Justice Party: "Director Bong Joon-ho, Former Min-Labor Party Member, Cannot Transfer Membership to Justice Party"

Listed on the 'Cultural Sector Blacklist'

On the 9th (local time), at the 92nd Academy Awards, Bong Joon-ho, director of Parasite, which won four awards including Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, and International Feature Film, posed holding the trophy at a press conference held at The London West Hollywood in Los Angeles, USA. Photo by Yonhap News.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suwan] The Justice Party has clarified that director Bong Joon-ho, who won four awards for the film "Parasite" at the 92nd Academy Awards, is not a member of the Justice Party.

A Justice Party official stated in a phone interview with Newsis on the 11th regarding Bong's party membership, "He was a member of the Minjoo Party (Democratic Labor Party) in the past, but as far as we know, he did not carry over as a member of the Justice Party," adding, "We also understand that he is not a member of the central party."

The official also said, "We do not know the current status of Bong's party affiliation, but there are likely no existing records regarding the predecessor parties of our current party."

Public interest is focused on whether Bong, who was a member of the Minjoo Party and supported the Progressive New Party, is currently a member of the Justice Party.

During the Lee Myung-bak administration, the National Intelligence Service created a "Left-wing Celebrity Response Task Force (TF)" and removed many cultural and artistic figures critical of the government, and Bong was included on the "blacklist."

According to the 2017 investigation by the National Intelligence Service Reform Committee, Bong was one of 52 film directors, including Lee Chang-dong and Park Chan-wook, who were included on the blacklist.

It is also known that Bong was among 104 filmmakers listed as "problematic figures" in a report submitted to the Blue House in 2014.

Meanwhile, after becoming the first Korean to win the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival last year, Bong appeared on TBS Radio's "Choi Il-gu's Hurricane Radio" and criticized, saying, "The very act of creating a blacklist is a sin," and added, "Independent film directors and those working in theater or novels, who require national support, must have gone through difficult times."