'Untold' documentary dredges up painful memories of Vietnam War

Director Lee-Kil Bora, right, stares at the graves in the military cemetery in Hoi An, Vietnam, in this March 8, 2016 photo. / Courtesy of Cinema Dal

By Kwak Yeon-soo

Nguyen Thi Thanh, 60, still vividly remembers the day she lost her mother and two siblings in the 1968 Phong Nhi massacre.

Her mother, who was raising four children alone after husband's death, was out in the field picking vegetables when Korean soldiers broke into their house and started firing guns.

Nguyen's sister was shot when running through a back door. Her little brother was shot in the mouth. The two died following heavy blood loss.

Nguyen was shot in her thigh when crawling into the kitchen, and her big brother in his buttock. The two luckily survived.

When soldiers set fire to their house to cover up their crime, Nguyen hurriedly escaped, gasping for fresh air.

Only eight years old at the time, she left her dying siblings behind and went searching for her mother. Neighbors assured her that mother was still alive, but that was a lie. Korean soldiers had pushed her mother onto a pile of bodies in the field and shot her to death.

Nguyen Thi Thanh, survivor of the Phong Nhi massacre, speaks in the film “Untold.”

Director Lee-Kil Bora's documentary “Untold,” also known as “A War of Memories,” follows Nguyen and two other survivors who struggle to live with the hurtful memories of the Vietnam War.

For Lee-Kil, the unanswered questions around the silence of her grandfather, who was a Vietnam War veteran who served in the Korean Army, were a source of intrigue.

“My grandfather died after struggling with the aftereffects of defoliant,” Lee-Kil said. “He was a proud veteran who frequently showed off his medals and awards he received from the country in exchange for the sacrifices he had made.”

However, one day she found out about the 1968 Phong Nhi and Phong Nhat massacre conducted by Korean soldiers.

Roughly 325,000 Korean soldiers were deployed to Vietnam to fight alongside the U.S. between 1964 and 1973, but the story of the country's involvement in the war is largely untold.

Korea's GDP increased four-fold between 1963 ― the year before soldiers were first deployed to Vietnam ― and 1973 ― the year of withdrawal.

Some scholars estimate that financial gains from the war accounted for 7 to 8 percent of Korea's GDP between 1966 and 1969.

“No one really had much information about what had actually happened. So I decided to go to Vietnam to find out about the massacre,” Lee-Kil said.

Her trip was fruitful. Not only did she learn about the tragic event, but was inspired to make a film about it.

“I was moved by how Nguyen treated me with tolerance and hospitality despite the fact I was a granddaughter of a Korean veteran who served in the Vietnam War,” she said.

Of the three survivors who testify in the documentary, one is a woman and the remaining two are men with disabilities.

“Because I'm a CODA, an acronym for the children of deaf adults, I'm naturally drawn to stories told by physically impaired people. On this project, I thought it was important to get their side of the story,” she said.

“Women, the disabled and the elderly are the most vulnerable in war.”

Nguyen Lap, survivor of the Ha My massacre, speaks in the film “Untold.”

In the film, Nguyen Lap, the survivor of the 1968 Ha My Village massacre with visual impairment, tells the story of losing his two brothers in the mass killing, which was also conducted by Korean soldiers.

The perpetrators gathered about 140 villagers into four or five different places, and killed them all, according to Nguyen. He was 13 when he witnessed the mass killing. His mother sent him to Da Nang for his safety.

Dinh Cam, another survivor of the massacre who is deaf, recollects memories of the massacre, adding that Korean soldiers raped Vietnamese girls during the war.

“While shooting and editing the documentary, many thoughts crossed my mind,” Lee-Kil said.

“A few questions I kept asking myself while shooting were: Why do people marginalize the role of women during the war? Why should a younger generation that has never experienced war refrain from talking about war?”

Dinh Cam, survivor of the Ha My massacre, speaks in the film “Untold.”

It took her five years to produce the documentary because she wanted to film Nguyen, the survivor of the Phong Nhi massacre, giving her testimony in the hypothetical court hosted by local civic groups last year, calling on Korea to admit to and apologize for its war crimes.

Though it was a mock trial, it was held in preparation for their envisioned lawsuit for state compensation against the Korean government.

Neither the Korean nor Vietnamese government has officially recognized the massacre of Vietnamese civilians by Korean soldiers.

“Getting people to open up about their involvement was very challenging because it was something that a lot of people wanted to forget,” she said.

Director Lee-Kil, second from left in third row, poses for a photo with Nguyen Thi Thanh, fourth from left second row, camera crew and Nguyen's family in front of Nguyen's house in Phong Nhi village, Vietnam, in this March 4, 2016 photo. / Courtesy of Cinema Dal

The film covers survivors' stories through extensive interviews.

“I think 'Untold' is a thought-provoking film because it raises the issue of wartime crimes through memories of the survivors,” she said.

The director said that it might have been better if she had included testimonies from the Korean veterans and recorded the Korean government's ideas on how the issue should be handled. “Well, you can't tell all those stories in one film,” she added.

Lee-Kil expressed her desire to screen “Untold” in Japan, remaining cautious over right-wing groups.

“The right wing groups in Japan may criticize us on sexual violence that Korean soldiers committed during the war, comparing it to the comfort women issue,” she said. “That's exactly why I'd like Korean society to acknowledge our past faults and show different attitudes after watching this film.”

“Untold” received the jury's special mention for the Mecenat Award at the Busan International Film Festival in 2018.

The film will hit local theaters in February.