North Korea South Korea

North & South Korean Relationship Korea is the only country in the world that is still in the ceasefire state. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 (History Channel), Korea remains the only country that is divided into two states with different political systems. There has been constant tension between South Korea and North Korea throughout the history. Although there have been some years, under different diplomatic policies of the government, during which North Korea and South Korea displayed less hostile attitudes towards each other and hosted peace summits (Herskovitz, 2007) with the purpose of making the relationship better, the North-South relationship has worsened over the years with events such as the bombardment of Yeonpyeong and constant threats from North Korea to engage in nuclear and missile tests. Such events prompted many South Koreans to turn their backs at North Korea. In the past, there have been many movies with the theme of friendship and alliance between South and North Korea but the realities of the two Korean governments’ politics do not seem to align with the hopeful messages conveyed through the movies.
Joint Security Area is a mystery thriller film released in 2000 in South Korea. It is considered one of the most successful Korean movies and was nominated to many international film festivals. Directed by Chan-wook Park, the movie tells a story of an investigation surrounding a shooting incident at the North Korean border house that resulted in deaths of two North Korean soldiers. A rifle was supposedly fired by Sergeant Lee Soo Hyuk, who claims that he was kidnapped by the North Koreans and shot the North Korean soldiers while trying to escape back to South Korea. The North Korean soldiers, however, claim that there was no kidnapping and the shooting was an act of terrorism by Sergeant Lee. Later in the movie, Sergeant Lee’s flashbacks reveal that Sergeant Lee and Private First Class Nam Sung Sik had gotten lost and ended up on the