VIDEO In memory of 'That Day'

By Ko Dong-hwan

Actor Jung Woo-sung worked on the documentary film about the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster without pay, sources said Wednesday.

The revelation came after the A-list star promoted the film on Instagram with a selfie video Tuesday.

“I joined the movie to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the tragedy on April 16 and encourage people to remember the day,” said Jung, 45, who provides narration. “The movie traces back to the disaster's cause using scientific approaches.”

In his short video ― shared by almost 600,000 people on Wednesday ― Jung asked fans to watch “Intention” that opens on Thursday in theaters nationwide.

Journalist and news critic Kim Eo-jun, who worked on the production and cast Jung over the phone, said on online portal Naver's smartphone real-time video platform V app Tuesday that it took the star only a second to accept the offer.

“He is a top actor and pretty expensive to hire as a narrator,” Kim said. “But we had no money. I called him to ask him the favor. He thought for exactly one second and said 'I will do it.' I was impressed by the handsome man's big heart.”

Director Kim Ji-young worked nearly four years on the film that traces the vessel's voyage from April 15, when it left Incheon harbor, to when it capsized the following day in waters off Jindo Island in South Jeolla Province as it headed to Jeju Island. The disaster killed nearly 300 people, mostly students from Danwon High School in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, who were on a field trip.

“Without explanations based on science or physics, people will keep linking the disaster to fanatic conspiracies and it will be forgotten for good,” Kim said. One of those conspiracies involves the vessel being intentionally sunk to offer the victims as part of a rite to resurrect the dead father of Choi Soon-sil, the influence-peddler behind former South Korean President Park Geun-hye. Another says the ferry crashed into an unknown submarine.

Kim studied the automatic identification system (AIS), which provided real-time information about the 6,825-ton vessel, including its location, crash site and speed. The director cross-referenced those AIS logs with testimonies from survivors.

The disaster was controversial in that former President Park, who was jailed in March 2017 in Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, on 16 charges including corruption, did not reveal what she did for seven hours following the tragedy. The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae released a detailed report of what Park did during those “lost seven hours” but prosecutors found in March that her aides forged the document.

Jeong Sang-jin from at9 Film, which is distributing and promoting the film, said he chose not to hold the usual early press opening for the documentary.

“I believe that each audience member will act as a one-person media who will play a bigger role than news outlets,” Jeong said. “We need your efforts once more.”

The film was released to family members of victims on April 7.