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EBS History of Culture Series - Part 1 THE COUNT OF MYEONGDONG
Episode 9
We'll start this episode once again with Lee Jung Seop's story.
One of Lee Jung Seop's works.
It was part of the 3rd New Realism Group exhibition, started in May 1953.
Yet, the work you see here, called "Chimney,"
is not the original by Lee Jung Seop...
but just a re-enactment based upon imagination.
No background nor any roof around this chimney,
drenched by its gloomy loneliness.
Lee Jung Seop painted two identical versions of "Chimney" for this exhibition.
Why did you have to draw a chimney, of all things?
Of all the nice things you could draw, why choose that?!
Why, what's wrong with a chimney?
You see nothing out of the ordinary about that?
It's not too late to change it now.
Replace it with something else!
What on earth is wrong with a chimney?!
Ahh... really.
1953 - New Realism Group Exhibition
My chimneys! My chimneys...
Where did my chimneys go? My chimneys!
Because most affiliates of the New Realism Group were abstract painters,
so it seems as if Lee Jung Seop painted that chimney on purpose,
Choi Seok Tae
in an attempt to adapt to their style.
But... many people, seeing those works...
started becoming suspicious about why he would paint a chimney,
which is probably the reason they reported him to the authorities.
Sure enough, they started questioning him about the meaning of this painting,
or whether it hid any social critique and the like.
There were even people speculating it could be some kind of signal...
a North Korean spy would send out.
For that reason, this work was removed from the exhibition.
But, interestingly enough, a drawing about a cow by Jang Wook Jin...
was also part of the exhibition, and just because it was a little red,
Jang was also questioned by the authorities, along with Yoo Young Guk,
although I don't know the exact reasons for that.
They were just speculating that, because they used some red,
they could be commies just like the others.
Or, even worse, if they found anything they couldn't quickly understand,
they'd just think it was a signal from North Korean spies.
It was the kind of atmosphere in which such trivial matters...
could turn into a really serious situation.
Two chimneys.
In a sense, it could symbolize despair,
or just simply a sign of resistance belittling the establishment.
But those two chimneys staunchly pointing at the sky...
could also have represented Lee Jung Seop's intense desire...
and ambition in life.
You will find very few people so obsessed about not letting...
go of the ties connecting him to life.
Despite being abandoned multiple times by society,
and all the isolation and frustration he had to endure,
Lee Jung Seop never let go of that feeble rope that made him survive.
Mona Lisa
So today Madam Shin is the model?!
I've been like this for an hour already.
He just asked me to smile like the Mona Lisa in this pose,
and I can't hold it any longer.
My apologies, Lee Seonsaengnim.
You're hitting it big today, Madam Shin.
He raised you to the status of Mona Lisa now.
Spare me the sarcasm, and go take some orders for me.
Now that I look at it, your smile is quite something.
Ahh... will you keep making fun of me?!
Fo...Forgive me. Lee Seonsaengnim keeps forcing words out of me.
I wasn't angry at you, Madam.
Let's take a break.
How many paintings have you drawn?
There isn't much time left until the exhibition.
Lee Hyung.
What should I draw, so that it will sell well?
You know my wife was conned, right?
That's all my fault.
This friend of hers told her he was in the publishing business,
and if she could help him out, he'd even support me with the profits.
So she made debts because of that, and he suddenly disappeared.
I've heard that myself.
Your wife is always too nice.
My Balgarak... My wife and children, you know?
They're almost starving in Japan.
If I don't sell something this time, they'll really starve to death.
But what on earth do I have to paint to make some money?
Just paint whatever you wish.
And who would buy what I want to paint?
Those who know you can always take care of that.
What I'm saying...
Those who know your work will keep buying it anyway.
I don't need any of that compassion you speak of!
Just paint whatever suits you. That will be the only path to success.
What success?
My name on people's mouths?
Is that what you're talking about?
The hell with that!
I can't paint like that anymore!
Lee Hyung... Lee Hyung!
