Category Archives: memoria

seodaemun prison camp

seodaemun prison camp

built in the early 1900s to hold korean nationalists during the japanese occupation of korea. after wwii, the south korean government used the prison until it was shut down in the 1980s. reopened as a museum in the 90s._DSC7356high school romance at the prison.

_DSC7370a boy reads a pokemon book, a character created by japanese video game designer satoshi tajiri, in front of a wall of koreans held at the camp during the occupation.

_DSC7392interrogation scenes.

_DSC7398bamboo under the nails torture.

_DSC7411solitary._DSC7454angry guard.

_DSC7405an elementary school kid on a field trip chokes a guard mannequin in one the torture chambers.

_DSC7463the former prison lies west of dongnimmun station on the seoul subway line 3.

korea, china, manchuria and the pacific under japanese occupation.

via wikimedia commons.

more on the seodaemun prison

coronado sets out to gimhae

we set out west in the early afternoon. drove through mandeok tunnel and over the nakdong gang. arrived  around four in gimhae, ancient capital of the gaya kingdom. my new scooter, coronado, choked up climbing a hill.  it refused to restart. carburetor problems. all scooter shops were closed. we coasted on coronado down until the street leveled off. we pushed it for about a kilometer, passing old scrap metal dealers and sleepy streets. parked it under inje university’s light rail transit station next to two other dead scooters. we shall return for you.

coronado sets out to the north by frederic remington via wikipedia

frederic remington painter, sculptor, writer, illustrator.

harry truman’s rebuilding of the white house article in the new york times.

book to get:

the book of legendary lands by umberto eco

monsters, communists, kidnappings, the koreas

podcast, movies and books.

kidnapped by n. korea to make films: act one of this american life 556: same bed, different dreams.

film director shin sang-ok  신상옥 and wive, ex-wife and re-wife, actor choi eun-hee 최은희

“pulgasari” japanese poster via wikipedia.

full movie with subtitles
pulgasari. 1985. north korea. godzilla-type film directed by mr. shin.

capitalist/feudal lord-crushing proletarian monsta.

mother and a guest. south korea. 1961. starring mrs. choi.

A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator’s Rise to Power by paul fischer
on amazon kindle

shin’s and choi’s memoir: either called kingdom of kim or i am a movie or Chogugŭn Chŏhanŭl Chŏmŏlli (My Motherland is Faraway) published in 1988/2001.

take a look at on the art of cinema (published in 1973) by the late kim jong-il.