Kore-eda urges 'solidarity' as Japan-South Korea trade war rumbles on
Cannes Palme d’Or-winning Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda says he has come to South Korea to show “solidarity” with his fans and fellow filmmakers as governments in Seoul and Tokyo fight out a bitter trade war. “Through showing support for each other we can solve and overcome these political problems,” Kore-eda said Saturday as he formally accepted the Asian Filmmaker of the Year of Award from South Korea’s Busan International Film Festival (BIFF). “I believe in solidarity.”
Although the 10-day BIFF features Japanese films throughout its program, eyebrows were raised at the end of September when it was revealed that the upcoming Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) had not selected any
Korean productions for its main award. The trade war between the two countries was ignited after a South Korean court ordered that Japan pay compensation to the relatives of those affected by its colonization of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945.
Japan refused to acknowledge the ruling and first placed trade restrictions on tech exports to South Korea before downgrading the country’s trading status. South Koreans have since mounted a widespread boycott of Japanese goods, including beer, cosmetic products and cars, among others. Kore-eda pointed to BIFF’s own history with problematic politics as an “inspiration” to filmmakers and to the world.
The Korean festival had come under intense governmental pressure in 2014 when it screened a controversial documentary about the Sewol ferry disaster that claimed the lives of more than 300 people, many of them children. The documentary highlighted what it saw as misconduct by the thengovernment of Park Geun-hye. The festival was told to withdraw the film but kept it on the programme and then faced budget cuts and criminal charges filed against senior management. The matter was only really resolved with the arrival of the government of Moon Jae-in in 2017.