Don't... don't misunderstand me!
You can't talk like that to Mister Lee.
I was just...
If he asks you, "Is that it?" you just say "Yes."
"Is this black?!" "Yes, it certainly is."
That's what you need to do.
You're all enlightened, I see?!
About artists and their whims.
I'm sorry for what I said.
I'll buy you a drink to make up for it.
I must make money.
Sitting here, I realize how many pretty women pass by.
But all I see with these eyes...
is all that's rotting inside, and nothing else.
Lee Hyung.
You understand what I'm saying?
All I see with these eyes is not their pretty exterior,
but what's inside them.
I can't paint that.
Who would ever buy something like that?
You can draw four chimneys this time, then.
I'm just kidding.
Lee Hyung.
Just paint what you wish to.
You know how many people I can involve.
I can't guarantee for the entire lot, but I'll make you sell at least half.
So...
I miss my kids.
My wife...
even more.
Lee Jung Seop's works were echoing his cries of sorrow.
And it wasn't just Lee Jung Seop.
Both Kim Su Young's and Park In Hwan's poems were full of explicit...
or concealed grieving howls.
Or, just because they were Seo Jeong Ju's poems,
his were no different.
Even his works, drenched in beauty, were betrayed by hints of suffering.
All those cries of sorrow gathered together, in the Myeongdong of the 1950s.
Asked about the Myeongdong of the 1950s, people called it the "age of romanticism."
Romanticism is what categorized it, they say.
Is describing this era of destruction and despair, poverty and suspicion...
as the era of romanticism appropriate, then?
Wouldn't the age of indigence and fear be more suited to it?
Wouldn't destruction, disorder, despair be more fitting terms?
We'll briefly return to Park In Hwan's story.
This is how a payday looked like in the 1950s.
This kind of scene might have slowly vanished,
as bank accounts managed by wives have become the only destination for salaries.
But because back then the workers would get paid directly,
every payday could turn into a spectacle worth witnessing.
First, you'd find a long line of people waiting for credit to be taken care of.
Sometimes, to avoid the sight of an empty envelope by their returning spouses,
wives would come to the company themselves, to catch their husbands.
This is what happened to Park In Hwan, when he was working for Daehan Shipping.
- Thank you. - Yes.
Wow! This...
Look at this!
How much is this?
This wouldn't look bad with it.
Wow... and look at this!
All right.
By the way, there's no Park In Hwan in sight today.
Looks like he's got some drinking problems.
If he's facing some problems because of drinking,
he'll have to solve them by the same sword.
He'll just rest a few days, I guess.
Drinking problems?! He's not showing up because it was payday.
Ahh... his tab!
Park In Hwan is not that stingy.
The first thing Park Seonsaengnim does when he has some money...
is spend it on clothes.
Should anything remain, he'll get some accessories.
And if, God forbid, he has anything left, he'll throw cash around somewhere else...
and drink it all off.
- And if anything remains... - And if anything remains?
He'd bring it home.
So he's not paying his tab.
Still, he's better than our Gongcho Seonsaengnim.
Uh?! What did I do?
You even take over someone else's tab.
As if you were going to pay it.
- Darling. - Yes.
Don't bring offerings to my grave when I'm dead,
just do it now that I'm alive.
Ohhh... Seonsaengnim!
Is it you?
Oh?!
Where did you go, at this hour?
Right around the block.
All dressed up?
I went down to the street, waiting for you.
I should have just taken a taxi.
Why that?
To save some money, I rode the bus...
and this strange fellow who started following me from the station...
rode along with me.
So I just thought... Hey, this must be a pickpocket.
I was careful... but look at this.
He cut my pocket with a razor, and stole all my salary.
Look here, dear!
You should have been more careful.
Ahhh... I told you I was.
Dinner?
Ohh... Didn't have anything, since I thought you'd be waiting.
Right! I bought you a sweater.
As I rode the bus, you came to mind.
