Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Far-right groups protest schools' field trips to watch film on military coup
A poster for the film "12.12: The Day," which depicts the military coup led by Chun Doo-hwan in 1979, is displayed in a movie theater at COEX in Seoul, Dec. 17. Newsis
By Lee Hae-rin
Teachers' groups denounce protest as disrupting right to teach historical facts
Far-right groups have lodged complaints against several schools for organizing school trips to watch "12.12: The Day," a film about a military coup led by military dictator Chun Doo-hwan in 1979, claiming that the movie's depiction of the event is inaccurate, thus instilling what they claim is a distorted view of history in students.
In response, teachers’ groups denounced the conservative groups as disrupting teachers’ rights by making a political issue out of historical facts.
Inspired by a pivotal event in Korea's modern history, the movie depicts the night of the military coup that drove then-President Choi Kyu-hah out of office and led to Chun's military junta coming to power and ruling for the next eight years.
According to the Korean Teachers and Education Workers' Union (KTU), Friday, operators of the far-right YouTube channel Hoverlab, along with members of other conservative civic groups, entered a middle school located in Seoul's Mapo District on Dec. 13 and staged a protest there over students going on an excursion to watch the movie.
A conservative civic group called Freedom Korea National Defense Corps and Hoverlab also filed a complaint with the prosecution against the principal of a high school located in Yongsan District for organizing a similar field trip for students, according to the union.
"'12.12: The Day' is a fictional film based on Korea’s modern history, but depending on who’s watching, the film could make people confuse historical facts with fiction,” the civic group said in a statement, accusing the school principal of abuse of power in forcing students to watch the film.
The conservatives also accused a member of a teachers’ group of defamation for issuing a statement criticizing their protests at schools.
The group, along with the operators and fans of the conservative YouTube channel, held rallies in front of other schools recently.
Some other schools across the country had planned to organize group viewings, but canceled amid these protests.
In response, teachers’ groups denounced the ongoing protests by the conservative groups.
"The 1979 military coup is an important historical fact that is included in the school curriculum, and it is the schools’ choice to allow their students to make their own judgment (on issues) in various ways,” the KTU said, calling the protests and accusations “social noise.”
Another teachers’ group said the conservatives' protest is “an attempt to clinch far-right historical awareness” and called upon the education authorities to protect the teachers’ right to teach historical facts.
Meanwhile, Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok who watched the film with top prosecutors on Dec. 17, said, “We should never forget that the democracy we enjoy today was hard won after the sacrifice of the people, and the prosecution must fulfill its duties to defend constitutionalism.”
The film has been topping the box office since its opening on Nov. 22, garnering more than 9 million ticket sales as of Friday.
According to CGV, the biggest local movie chain here, the film is particularly popular among younger generations. About 25 percent and 29 percent of ticket buyers on its platform are aged in their 20s and 30s, respectively.