Goodbye Mr. Kim
In Front of Strangers, I Sing
72nd Annual Juried Exhibition
May 25th - September 1st, 2013
Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Goodbye Mr. Kim is a cinematic memoir that intertwines my personal narrative with the pivotal moments marked by the deaths of two North Korean leaders, events that reverberated through my life and the collective psyche of a nation.
In 1994, the death of Kim Il Sung cast a sudden silence over my school's speakers, abruptly sending us home—a group of junior high students unwittingly stepping into the shadow of geopolitical tremors. I would later come to understand the magnitude of this event as I learned of South Korea's military being placed on the highest alert, a nation bracing for the uncertain, with soldiers penning what could be their final words.
Fast forward to 2012, I found myself as a graduate student, back on South Korean soil after years in the United States. History echoed itself with the death of Kim Jong Il. In the sterile ambiance of a hospital, the breaking news drew hushed, anxious crowds around televisions, the air thick with tension. The stark reality of the situation punctured my own sense of security when I received a notification from the Korean Army—a reminder of the ever-looming possibility of conscription.
My existence, like that of many Koreans, is deeply colored by the reality of a country in a technical state of war for over half a century. This film is an exploration of the fragility and fortitude that come from living on such a precipice, where the personal is inseparable from the political, and individual fates are woven into the fabric of national history.
Through Goodbye Mr. Kim, I offer a glimpse into the way global events infiltrate personal realities, how the macrocosm of political change imprints itself onto the microcosm of daily life. It is a testament to the resilience of a people living under the perennial cloud of uncertainty, and a reflection on how, in Korea, personal history is indelibly linked to the broader narrative of our society.