I remember how cold you were last winter,
so I ran to the market.
If you just had come back home, the pickpocket wouldn't have followed.
Didn't you say he had been following you from the station?
Ahhh... tell me about it.
If I just took the bus then, nothing would have happened.
Where are you going? Try this out at least.
You said you didn't have dinner.
I'll prepare you some noodle soup, at least.
Just give me some leftovers.
I didn't cook anything.
I just had some sujebi* with the kids. (dough flakes soup)
Are you out of rice?!
If you're out of rice, you should tell me!
Wasn't it payday for your husband?
I'm sorry, I'll pay you back next month.
We had some urgent expenses.
Aigoo... all right.
Thank you, Ajumma.
Aigoo... did your husband fall for another pickpocket?!
The customs of those days dictated that the wife was in charge of the household.
Be it rice or firewood,
making sure they wouldn't run out of that was the wife's responsibility.
What's more, sometimes even ignoring their husbands' infidelity...
was a virtue for women of the period.
Even around the 1950s, those were our customs.
Because of the same customs, Kim Su Young's agony was even worse.
We now go back to Kim Su Young's story.
Where did your brother go?
He went out to meet his wife.
- His wife?! - Yes.
What a disgrace.
Oppa needs to get back together with her, if he's to write again.
After all that happened, how could they do that?
Is your brother even willing to accept her back?
Otherwise, he wouldn't even have bothered meeting her.
Let me ask you just one thing.
Just one.
Back then, why didn't you follow me?
- When? - In Busan.
When I asked you to follow me, you said no.
How could I follow you?
Why?
Just because you said so, think I could follow you?
I asked you to come with me.
I have a sense of shame.
What shame?!
After all that happened with Lee Jong Gu,
I couldn't follow you as if nothing was wrong.
Because you felt sorry?
You couldn't follow me because of that?
Just one more question.
Just one.
What were your intentions after doing that, back then?
Did you really plan to just...
live there?
I wanted to kill myself.
I wanted to get this over with.
So why didn't you?!
Why didn't you kill yourself?
It's not as easy as you think, dying.
Did you really wish for that?
You can't write because of me?
Who said that?
Was it Su Myeong?
Just torture me with those questions until you're out of angst,
until you can win your pride back.
Pride?!
That's what you can't endure, losing face.
Did you take me for such a miserly fool?
No.
I'm not the kind of miser who would worry about a woman's purity.
Know how many times I fought with death on that battlefield?
I saw countless people perish under my eyes,
deaths even beasts would feel pity for.
Once, I took advantage of lax surveillance to escape.
I stole someone's clothes on some habitation and ran away,
and then someone hit the back of my head with a muzzle.
I looked at him, and it was a People's Army soldier.
I told him I was a soldier like him,
that I was running away from the American troops after being caught.
And he asked me to prove that.
So I brought him to where a People's Army uniform had been buried,
and it was still there. And so I told him...
"Look. I'm a comrade of yours."
"I'm from the People's Army like you!"
And did he trust you?
If you just could follow me when I asked you without saying a word,
it would have been the end of this all.
You know?
Know what?
I didn't want to live my entire life enduring your "forgiveness."
I broke up with Lee Jong Gu.
We acknowledged the mistakes we made,
and got over it clean.
How remarkable!
How could you ever approve of your wife cheating on you?
Everyone was saying you died, what else could I do?
I tried to kill myself more than once,
but every single time it was that man who stopped me.
He should have just let me die.
Ahh... you're back?
So, what did she say?
Was she begging for forgiveness?
I've heard you went to meet your wife.
I wish war could break out again, Mother.
So it could turn this damned world upside down once again!
Could we describe what Lee Jung Seop went through, from the painful family breakup...
to the loneliness and despair he suffered, as something like "romanticism"?
And how about Kim Su Young, agonizing over his wife's lost "purity"?
Would Park In Hwan spend all his salary on clothes and drinks...
just because he was reckless?
Why could romanticism be what colored the legacy of those 1950s in Myeongdong?
