12.25 IF SOMEONE TAKES A PHOTOGRAPH THE WHOLE BUS WILL BE STOPPED AND THEY KNOW EXACTLY WHO TOOK THE PHOTOGRAPH, HOW MANY ROWS BACK LEFT OR RIGHT. 12.38. - ok

T9.7.51 OLD COUPLE IN AUDIENCE

03’01

For Lee Bong Ha the rules and regulations are a troubling reminder of the regime that wrecked his life.

Fifty years ago amid the chaos of the Korean War his family tried fleeing south.

03’16

T/T THEN SYNCH OLD BLOKE:

T9.34.48:

MY MOTHER GAVE ME SOME RICE POWDER AND SAID GO HIDE IN THE MOUNTAINS AND WHEN THE SOUTH KOREAN SOLDIERS COME UP WE COULD CONTINUE SOUTH. SHE SAID IF WE RAN OUT OF FOOD, WE SHOULD EAT BARK AND PINE NEEDLES (cries) - ok

03’50

He never saw or heard from his mother and only sister ever again...and ever since he’s been too poor to even look.

03’59

SYNCH WIFE: 9..44.10 OUR CHILDREN COLLECTED MONEY AND THIS CRUISE IS A GIFT FROM THEM. BEFORE HE DIES, EVEN THOUGH HE CAN’T GO TO HIS BIRTHPLACE, THEY WANTED HIM TO SEE MOUNT KUMGANG.

9.44.26 OK

MISTY MOUNTAINS

LET BREATH A BIT OVER MOUNTAINS

KEEP MUSIC UNDER V/O

Digi tape one day one ron: 33’30

04’20

(UPSOT MYSTERY KOREAN MUSIC)

This is what Bong Ha and the other tourists have come so far to see.

For centuries an inspiration for poets and painters - the misty peaks of Kumgang or Diamond Mountain are for all Koreans north and south a potent symbol of their shared culture.

So it’s not surprising that it’s here North Korea has allowed the first free market experiment in hard currency tourism

SEE OLD COUPLE IN RAINJACKETS STARTING WALK WITH GROUP

04’59

(UPSOT WALKERS: digi day one tape one Ron: 8.30 HELLO KUMGANG MOUNTAIN I’M HERE)

With his mother probably already dead - for 68-year-old Bong Ha this is closest he’ll ever get to his home and his only sister.

T/T OVER OLD COUPLE WALKING

05’12

T/T WIFE: 9.46.04:

THEY PARTED ON JANUARY 14^TH AND EVERY YEAR WHEN THAT DAY COMES HE CRIES A LOT. HE HASN’T HEARD ANYTHING... 46’19 ok

OLD COUPLE LOOKS AT RED LETTERS ON ROCK

DIGI:

tape one day one ron

05’28

18’59

Yet even here - on the sacred slopes of Diamond Mountain - giant slogans extolling the wisdom of North Korea’s founding dictator - Kim Il Sung - loom as indelible reminders of the repression that keep Bong Ha’s sister a prisoner

DIGITAPE: DAY TWO TAPE ONE (RON) 4.25 GUARDS IN FLASHY GUMBOOTS

05’45

Everywhere it seems someone is watching, listening to the tourists

Those two with shiny gumboots are North Korean guards … it’s forbidden to film them and when we did they had us erase some of this tape

PTC EVAN SITTING DOWN NEAR BUSES

DIGI: PTC

DAY TWO/TAPE TWO (RON)

4.30

06’01

06’12

***COULD START TO OVERLAY NEXT VISION OVER END OF PTC***

PTC: EVAN NEAR BUSES: DIGI D2.T2.4.30

BEING A TOURIST IN NORTH KOREA IS NOT SURPRISINGLY TIGHTLY CONTROLLED. WHEN MOVING AROUND WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO TAKE PICTURES FROM THE WINDOWS OF THESE BUSES AND TO MAKE SURE THERE ARE GUARDS EVERY KILOMETRE OR SO. CONTACT WITH NORTH KOREANS IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN AND IT’S IMPOSSIBLE ANYWAY. FROM THEIR VILLAGES AND FIELDS THEY LOOK AT US THROUGH A BARBED WIRE FENCE RUNNING ALONG MOST OF THE ROUTE THAT MAKES THE WHOLE COUNTRY LOOK LIKE A PRISON CAMP

BEST DIGI OF TRAVELLING AROUND - POSSIBLY SLOWMO

--LET BREATH -

DIGI DAY TWO TAPE ONE (RON)

00.20 - 1.10 ***VILLAGERS IN FIELDS PLUS ARMY TRUCK

06’34

(UPSOT CHILLING MUSIC - LET BREATH OVER SPOOKY PICS)

This is the North Korea we were not meant to look at.

