Review20 years after worker's death shook Korea, 'Oh, Valentine' examines his sacrifice
Subcontracted workers are seen in documentary film “Oh, Valentine.” Courtesy of Cinema Dal
The life of a subcontracted worker in Korea is often defined by a rigid double structure in the labor market where job security and basic dignity are frequently treated as luxuries.
According to the latest data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics, non-regular workers accounted for 38.2 percent of all wage earners as of 2025.
These workers — including short-term contract, dispatched and part-time laborers — face structural disadvantages such as low wages and limited opportunities for advancement. These poor conditions do not just hurt the workers, but also cause deeper divisions in society and weaken the country's economy.
A memorial portrait of the late Park Il-soo, a subcontracted worker and labor activist whose death in 2004 sparked a labor struggle in Korea, is seen in a scene from documentary “Oh, Valentine.” Courtesy of Cinema Dal
Against this backdrop of systemic inequality, the documentary "Oh, Valentine" arrives as a stark reminder of the human cost behind these statistics. Directed by Hong Jin-hwon, the film sheds lights on the social and economic problems that subcontracted workers in Korea face.
Hong, who has built a unique career as a visual artist, photographer and video creator, traces the roots of this issue back to Feb. 14, 2004.
That day, Park Il-soo, a subcontracted worker at Hyundai Heavy Industries, set himself on fire to protest the dehumanizing treatment of non-regular employees. His last words, "subcontracted workers are human beings too," form the heart of the story which revolves on Park's death and the labor struggle it ignited.
A poster for documentary “Oh, Valentine” / Courtesy of Cinema Dal
The documentary mainly follows two individuals who were deeply involved in the 2004 struggle. Cho Seong-woong served as the head of the Hyundai Heavy Industries subcontractor union at the time, while Woo Chang-soo was a protest singer in South Gyeongsang Province, near the shipbuilder's headquarters.
Both men saw the regular workers' union betray them by refusing to recognize Park as a martyr and this division allowed the company to avoid negotiations while leaving the subcontracted workers alone and broken.
Cho Seong-woong, a poet and then-leader of subcontracted workers who worked with Hyundai Heavy Industries, in a scene from the documentary “Oh, Valentine” / Courtesy of Cinema Dal
Neither man works near a factory anymore. Both retreated to the countryside, where they now channel what happened through poetry and song. Through these two figures, Hong frames this shift as a new kind of defiance, showing that protecting nature has become another way to resist the current capitalist system.
The director uses unique visual language, like showing two different videos at once and layering various sounds, to bring together the old records from 2004 and the peaceful scenery of today. He forces the audience to confront the unresolved issues of the Korean labor movement where the gap between regular and non-regular workers continues to grow.
The documentary premiered at the 17th DMZ International Documentary Film Festival in 2025 and is set for a nationwide release on March 11.