Aren't you Park In Hwan?
Yes... Seonsaengnim.
I'm not seeing you around these days,
neither at the Dongbang nor Poem.
I'm going to America next month.
America? Why?
As supervisor on the ship going there.
So you're not moving there.
No, just for a while.
And what does that have to do with you not coming here?
I was trying to write something.
Ohhh... I see we're getting mature?!
Seonsaengnim, people could suddenly die, isn't it?
Isn't that right, Gongcho Seonsaengnim?
Are you hurt?
No, I'm fine.
Then, are you worried about me?
It's not that.
Since people could die any day, they should always be prepared.
So, in my case, I should at least publish an anthology.
Mature indeed, you've changed.
Seonsaengnim. After I publish my anthology,
I'll come back to Myeongdong.
Seonsaengnim, why aren't you drinking anything today?
I can sense when something is wrong.
Like a medium, you mean?
Is anything wrong with Park In Hwan?
Not to my knowledge?!
Why, have you heard anything?
Ahhh... it's nothing, I heard nothing.
Madam! One bottle of Rivera!
Gongcho Seonsaeng said not to give him credit.
It won't be credit today.
Cash.
With the rest, serve a glass of Rivera to the others.
It must be pennies from heaven for him.
Seonsaengnim, what is wrong with you today?
Park In Hwan, looking deathly pale...
What?
Gongcho Seonsaengnim. Many thanks.
So was it a success?
Is Seo Jeong Ju giving his consent?
Seo-gun or whatever, Bang Ok Rye said she can't live without me,
what else could he do?
Ehh... look at him!
You know women, Seonsaengnim?
The first to plant his flag wins the lot.
Good to hear.
Let's have a drink!
The taste is splendid!
Even on the other side, I won't forget this taste.
Here... Lee-gun.
I'm hurting, these days.
Go back in.
I just came by to see you one last time.
Everyone!
Everyone!!
Let's have a toast!
He looks so cool, isn't it?
This is on the house, go ahead.
We're following the traces of they who created the Myeongdong we all love.
But it wasn't just artists who built the legacy of this Myeongdong.
Many of the coffee shops and room saloons which happily gave credit...
to those artists were forced to close up shop because of debts.
Started as a whisky shop, Poem was one such case.
It could be from those bar owners' hands,
because of their love and respect for those poor artists,
that the romanticism drenching Myeongdong became possible.
Let's move to shopkeeper Mr. Hwang's story.
Aigoo... Looks like we're finally going back to decency.
Does that newspaper feed you?
What I'm saying, going over those pages the entire day,
does it put any food on your table?
You shouldn't say that.
You need to know what's going on in the world,
to understand how this business works.
Mister Hong, what is it today?
The Democratic Party was founded.
Democratic Party?!
Jo Byung Wook and Shin Ik Hee got together,
and formed a new party to fight against the Liberal Party.
That's got to be quite a fight.
The dollar's exchange rate will go up again.
That's what I'm talking about.
Any time there's chaos in politics, the dollar's rate goes up.
And I thought he was only good for shooting some shabby photos.
He seems to understand how the world goes around.
If you spend time worrying about that, it'll only bring you headaches.
We need parties to become a democracy!
With only the Liberal Party, it would be nothing but dictatorship.
Don't even say that.
We don't even know when the commies might return,
what damned democracy are you talking about?
President Lee Seung Man is doing so well.
If it weren't for him, think in what condition our country would be.
So what's the point of making another party?
Still, we need to become a democracy!
Worry about your shoes!
If we become a democracy, does that fix all your shoes?!
What do shoes have to do with democracy?!
Hey... hey!
If Kim Il Sung had united the two Koreas, we'd be all dead already.
We're still alive only thanks to President Lee Seung Man.
Democracy, my ass.
It's because of people like you that the Liberal Party keeps its dictatorship!
And what's wrong with a little dictatorship?!
Do you even know how scary those commie bastards are?