Armed soldiers keep watch on us and the farmers - the atmosphere is one of menacing paranoia, sinister control.

South Korea will even hand back any North Koreans who try to use the tour to defect. And the tour operators - south korea’s biggest conglomerate Hyundai - is paying Pyongyang 940-million US dollars just for right to be here, money it denies North Korea could be used to buy weapons.

HYUNDAI TOURS DIRECTOR

ON SHIP T9

07’11

5.08 IN ORDER TO HAVE A GOOD RELATIONSHIP WE SHOULD HAVE CONFIDENCE IN EACH OTHER OTHERWISE WE CANNOT DO ANYTHING IF WE START TO DOUBT THEM WE CANNOT DO ANYTHING

HAPPY HYUNDAI WORLD TOURISTS PAYING WITH DOLLARS

07’29

And trust is a big part the new North-South dialogue.

Hyundai hopes money spent now will win it North Korean concessions for massive industrial investments later.

SYNCH HYUNDAI TOUR DIRECTOR FROM SITDOWN

tape 1

07’42

SYNCH HYUNDAI:

T1.31.00: WE CAN PROVIDE THE TECHNIQUES AND THEY CAN PROVIDE THE PIECE OF LAND, THE LABOUR SO BY UNITING THESE TWO ITEMS WE CAN MAKE THE PRODUCTS AT VERY LOW COST

FILE KOREAN SUMMIT: 08’04

KJI - KDJ - BIG HOOPLA

(UPSOT SUMMIT HOOPLA)

APTN OZ/NZ 14/6/00 1’20

08’08

Talk of the North opening up has only been made possible by June’s summit between south korea’s elected president kim dae jung and North Korea’s reclusive dictator Kim Jong Il.

Kim Dae Jung’s lifelong motive for these talks - the remove the risk of war on the Korean parninsular.

increasingly isolated by it’s former communist allies - North Korea has had to agree - but on one condition - that it gets enough support to ensure the survival of its regime.

PROFESSOR MOON SYNCH;

08’42

20.55 offcam qu: how much of this is about the regime wanting to stay in power.

21.00 FOREVER cut to 21.17 IN MY OPINION KIM JONG-IL CAME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT HAVING ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION WITH SOUTH KOREA CAN SATISFY NATIONAL SECURITY GOAL AS WELL AS REGIME SECURITY GOAL

08’59

A key insider to Seoul’s strategic planning Moon Chung-In was at the summit talks as an advisor to South Korea’s security council

SYNCH PROFESSOR MOON

09’08

09’18

**CUT IN SUMMIT REGIME STRENGTH /TROOPS HOOPLA

offcam question: 26.35: the us, japan and south korea are now helping prop up north korea why not let it collapse.

T12.27.00 THE NORTH KOREANS HAVE SHOWN OUTSTANDING REGIME DURABILITY POWER CONSOLIDATION OF KIM JONG IL INTIMIDATION AND PENETRATION SOCIAL CONTROL

cut to THEREFORE WE CANNOT INJECT MARKET FORCES IN TO NORTH KOREA IN ORDER TO TOPPLE THE KIM JONG IL REGIME WE LEARNT IT WOULDN;T BE POSSIBLE...THAT THE ONLY WAY WE CAN BRING ABOUT CHANGE IN NORTH KOREA IS THROUGH INCREMENTAL MEASURES GRADUAL REFORMS AND THE GRADUAL EXPANSION OF CIVIL SOCIETY

MISSILE PARADE - MILITARY STRENGTH

09’56

(OMINOUS MUSIC)

But gradual reforms don’t defuse Pyongyang’s missiles ...

North Korea now admits making hundreds of millions from the sale of this technology to the Middle East ... and says it will only stop making them if the United States pays for and launches North Korean satellites.

10’16

T/T MOON: T12: 35.05 WE MUST MAKE SURE THAT IF KIM JONG IL PLAYS THOSE CARDS IT WILL BE THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF HIS REGIME. MEANWHILE WE JUST PURSUE ENGAGEMENT CARDS

KIM IL JONG - DRINKING - YAKKIN IT UP WITH KIM DE JUNG - JOLLY CHAP

10’34

APTN ASIA PACIFIC 17’15

15/6/00

33’37

10’45

To engage Kim Jong-Il - one of the most astounding changes since the summit has been Seoul’s use of gushing praise for North Korea’s so-called Dear Leader.

