History Lecturer Hwang Hyun-pil Asks 'Geon-guk Jeonjaeng' Director, "Don't You Respect Independence Activists?"

Criticism of Defining 'Pamyo' as a 'Left-Wing Film'
Hwang: "Pamyo is an Anti-Japanese Film, Not a Left-Wing Film"

Popular history lecturer Hwang Hyun-pil posed the question "Do you not respect independence activists?" to director Kim Deok-young of the film Geon-guk Jeonjaeng (The Founding War), who criticized the movie Pamyo through his YouTube channel. This was essentially a critique targeting director Kim, who lumped Pamyo and leftists together in his condemnation.

On the 3rd, lecturer Hwang uploaded a video titled "I watched the movie Pamyo" on his YouTube channel "Hwang Hyun-pil Korean History." At the beginning of the video, he distinguished the genres by saying, "Documentary films are made based on facts, while feature films with actors are created through fiction," referring to Geon-guk Jeonjaeng (a documentary) and Pamyo (a feature film). He then pointed out, "Despite being a documentary, director Kim Deok-young of Geon-guk Jeonjaeng consistently lied and concealed facts, yet called Pamyo a leftist film," and questioned, "Since it is an anti-Japanese film, why is Pamyo considered a leftist film?" He cited reasons why Pamyo is an anti-Japanese film, such as the protagonists’ names borrowing from independence activists, vehicle numbers containing significant independence-related dates like '0301,' '1945,' and '0815,' and references to Japanese steel stakes.

Criticizing director Kim Deok-young of the movie 'Founding War' on his YouTube channel, history instructor Hwang Hyun-pil [Image source=YouTube 'Hwang Hyun-pil Korean History' capture]

Lecturer Hwang identified himself as a progressive rather than a leftist. He said, "I dislike communism and socialism, so I don't particularly like the term 'leftist,'" but added, "If respecting independence activists and being angry about Japan's invasion of Joseon and colonial exploitation during the Japanese occupation is being leftist, then I will accept being called leftist." He then directly targeted director Kim by asking, "Does the right wing, which is the opposite of the left, not respect our independence activists? I want to ask director Kim Deok-young this question."

Earlier, on the 26th of last month, director Kim Deok-young posted on his Facebook, "Leftists are flocking to Pamyo, which stirs up anti-Japanese sentiment. Those threatened by Geon-guk Jeonjaeng are taking out their frustrations on Pamyo to cover up Geon-guk Jeonjaeng." He also said at the recent Geon-guk Jeonjaeng 2 production briefing, "Please turn your attention to films about those who saved the Republic of Korea rather than films that exploit baseless ethnic emotions like anti-Japanese or pro-independence themes."

Hwang Hyun-pil, a former high school teacher, has worked as a Korean history instructor for the college entrance exam and civil service exams. In 2019, he launched the YouTube channel "Hwang Hyun-pil Korean History," where he lectures on Korean history to the general public. He currently has about 977,000 subscribers. In 2022, he publicly supported Lee Jae-myung, then the Democratic Party presidential candidate, even comparing Lee to Admiral Yi Sun-sin.