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Something that comes up almost as an aside in this handsomely mounted period piece, co-written and produced by Korean auteur Park Chan-wook, is the astonishing detail that, in the 16th century, invading Japanese soldiers would saw off their victims’ noses as trophies of war. So prolific were these ad hoc amputations that there’s a shrine of sorts in Japan — the Mimizuka monument in Kyoto, Tokyo — that holds the noses of nearly 40,000 Koreans killed during that time, not to mention some 30,000 similar “souvenirs” from China.

But, surprisingly, Kim Sang-man’s drama doesn’t play that card. This isn’t a story of Korea falling victim to outside aggressors, although that is a significant part of the drama. Instead, it’s a film about the enemy within, something the Koreans would know quite a lot about — most recently with corrupt president Park Geun-hye, whose secret 60-page document blacklisting Park and...

For her first feature-length documentary, director Nam A-rum, who is pursuing a master's degree in documentary at the Korea National University of Arts, came up with a very ambitious film which aims at combining the family drama with the political and historical documentary, through a rather intimate perspective. Let us see how she fared.

K-Family Affairs is screening at Taiwan International Documentary Film Festival

A-rum's parents were part of the 386 generation, whose political activism led to the June 1987 major protests that forced the authoritarian government to hold universal suffrage elections and implement key democratic reforms. Following the radical changes the ‘movement' forced, the two of them, eager to pass a better world to the new generation, decided to become a public servant (her father) and a feminist activist (her mother), with the former ending up working for the government and the latter for a women's emergency call center.

As time passed,...

Seoul, Aug 27 (Ians) Ensuring compliance and ethics is taking root in the corporate culture within Samsung Group, its compliance committee chairman has said, as its management learned the lesson that it must pay a heavy price for unethical business practices.

“The culture of having a (potentially sensitive) issue reviewed by the compliance committee has been established within Samsung,” Chairman Lee Chan-hee said during an interview with Yonhap News Agency.

“I think management now believes abiding by the law is much more helpful in doing business. They paid a costly price for caving to short-sighted gain and political pressure,” he said.

Last week, the independent corporate compliance oversight committee recommended the group rejoin a business interest group that it withdrew from years ago amid a high-profile corruption scandal involving its de facto leader Lee Jae-yong and the ousted former President Park Geun-hye.

But the recommendation came with strings attached: Samsung should...

Lee Yong-kwan, one of the original founders of the Busan International Film Festival, says he is stepping down as the event’s chairman – this time with immediate effect.

He says the move is intended to defuse a morass of factional infighting and political interference surrounding Asian’s most prominent film festival.

A festival spokesman told Variety that the board of directors “has decided to persuade the chairperson to return. So, the resignation has not been accepted yet.”

Lee had already tendered his resignation once before, after a series of management missteps had thrown the event into disarray since early May. But he was subsequently persuaded to stick with the event until this year’s edition in October had been delivered.

On Wednesday, however, Lee said that continuing strife, notably external forces which had sought to politicize the recent comings and goings, meant that his plan to remain as caretaker for...

Festival director Huh Moonyung shared intent to resign before allegations emerged.

Busan International Film Festival (Biff) chairman Lee Yong-kwan has apologised over the handling of recent sexual harassment allegations that saw the resignation of festival director Huh Moonyung, who denies the claims.

“First of all, I bow my head and sincerely apologise for the [alleged] case of sexual harassment and sexual assault in the workplace that was made known through a [press] report on May 31,” said Lee in a statement on behalf of the festival and its board today (June 15).

“We also apologise belatedly for the fact that Busan International Film Festival...

The Busan International Film Festival, Asia’s biggest annual film event, may be headed for fresh turmoil following the announcement by festival chairman Lee Yong-kwan that he plans to resign.

On Friday, the festival’s director Huh Moonyung announced his plan to resign and exit by the end of the month.

The two high-level resignations follow the announcement a week ago that the festival would split the director’s job and appoint Cho Jongkook to the newly created position of managing director.

“Festival director Huh Moonyung and chairperson Lee Yong-kwan have both announced their resignation, but neither have been processed yet,” a festival spokesperson confirmed to Variety.

The festival held an offline press conference on Monday, which the spokesperson said was being held in order to counter “speculative articles.” However, Lee used the platform to announce his resignation instead.

The next edition of the festival is due to be held...

Seoul, Oct 27 (Ians) Samsung Electronics new Chairman Lee Jae-yong called on employees on Thursday to rise up to challenges and to focus more on technology development.

“Now is time for us to mount more bold challenges. Our survival depends on future technologies,” he said in a message posted on the company’s internal forum soon after he was promoted to chairman of the tech giant, the crown jewel of the group.

“We can turn this crisis into opportunity… I will stand at the forefront” of the campaign to make Samsung a greater company “beloved” by consumers around the world, Lee said.

His promotion was endorsed at a board meeting earlier in the day, the company said, considering “an urgent need for stable management and leadership amid the deteriorating global business environment,” reports Yonhap news agency.

Lee started working at the tech firm in 1991 and was promoted to vice chairman in...

Seoul, Aug 19 (Ians) Samsung Electronics on Friday held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new semiconductor research and development (R&d) complex here, in a move to bolster its global leadership in cutting-edge chip technology.

The South Korean tech giant plans to invest around 15.06 billion by 2028 for the 109,000-square-meter complex within its Giheung campus in Yongin, 50 kms south of Seoul.

The envisioned facility is expected to help Samsung lead in areas of advanced research for memory and system semiconductors.