In just days he went from being an evil despot to a beguiling and worldly man - simply seeking the best for his people.

SYNCH SOUTH KOREA’S VICE FOREIGN MINISTER

JANG JAE-RYONG

10’54

SYNCH T6.51.10:

HE SEEMED PRAGMATIC AND HE LISTENED TO WHAT MY PRESIDENT HAD TO SAY...

cut to reverse;

T7.10.36 well why should the world believe that after a couple of months that kim jong il has changed..has become a nice guy

T6.59.10 WELL I DIDN’T TALK ABOUT HIS ABILITY AS A LEADER WHICH IS A QUESTION MARK TO MANY PEOPLE .. cut to.. BUT IT IS ONE THING THAT 20 MILLION PEOPLE SHOW LOYALTY TO HIM

TWOSHOT - EV WITH DEFECTOR

TAPE 7 48’00 11’31

And only those who once lived there know why

T/T OVER KJI PICS THEN SYNCH

11’34

SYNCH DEFECTOR:

T7 19.50 THERE WAS AN ORDER (FROM KIM JONG IL) THAT AFTER 50 YEARS OF INDOCTRINATION, IF PEOPLE WERE STILL COMMITTING (POLIITCAL) CRIMES, THEN THEY COULDN’T BE HELPED ANY MORE AND HAD TO BE EXECUTED. 20’11 ok

EVAN AND DEFECTOR WALKIE THROUGH TEMPLE GROUNDS

TAPE7 52’00

11’51

Three years ago during the height of North Korea’s famine Kim Myung Sook took her two children and fled North Korea ... so desperate was their flight she packed rat poison to kill herself and her babies had they been caught

12’08

12’27

7. 29.10 POLITICAL CRIMINALS ARE SENT TO A POLITICAL PRISON. THEIR FAMILIES ARE SENT TO CAMPS. THERE ARE MANY POLITICAL CAMPS IN NORTH KOREA -- IN MOUNTAINS AND FORESTS THAT AREN’T EASILY REACHED. PEOPLE WHO ARE SENT TO POLITICAL CAMPS CANNOT GET OUT. THEIR FAMILIES NEVER KNOW IF THEY ARE DEAD OR ALIVE. 30.03 Does it continue under Kim Jong Il are people being jailed under the same offences? 31.05 YES CERTAINLY IT HASN’T CHANGED SINCE KIM JONG IL TOOK OVER.

BLACK AND WHITE FULL FRAME WAR STUFF - CUT TO LIGHTED MAP IN SAME SETTING

TAPE 6 26’05

12’58

(UPSOT BOOMS AND BANGS - MAYBE OMINOUS DRUM MUSIC)

The last time North Korea tried expanding its ideology over the entire peninsula - it very nearly won.

Three million civilians and troops -including those from Australia and the US died as war raged backwards and forwards across Korea...

Millions fled south and thousands either went or were forced north before the Cold War curtain descended along the line of truce

POSSIBLY USE A BIT OF B/W WAR FOOTAGE FROM MEMORIAL

T622.50 OR AT 26.05

13’29

(UPSOT WAR SOUNDS)

T8.01.39: T/T

AT ABOUT 12 O’CLOCK THERE WAS A BOMBING IN THE CITY. SINCE THEN, I HAVEN’T MET MY OLDER BROTHER. HE WENT ONE WAY AND I WENT ANOTHER

13’46

For Moon Byung Ho the way his brother disappeared made the wartime loss even harder.

13’53

SYNCH - 8.03.00 -

ONE DAY I GOT A CALL SAYING MY BROTHER WAS GOING INTO THE (NORTH KOREAN) ARMY. I SAW HIM AT THE TRAIN STATION AS HE WAS LEAVING AND I HAVEN’T SEEN HIM SINCE 8’03’19

(OK)

OLD GUY DOING MATHS LESSON WITH GRANDSON

TAPE 8 18’45 14’14

To deal with the pain of that separation Byung Ho made an almost inconceivable decision.

14’23

T8.4.16 -26:

(A FRIEND OF MY BROTHER’S) SAID HE’D SEEN HIM IN THE NORTH HE TOLD ME IT WOULD BE BETTER TO ASSUME HE WAS DEAD.

8.05’01

WE PUT A PLAQUE (FOR MY BROTHER) IN THE TEMPLE AND PERFROMED A RITUAL FOR THE DEAD FOR 20 YEARS. WE DIDN’T EVEN TRY TO FIND HIM.

