"Now Smile Comfortably"... Independence Activists Who First Wore Liberation with AI

The last living images of the patriotic independence activists who restored light to the Republic of Korea are usually left only as black-and-white prison photos, evoking a sense of sorrow. Recently, photos that have restored smiles to the faces of these independence activists using artificial intelligence (AI) technology have become a hot topic.

In the video titled "What Happened When I Delivered Liberation to Independence Activists Frozen in Photos Using AI?" uploaded on the 13th of this month by the YouTube channel 'Ha-il-gwang,' An Jung-geun is seen raising his fist in a cheer and smiling brightly.
[Photo by YouTube channel Ha-il-gwang]

According to the food industry on the 18th, Binggrae uploaded a 4-minute and 6-second video on its official YouTube channel on the 1st of this month, ahead of Liberation Day, restoring the prison photos of 87 independence activists, including Dosan Ahn Changho, who passed away in prison, using AI technology. Titled "The First Liberation Wear," this video recorded about 4.28 million views as of midnight on Liberation Day, the 15th, and received over 4,000 comments, gaining great response from netizens.

The 87 restored independence activists in the photos are those whose prison martyrdom records exist within the National Merit Electronic Archive and whose prison photos remain as their last images on the Japanese surveillance target individual cards.

This video was produced as part of the "The First Liberation Wear" campaign conducted jointly by Binggrae and the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs. In the campaign, the restored photos of independence activists were digitally dressed in actual hanbok garments, created in collaboration with hanbok expert Kim Hye-sun, using video technology to recreate the attire.

A scene from the 'First Time Wearing Gwangbok' video uploaded on Binggrae's official YouTube channel. [Binggrae YouTube screen capture]

Binggrae is conducting the 'First Wear of Liberation' campaign in collaboration with the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs. The photo shows images of independence activists restored using AI technology.
[Photo by Binggrae]

Jeon Hye-seong, in charge of Binggrae's advertising planning team, explained the purpose of the campaign, saying, "We hope that by belatedly delivering the liberation they never got to see, the last images of the independence activists in our memories will be remembered as the shining faces of heroes."

The YouTube channel "Ha Il-kwang" posted a video titled "What if we deliver liberation to independence activists frozen in photos using AI?" on the 13th, which became a sensation. This video surpassed 250,000 views in just two days.

The short 44-second video features eight independence activists, including patriot Ahn Jung-geun, teacher Kim Gu, and martyr Yu Gwan-sun. Their expressionless faces in the black-and-white prison photos quickly transform into bright smiling faces and they shout "Manse" (hurrah) thanks to AI technology. The national anthem sung by grandmother Oh Hee-ok, the last surviving female independence activist, resonates clearly throughout the video.

The video creator stated in the introduction, "I made this video thinking that independence activists frozen in time on that day would be happy to receive liberation through AI," adding, "I hope that in heaven, they join us with bright smiles instead of the heavy expressions in the photos."