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SEOUL — Actor Kim Min-ha, who plays a North Korean defector in the upcoming film "Hana Korea," said she hopes the movie offers comfort not only to defectors but to everyone struggling to get through their daily lives. The film, a Danish-Korean collaboration directed by Danish filmmaker Frederik Solberg, who co-wrote it with Sharon Sung-jae Choi, follows the lives of three women who enter the state-run resettlement center Hanawon and eventually make new homes in South Korea.
"I thought it could be a story not only for North Korean defectors but for all of us. Every day, we open our eyes and put in so much effort just to survive. Each day is a constant process of adapting and adapting again, and we all struggle in our own ways under our feet," Kim told reporters in a group interview, as reported by Yonhap News. "In that sense, I felt this could be a story about all of us. There is a universality to it, and I hoped that would resonate with audiences."
Coverage Comparison
Yonhap News, South Korea's leading wire service, has provided two reports on the film. The first, published on June 29, introduces "Hana Korea" and its portrayal of North Korean defectors' lives, highlighting the film's realistic and subtle tone. The second, published on July 3, focuses on Kim Min-ha's perspective on the film's message and her approach to the role, offering a more personal and conversational angle.
Both reports emphasize the film's foundation in real-life stories and interviews with defectors, including a central figure named Hyo-rin who served as a role model for the plot. The film premiered in the Flash Forward section of the Busan International Film Festival last year, where it won the Flash Forward Audience Award.
Key Claims
- "Hana Korea" is a Danish-Korean collaboration directed by Frederik Solberg, who co-wrote the screenplay with Sharon Sung-jae Choi.
- The film is based on true life stories and interviews with North Korean defectors, including a central figure named Hyo-rin.
- The story follows Hye-sun (played by Kim Min-ha), a young woman who escapes her rural hometown in North Korea's Ryanggang province via China, leaving behind a brother and an ailing mother. Following her mother's advice "to live like a viper," she endures hardships as an undocumented resident in China before entering Hanawon, a state-run resettlement center.
- At Hanawon, Hye-sun befriends Bomyi (Ahn Seo-hyun), a teen defector born to North Korean parents in China, and Sook-hee (Kim Joo-ryoung), an older defector who left a nine-year-old son in China. The three women build a friendship that extends beyond the center.
- A total of 224 North Korean defectors arrived in South Korea last year, 198 of them women, bringing the cumulative number of defectors who have resettled in the South to 34,538.
- Kim Min-ha said she tried to "genuinely become Hye-sun and convey the gravity of her story without overacting but in a calm way," particularly in scenes where she narrates letters Hye-sun sends to her ailing mother. She noted that the letters were "very close to the actual letters that Hyo-rin had sent to her mother."
- Kim Min-ha expressed a desire to play more explosive roles in the future, including a character "who pushes all the way into the depths of human nature, someone without goodness or consideration for others, someone driven to emotional extremes by greed, jealousy or other impulses."
- The film is set for release on July 8.