''National Security'' () is a 2012

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

n prison drama film based on the

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...

Kim Geun-tae Kim Geun-tae (14 February 1947 – 30 December 2011) was a democracy activist and politician of the Republic of Korea. Life Kim was born in Bucheon, Gyeonggi-do. He studied in Kyunggi High School and entered Seoul National University and ...

, a democracy activist who was kidnapped and tortured by national police inspector Lee Geun-an for 22 days in 1985 during the

Chun Doo-hwan Chun Doo-hwan (; or ; 18 January 1931 – 23 November 2021) was a South Korean army general and military dictator who ruled as an unelected strongman from 1979 to 1980 before replacing Choi Kyu-hah as president of South Korea from 1980 to 198 ...

regime. Calling the film "the most painful experience in my 30 years as a filmmaker," director

Chung Ji-young Chung Ji-young (born November 19, 1946) is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. Among his most well-known films are '' North Korean Partisan in South Korea'' (1990), '' White Badge'' (1992), ''Life and Death of the Hollywood Kid'' (199 ...

wanted the audience to reflect on the theme of torture. He said he found the courage to make the film so that Korean viewers will "engage with our sad history and the sacrifices of great people like Kim Geun-tae in a concrete, meaningful way. If we triumph over the past, we can move forward with unity and reconciliation."

Plot

September 4, 1985. Kim Jong-tae (

Park Won-sang Park Won-sang (born January 20, 1970) is a South Korean actor. Filmography Film Television Theater Ambassadorship *Ambassador for 1st Democratization Movement Memorial Park Joint Memorial Cultural Festival (2022) References External ...

), 37, a prominent activist against the military dictatorship of

and onetime commissioner of the Youth Federation for Democracy, is arrested and taken to a special interrogation facility in Namyeong-dong, a district in the center of

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

synonymous with political torture in the 1970s and 80s because it was the location of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA). During the first three days he is allowed no food or sleep and told to write an exhaustive essay on his life to date. On the fourth day, in order to find out why he resigned from the YFD, head interrogator Park Nam-eun (Myung Gye-nam) starts water torture, and on the next day

waterboarding Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water is poured over a cloth covering the face and breathing passages of an immobilized captive, causing the person to experience the sensation of drowning. In the most common method of waterboard ...

. On the sixth day, torture specialist Lee Du-han, known as "The Undertaker" (

Lee Geung-young Lee Geung-young (born December 12, 1960) is a South Korean actor. He graduated from the Department of Drama in Seoul. He debuted in 1977 and after completing his mandatory military service, he debuted in 1982 as the 10th public relations actor fo ...

), starts a deadlier form of water torture, trying to get Jong-tae to admit he is a communist in league with

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

. By the 11th day Jong-tae writes whatever they want him to, but Lee says it's full of inconsistencies and unusable in a court of law. The next day, after finding Jong-tae tried to smuggle out a note to his wife (Woo Hee-jin), Lee resumes a more painful version of water torture, as well as

electric shocks Electrical injury is a physiological reaction caused by electric current passing through the body. The injury depends on the density of the current, tissue resistance and duration of contact. Very small currents may be imperceptible or produce ...

Cast

- Kim Jong-tae *

- Lee Du-han, "The Undertaker" *Myung Gye-nam - Park Nam-eun *

Kim Eui-sung Kim Eui-sung (; born December 17, 1965) is a South Korean actor. He is known for his roles in films ''The Day a Pig Fell into the Well'' (1996), ''Office'' (2015), '' The Exclusive: Beat the Devil's Tattoo'' (2015) and ''Train to Busan'' (2016); ...

- Kang Su-hyeon *Seo Dong-soo - Section chief Baek *

Lee Chun-hee Lee Chun-hee (born February 19, 1979) is a South Korean actor. Career Lee Chun-hee made his acting debut in the movie '' A Good Lawyer's Wife'' in 2003 and has since starred in several big screen roles such as '' The Aggressives'' (2005), ''Thr ...

- Section chief Kim *Kim Jung-gi - Section chief Lee *

Moon Sung-keun Moon Sung-keun (born May 28, 1953) is a South Korean actor and politician. He has won three Blue Dragon Film Awards, two Baeksang Arts Awards, and two Chunsa Film Art Awards for Best Actor. Career Moon was born in Tokyo, Japan. His father was ...

- Director Yoon *

Woo Hee-jin Woo Hee-jin (born May 24, 1975) is a South Korean actress. Woo began model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived ...

- In Jae-eun, Jong-tae's wife

Reception

Many had strong reactions to the film, some even choosing to leave theaters during its screenings at the

17th Busan International Film Festival The 17th Busan International Film Festival was held from October 4 to October 13, 2012 at the Busan Cinema Center and was hosted by Ahn Sung-ki and Chinese actress Tang Wei, who is the first foreign celebrity to host the event. In this year's f ...

. Though it was very strongly reviewed with many critics calling it one of the best Korean films of 2012, its subject matter is believed to have intimidated many viewers, resulting in low box office returns. Director

said, "It's a low-budget movie, so there wasn't a lot for publicity and marketing, and I think there are limits to its popular appeal. But I also think those 300,000 people went out of their way to see the movie. That's a truly meaningful number for us."

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:National Security (2012 Film) 2012 films 2012 biographical drama films South Korean thriller drama films South Korean biographical drama films Biographical films about politicians Films set in 1985 Films set in Seoul Films based on biographies Films directed by Chung Ji-young 2010s Korean-language films Cultural depictions of activists Cultural depictions of politicians Cultural depictions of South Korean men 2012 drama films South Korean films based on actual events 2010s South Korean films