The primary subject of interest of this paper is the view and context of the North Korean defectors as an audience whom are viewing films representing themselves. Recent Korean films are paying much attention to topics such as diaspora, displacement, border crossing, nomadism and so forth. Parallel to such interest, attention given to the minorities has been unprecedentedly increasing lately and attention particularly devoted to those North Korean defectors have been growing most surprisingly. From Korean blockbuster or independent films to films directed by Korean-Chinese directors, the North Korean defectors’ experience is currently being represented in diverse formats. Recently, there have been films where North Korean defectors have actually participated in the production of the film themselves. Most importantly, the North Korean defectors seem to appear as people representing the extreme life as the other within the South Korean society playing a role serving to disclose the structural contradictions and loopholes of this society.
Then how have the North Korean defectors themselves been responding to the representations of themselves produced on screen? And how can we understand the positions of North Korean defectors as an audience subject viewing themselves within films? What kind of implication does the representation of North Korean defectors in films have to themselves and then what function does the experience and memory play for accepting the film and personal meaning making? This article is also concerned with the way North Korean defectors themselves make meaning through texts in order to encourage themselves and their community group.
For that reason, 10 North Korean defectors who have defected for non-political purposes and have less than 10 years of experience in South Korea were chosen for study. After watching films representing North Korean defectors, I have conducted a focus group discussion and 1: 1 personal interviews. The primary purpose of this audience research was to approach the attitude and means of how North Korean defectors’ themselves view him/herself and their status. In particular, I have tried to explain what role films play in formulating a minority identity, and how the perspectives surrounding cultural and social identities can be reconsidered or transformed within media talk. Also studied was the North Korean defectors’ friendly chat about the films possibly reflecting the limitation of ethics of the other within the South Korean society or the possibility of counter-publics against existing perspectives related to North Korean defectors.