Scholars such as Suk Young Kim in “Crossing the Border ton the ‘Other’ Side,” (2007) argue that sympathetic portrayals of North Koreans are a result of the people’s desire to help the North Korean people escape their oppressive regime, hinting at human rights activists in South Korea influencing sympathetic portrayals in film. This is more reflective in the scholarship of the 2010’s due to viral internet media attention garnered toward North Korean defectors who become activists and writers in hopes of raising awareness to the situation in North Korea, who have reached high levels of popularity within South Korea. However, Kim and Kyung Hyun Kim in the chapter “Mea Culpa” in the book Virtual Hallyu (2011) both agree that North Korean characters, whether painted in a positive or negative light, are typically one-dimensional, either villain or victim, with little dynamic throughout the films, often allowing the South Korean characters to show more complexity in
Scholars such as Suk Young Kim in “Crossing the Border ton the ‘Other’ Side,” (2007) argue that sympathetic portrayals of North Koreans are a result of the people’s desire to help the North Korean people escape their oppressive regime, hinting at human rights activists in South Korea influencing sympathetic portrayals in film. This is more reflective in the scholarship of the 2010’s due to viral internet media attention garnered toward North Korean defectors who become activists and writers in hopes of raising awareness to the situation in North Korea, who have reached high levels of popularity within South Korea. However, Kim and Kyung Hyun Kim in the chapter “Mea Culpa” in the book Virtual Hallyu (2011) both agree that North Korean characters, whether painted in a positive or negative light, are typically one-dimensional, either villain or victim, with little dynamic throughout the films, often allowing the South Korean characters to show more complexity in