8.05.11

RED CROSS SET UPS

14’46

Myung Ho is just one of the one million Koreans separated by the war - encouraged by the new dialogue many have come to the Red Cross to find some trace of their long-lost loved ones

OLD LADY IN RED CROSS CENTRE

SET-UPS END OF TAPE 4.

15’02

T/T T5.00.56:

MY HUSBAND WAS KIDNAPPED DURING THE KOREAN WAR. I CAME HERE TO FIND OUT IF HE’S STILL ALIVE.

5.01.10

RED CROSS CENTRE

T/T OVER OLD LADY IN GREY ASKING QUESTIONS

TAPE 4 SET-UPS

15’14

Yang Jeom Soon was the 24-year old mother of a newly born baby when her dentist husband disappeared - taken north against his will by a communist work colleague.

15’27

T5.3.00: T/T THEN SYNCH LADY:

ONCE I HEARD HE’D HE WAS AT A PLACE NEAR OUR FAMILY TOMBS... SO I WENT THERE AT NIGHT WITH MY BABY STRAPPED ON MY BACK. WHEN I GOT THERE I WAS TOLD HE’D GONE TO THE NORTH.. WHEN I HEARD THAT, MY HEART JUST SANK

3.37

OLD MAN WITH COMPUTER END OF TAPE FOUR - OLD PEOPLE ASKING QUESTIONS.

15’59

She is just one of the millions still living koreans separated by the war who have come to register with the red cross in the hope of finding some trace of their missing relatives.

There’s more hope now than ever before - but for many like Jeom Soon - an empty search can be more painful than not even trying.

T/T AND SYNCH OVER OLD LADY LEAVING ALONE WIPING TEARS

16’20

T/T OVER HER LEAVING:

5’06’42

WHEN I THINK ABOUT IT, THE ONLY THING I CAN DO IS CRY. I CAME HERE TO FIND OUT IF HE’S STILL ALIVE. HE’S IN HIS 80s NOW AND I DON’T KNOW IF HE’S ALIVE OR DEAD.... BUT MAYBE ...MAYBE HIS NAME IS ON THE (RED CROSS’S) LIST.

1. 7.11

NORTH AND SOUTH KOREAN GUARDS STARE-OFF

TAPE 11 38’52, 38’30

16’57

Despite the detente - Korea remains dangerously divided - here at the DMZ - North and South Korea still glare at each other with Cold War hostility.

17’14

T/T US SOLDIER: 11.49.10: THIS IS THE ONLY PLACE IN THE WORLD WHERE YOU STAND FACE TO FACE WITH YOUR ENEMY ON A DAILY BASIS. WHEN WE ARE WATCHING THEIR OPPERATION TAKING PLACE THEY ARE WATCHING OURS

US TROOPS EXIT FROM BLUE BUILDING AT DMZ

TAPE 11 39’44 17’22

Right behind the South Koreans - 37-thousand US troops remain on a war footing along what is still the world’s most heavily armed border.

17’33

SYNCH US SPECIALIST SCOTT RIDGEWAY:

T11.47.00 I BELIEVE GIVEN THE NUMBERS THEY COULD WOULD DO SOME DAMAGE BUT NOT BE ABLE TO GET AS FAR AS THEY DID BEFORE so they’re not as much of a threat as we think they are THEY ARE WITH BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS THAT’S THE BIGGEST CONCERN ESPECIALLY AMONG THE AMERICAN SOLDIERS HERE.

NORTH KOREAN GHOST VILLAGE - HUGE FLAG - LONGLENS - WITH PROPAGANDA MUSIC - VERY FEINT ___SPOOKY FEEL

17’51

Across the border signs of the bizarre world North Koreans call reality.

One of the World’s biggest flags -here just to out-do the South - an entire town built for propaganda - and never populated - empty facades of a failed system where those behind the barbed wire were regarded as the avowed enemy of those in the south.

FAMILIES WAIT IN BIG ROOM - ANTICIAPTION OF REUNION

OLD PEOPLE BEING WHEELED IN ETC

T13.19.43 ONWARDS

18’27

For South Koreans with relatives in the North life was made difficult - official jobs and even passports were refused...talk of reunification seen with deep suspicion.

But the summit has again put faces to the names of the communist enemy - and one hundred of the ideologically safe members of North Korea’s elite have been allowed south - to once again see their relatives.