Dear! I found them!
I found them!
Look at this...
This is the 38th parallel, uh?
- Kim Il Sung is up here in the North. - Dear! I said I found them!
Be quiet for a moment, you woman!
I'm teaching them some healthy anti-communism!
I found our kids, what anti-communism?!
As long as we have this 38th parallel...
You found what?
I found Young Seok and Young Tae.
Where?! Where did you find them?!
They're at an orphanage in Yeongdeungpo.
Yeongdeung... Look, Yeongdeungpo...
Where is Yeongdeungpo again?!
- It's this way, dear! - Follow me!
- Mister Hwang! That way! - Not there, this way!
That way, that way!
- Aigoo... - So who is it they found?
They found the kids they lost during the war, who else?
Still, dictatorship is not right! Indeed! Of course it's not!
Stop worrying about the country, and keep an eye on your wife.
You little runt! What did you just say?!
What are you doing? Go ahead.
Greet your father, what are you waiting for?
Who is Young Seok?
Ohhh... really?!
Then, you're Young Tae.
This is our oldest, and he's the youngest.
Ahhh... give it a rest. They've gotten so tall, I'm all confused!
Confused?! Can you say that in front of your kids?
Ahh... I said enough. So... you're my Young Seok!
You're Young Tae. You're my kids, right?
Enough with all that talking. Here, take a good look.
Take a look here.
Can you see what's on his buttock?
He got this in the fire, remember? Take a look, will you?
Right! That's it!
It's them!
Take your hands off.
Your Mommy is giving you a bath, what's with all the fuss?
Aigoo, take a look at all this dirt.
They didn't even let you bathe at the orphanage?
Ajumeoni*, you've fulfilled your wishes now!
*Married woman, similar to Ajumma
Indeed I have.
Now we found our kids, so all that's left is making a living.
Why aren't you eating?
Worry about eating yourself.
Ahh... I had enough already.
You can have it.
Aigoo... really.
Don't make me repeat myself.
It's tasty, isn't it?
Mackerel has never tasted this good.
You be careful. Try to cheat on me again,
and I'll drown you in the Han River! Got it?
- All right! - Aigoo! All right.
Eat some, while you still have some appetite.
Aigoo... my dear, go ahead and eat.
Dear, come here and have a look.
The young one has this mark on his buttock.
Right, right.
You've always been a little troublemaker, weren't you?
Your mother was ironing, and you end up getting a ironing mark on your butt.
Let me see... When was it again?
Aigoo... take those hands off!
When Daddy and Mommy went past the 38th, Young Tae,
you were still in my womb.
Young Seok, you were on your father's back along with our bags,
and we crossed the 38th in the middle of the night.
What other hope could we possibly have,
if not that of making you grow into great men.
Give it a rest, and let's sleep.
You two, listen to me well.
Your Daddy and Mommy will work hard and become rich,
so you just study hard.
Then, you'll become judges or doctors.
Understand? Don't worry about money.
Ahhh... the kids are tired. Let's sleep.
Think I could sleep?
I was about to lose sight of my precious kids.
You woman, again with the broken record.
Let's make money, dear.
Let's make a ton of money.
You little wench, how is that yours?
I've been working here since 6-25*!
*June 25 (start of Korean War in 1950)
Just as the year 1955 was knocking on their doors,
people started abandoning the emotional vestiges of the war,
and began struggling once again for survival.
Around that time, Jeon Hye Rin left Seoul.
We have a full day ahead.
Hye Rin, what brings you here? All dressed up, down to the hat.
Looking at you dressed like that, femininity oozes from you.
Haven't you seen how the others look at me?
They're staring as if thorns were piercing their eyes.
They're not used to seeing women smoke, that's all.
Because only women of the demimonde would smoke?
Why, is smoking a cigarette going to grant you sexual liberation?
That's why I'm leaving.
I just thought I should have come by before leaving for the airport,
so I paid a visit.
You're leaving today?
Yes.
