hankyoreh

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) set up an “entertainment section” under its intelligence and security bureau to monitor people involved in the making of progressive-leaning films and planned the making of right-wing “patriotic films” during the Park Geun-hye administration, a Hankyoreh 21 investigation revealed recently. The activities by the NIS were patently illegal and fell outside the prescribed scope of the agency’s duties.

An investigation of NIS staffers based on accounts from dozens of film industry figures confirmed the existence of an “entertainment team” during the Park administration, consisting of agents who monitored filmmakers and interfered in different aspects of the film industry, including production, investment, and distribution. Affiliated with the intelligence and security bureau overseeing domestic intelligence collection duties, the team’s agents – including two identified by the surnames Bae and Lee – worked under a Level 3 director surnamed Oh, who oversaw all duties related to the cultural community. The intelligence and security bureau, which is considered one of the key departments in the NIS, was headed at the time by Chu Myeong-ho, who is alleged to have directly reported intelligence of various kinds to then-Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs Woo Byung-woo.

Film industry figures said the NIS entertainment team staffers doggedly gathered intelligence on films that were currently in or scheduled for production. Multiple sources said the team was especially interested in the film “The Attorney” (2013), a thinly veiled account of former President Roh Moo-hyun’s experience as a human rights attorney.

To gather intelligence, the NIS chiefly contacted major investment and distribution companies. Bae was confirmed to have met once a month with a senior executive at one company to collect information on film industry trends. The team’s activities even extended to Hollywood distribution companies, as progressive-leaning films were being made with overseas money rather than domestic public funds.

NIS agents also pushed for the production of right-leaning content, summoning film directors and offering them support to make “patriotic movies.” Sources reported them as offering “up to 3 billion won [US$2.7 million]” to make a “hero movie where the President is part of the action.”

The film industry intelligence that was gathered also appears to have formed the basis for the culture and art world blacklist.

“It was an age of barbarism,” said an executive at one investment and distribution company.

“How can you talk about a ‘creative economy’ or ‘cultural fusion’ in an age when the NIS checks up on every aspect of the film production schedule?” the executive asked.

In response to the allegations, the NIS said it was “verifying the facts.”

By Kim Wan, Jung Hwan-bong, Ha Eo-young, Hankyoreh 21 reporters, and Kim Seong-hoon, Cine21 reporter

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