MOON BYUNG HO GREETS EVAN - WALKS TO TABLE.

T6.21.04

18’53

13.23.12: I FEEL DUMBSTRUCK. IF MY OLDER BROTHER HADN’T FOUND ME (NOW), I WOULD NEVER HAVE MET HIM. AFTER TWENTY YEARS OF PERFORMING THE RITUAL OF THE DEAD, IT FEELS LIKE A DREAM.. 23.49

MOON AT TABLE WITH WOMEN.

13.21.40 18’58

Overjoyed - yet numb with disbelief - Moon Byung Ho is one of those selected

19’23

Unsure of who to look for - Byung Ho, his two sisters and their aging aunt check photos for any signs of the boy they once knew.

MOON AND SISTERS LOOKING AT PHOTOS 19’32

UPSOT WOMAN: 13.34.04 THIS PHOTO LOOKS LIKE MY BROTHER

OUR FAMILY ANXIOUSLY WAITING T13.36.07 19’39

After years of emptiness - the minutes of waiting seem to take hours.

T/T OVER MOON AND SISTERS WAITING

THOUGHT TRACK ONLY

19’44

T/T MOON: T8.10.26

I’LL TELL HIM I’M SO GLAD TO SEE HIM AND THANK HIM FOR STAYING ALIVE. NOW HE IS OLDER THAN SEVENTY. I THINK HE’S MARRIED. I WILL ASK WHETHER HIS CHILDREN ARE WELL. 10.46

NORTHERNERS START ARRIVING -

20’06

Suddenly emerging from the sea of tears and emotion is a brother literally coming back from the dead.

MEETING OF MOONS - LOOK AT EACH OTHER AS IF THEY DON’T KNOW EACH OTHER

T13.39.05 20’19

T13.39.05-19: BIG HUGS AND CRYING - ALL THE MOONS MEET - LET BREATH OVER THE MEETING

20’35

their brother’s first words reveal the very different roads travelled.

20’45

T13.41.31 WOMAN: WE THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD...weeps MAN: 41.34 WHY SHOULD I BE DEAD WHEN THERE IS A GREAT LEADER

LOTS OF WEEPING AND CARRY ON - MOON PUTS HIS HEAD ON THE OLD GUYS SHOULDER 20’51

A university professor - Moon Byung Chil has done well in the North...

20’57

but the reasons for his success aren’t important to a family who has just a few hours to fill in a missing lifetime.

21’05

14.8.10 WHEN I LOOK CLOSELY I CAN RECOGNISE YOU 8.13

MOON FAMILY LOOKING AT PICTURES

21’12

But mixed with the joy is one final sadness.

After discovering her eldest son was in fact still alive in the North - their mother died just four weeks from seeing him.

21’26

T14.05.08 WE ARE THE SAME PEOPLE...KOREAN PEOPLE. WHY DO WE HAVE TO BE DIVIDED AND SHED TEARS LIKE THIS? 5.20 sobbing

MOON’S GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER

21’35

There’s no doubting the powerful humanitarianism of these reunions.

But just like the dialogue with the North this is just the start of a difficult road with unpredictable outcomes.

MINISTER AT DESK

21’48

SYNCH: VICE FOREIGN MINISTER:

T6.13.23 THE HARDEST THING IS THAT WE DO NOT KNOW THEIR NEXT MOVE…THEY NEVER SHOW THEIR INTENTIONS THEY ONLY SHOW THEIR MIND AT THE LAST MINUTE SO WE HAVE TO ENGAGE IN ALL THE IMAGINARY SCENARIOS AND PLANS

FAMILES LEAVING - TO GET FROM FEED FROM SEOUL??

OR IF BETTER - USE MOONS MEETING 22’18

22’27

As a painful reminder of how far there is still to go...this is the first and probably the last time these families will meet.

They were not allowed to visit their relatives homes - and after just a few meetings over three days were sent back to North Korea.

T/T THEN SYNCH MOON TAPE 8

22’37

cut to : 8.14’03 THE PAIN THAT IS ENDURED BY SEPARATED FAMILIES..IT’S NOT EXPLAINABLE WITH WORDS....

cut to : 14.40 SOMETIMES I THINK IT WAS BETTER WHEN I DIDN’T KNOW (IF HE WAS ALIVE).

MYUNG BROTHERS

23’15

(A BIT OF HAUNTING MUSIC)

To many - the two Korea’s have taken the first irrevocable steps towards reunification - but like the reuniun of these brothers, the conditions North Korea tries to impose could still keep them apart.