The ceremony drew some 100 Samsung executives and employees, including Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who received a presidential pardon last week for his bribery conviction involving former ousted President Park Geun-hye, reports Yonhap news agency.

It marked Lee’s first public appearance after his pardon.

“We start a new challenge at the Giheung campus, where the first shoveling to build a semiconductor factory took place 40 years ago,” Lee said. “Let’s continue the tradition of technology-oriented,...

Seoul, Aug 12 (Ians) Samsung’s Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong was given a presidential pardon on Friday, in a move widely expected to help him consolidate his leadership and speed up business decision-making in the country’s biggest conglomerate.

The decision comes as the tech giant has been faced with intensifying global competition from smaller rivals, including those in China, and growing economic uncertainty from global inflation, monetary tightening and worries over an economic slowdown.

Earlier in the day, President Yoon Suk-yeol approved his first special pardons for Lee, Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin and 1,691 others on the occasion of the Aug. 15 Liberation Day anniversary. Yoon said the pardon was expected to help the country “overcome the economic crisis.”

Samsung heir Lee was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison in a bribery case involving former President Park Geun-hye and released on parole in August last year. His prison term officially ended July...

Seoul, Aug 12 (Ians) South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Friday granted his first special pardons to Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong, Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin and 1,691 others on the occasion of next week’s Liberation Day anniversary.

The government announced the pardons to be effective from Liberation Day on August 15, reports Yonhap News Agency.

Former President Lee Myung-bak had initially been widely expected to benefit from the pardons but was not included in the list.

Also excluded was former South Gyeongsang Province Governor Kim Kyoung-soo, one of the closest associates of former President Moon Jae-in.

The most prominent beneficiary is Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee, the report said.

“I will work hard for the national economy,” Lee told reporters in front of the Seoul Central District Court upon the pardon announcement.

Lee is currently standing trial in a separate accounting fraud case involving the 2015 merger of Samsung affiliates.

He was...

The company distributed documentaries critical of the government such as ’The Truth Shall Not Sink With Sewol’.

A South Korean court has ordered the government and Korean Film Council (Kofic) to compensate film company Cinema Dal for damages sustained from ex-president Park Geun-hye’s blacklisting.

Seoul Central District Court today (May 27) ruled in favor of Cinema Dal’s suit against the national government and Kofic saying the production and distribution company had sustained damages after being placed on a blacklist created by the Park Geun-hye administration.

The court ordered them to compensate the company “in excess of KW80m”, according to Yonhap news agency.

The actress was the first Korean to win an acting prize in Venice.

In South Korea, veteran actress and former Busan film festival director Kang Soo-youn died Saturday, May 7.

It was two days after she lost consciousness at home following cardiac arrest. She was 55.

The Korean film industry has organized a funeral committee led by Kim Dong-ho, founding festival director of the Busan International Film Festival (Biff), now chairperson of the Gangneung film festival.

A memorial ceremony is due to be held Wednesday, May 11 and will be livestreamed on the Korean Film Council (Kofic) YouTube channel.

A steady stream of...

Korean festival returns as a full in-person event for the first time since 2019.

The 23rd Jeonju International Film Festival opened with chairman Kim Seung-su announcing a new cinema centre to be built on the spot of the Jeonju Dome, where the opening ceremony was held last night (April 28).

Stars and filmmakers walked the red carpet to applause from an excited audience as in pre-pandemic years, albeit many with masks on at the ever-safety-conscious film festival.

The Jeonju Dome is a temporary structure traditionally erected for the opening and closing ceremonies and other popular events during the annual film festival. Tickets...

Lee told Screen: “It’s about re-launching Busan in the new era.”

Busan International Film Festival (Biff) has reappointed Lee Yong-kwan as chairperson, extending his term four more years.

This was done as part of their first general assembly of the year today (January 27) at the Busan Cinema Centre, Biff’s main venue.

Lee was a founding member of Biff in 1996. He was programme director and deputy festival director before taking on the role of festival director, during which time Biff struggled through the Park Geun-hye presidential administration’s blacklisting maneuvers over their screening The Truth Shall Not Sink With...

Lee told Screen: “It’s about re-launching Busan in the new era.”

Busan International Film Festival (Biff) has reappointed Lee Yong-kwan as chairperson, extending his term four more years.

This was done as part of their first general assembly of the year today (January 27) at the Busan Cinema Centre, Biff’s main venue.

Lee was a founding member of Biff in 1996. He was programme director and deputy festival director before taking on the role of festival director, during which time Biff struggled through the Park Geun-hye presidential administration’s blacklisting maneuvers over their screening The Truth Shall Not Sink With...

Jean-Marc Thérouanne has a BA in Law and a Ma in History, he specialised in librarianship.

He is the CEO and co-founder of Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinemas created in 1995 for the celebration of hundred years of cinema.

He has been President of Jury at Silk Road International Film Festival Of Xi’an 2014 (China), Art Film Festival Of Kosice 2017 (Slovakia) and Festival Fenêtre sur Courts Of Dijon 2010 (France), a member of international juries in France and abroad : Chungmuro International Film Festival Of Seoul 2009 (Korea), Osian’Cinefan Of New-Delhi 2009 (India), Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival Of Manila (Philippines),… and his action for cinema granted him several decorations such as : Korean Cinema Award (2018), Officier des Palmes Académiques (2018), Chevalier des Arts et Lettres (2003), as well as Medal of Oriental Languages (2006), Chevalier des Palmes Académiques (2007), Medal of Francophonia (2009), Cultural Award France-Korea (2011), Medal of Honor of the city of Vesoul (2014), Trophy...