To Germany?
Yes.
That's good.
I need to go.
My father is waiting for me outside.
Looked like I wouldn't get to smoke until I reached the airport,
so since I was here, I had a cigarette.
Despite all that's going on in your family,
you got permission to leave and study overseas?!
Not to study, but to get married.
Married?!
Just a hunch it could be that.
What are you talking about?
Seonsaengnim.
I'll come back a much more docile person.
Then, it wouldn't suit Jeon Hye Rin.
Forgive me for all my past behavior.
What's wrong with you? You sound like a stranger.
Everything has changed.
The war has changed us all.
Then, why did that damned male predominance remain the same?
- If it's that... - Even you are a modern type.
But, still, you don't understand why that notion should disappear from our land.
It will change with time.
Why?
Hmm... well, how should I put it?
You know? Being born a woman in this land is a curse.
I'll get going.
Ohh... just a moment.
I'll feel bad if you leave like this.
My parents are waiting for me outside.
Then, are you leaving against your will?
I do want to go, but not this way.
Seonsaengnim.
Goodbye.
That clever young lady went to Germany?
Seeing her leave was a little...
Think it would be easy to go study overseas in this day and age?
Let alone a woman.
So you're using that "woman," too.
What are you saying?
The reason she left Seoul was exactly...
because of the "special" treatment women get.
Clever indeed.
- Darling. - Yes, Seonsaengnim.
Do you dislike being so pretty I call you that?
Why would I?
There's nothing wrong with that, right?
Of course not!
She made the right decision.
If she comes back from Germany with all she's learned there,
Seoul will be in a frenzy.
By the way, Seonsaengnim.
About Park In Hwan looking deathly pale...
Nah... I was just talking.
Forget it.
Ahh... right.
Park In Hwan is going to the States.
Yes, I've heard he'll be back in a few months.
While he's there, he should spend a couple of years abroad.
Isn't it hard to go there?
The American way of life is not something you can learn easily.
And who said about learning about their lifestyle?
Then again, he'd be dangerous over there,
a dandy boy like him.
Ahhh... I hear Lee Jung Seop painted quite a lot.
Seonsaengnim, aren't you a little too curious?
Of course I am!
Our youngsters here need to keep doing their best,
if anything is to get better.
Have you painted a lot?
I bought some hoddeok* on my way from Myeongdong. (*sugar pancakes)
You said you wanted those from the stall near the theater in Myeongdong.
You need to eat and regain strength.
If you want to pay your wife's debts, you need to paint.
Jung Seop.
What's wrong? You haven't eaten for days.
I can't paint.
I don't think I'll ever be a painter.
What are you talking about?
All I see are their rotten entrails.
Their scraggy bones...
Thorn-like things...
Their naked bodies are all I see,
what am I supposed to paint?
They have no form,
no shadows...
It's all emptiness.
Why could they have called it the "age of romanticism"?
We will continue in the next episode.
Brought to you by WITH S2 Written In The Heavens Subbing Squad
Main Translator and Timer: MisterX
Timing QC: Victory
Editor/QC: thunderbolt
Coordinators: mily2, ay_link
It's been so long! So you moved?
Park In Hwan doesn't come here these days?
Park In Hwan left for the States.
He said he'd meet you one last time before leaving.
Said he'd make up with you, and then leave.
Wretched fool.
You haven't heard?
He and his wife reconciled.
We'll grow chicken and ducks.
With that, we certainly won't starve. Isn't that right, dear?
If one doesn't want to, how can I force that?
She can just believe you're dying.
Just pretend to do that.
Twenty... four?!
You're telling me you're four years younger?
So why did you tell me you're thirty-four?
I just had to do that, because of my students.
My first day on the job, and most of the students were older than me.
If they knew my age, would they listen to me?
So...
You must promise me that, from now on...
you'll never lie to me again.
If an artist can't feel the rhythm, it's all over for her!
Lee Jung Jae is full of ambition.
Becoming the new President?!
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