Women Workers and Industrial Life in Korean Cinema: Kuro Aryrang (1989) and A Single Park (1995)

Abstract

Since the Korean War, two events have been prominent on the history of industrial struggles. One was the death of a young worker in a textile factory area called Chungkye district in 1970. Jeon Tae-il committed self-immolation to call for the observance of the Labor Standard Law. This event provoked the first public recognition of the working class and the absence of basic industrial rights. The other significant one was the “Great Labor Struggle,” a series of industrial strikes launched from July to September of 1987. This was a nationwide protest against the governmental authority and management in a situation similar to that of the early 1970s. Two movies deal with each of these two historical events. A Single Spark (Park Kwang-su, 1995) tells the life of Jeon who strives to publicize the abuse of young female workers in the Chungkye factory district. Kuro Arirang (Park Jong-won, 1989) deals with realistic issues regarding industrial disputes in the late 1980s, focusing on the story of young female workers in the shadow of an economic miracle. These two films show that Korean cinema begins to be sensitive to the contemporary socio-political problems, after the decline of authoritarian rule. This paper explores the ways in which these two films deal with the life and circumstances of female workers and labor oppression during the 1970s and 1980s. For contextual background contained in both films, it is useful to first recognize labor situations of female workers during those times.