South Korea’s film community has called for the acquittal of documentary filmmaker Jung Yoon-suk, who is on trial after allegedly trespassing during a protest by rioters earlier this year.
Far-right demonstrators broke into the Seoul Western District Court on January 19 to protest the arrest of then-president Yoon Suk Yeol. Director Jung also entered the site to document what he viewed as a moment of democratic crisis.
However, he has been charged alongside the rioters with “special intrusion” — a form of unlawful entry — for entering the court building on the night of the riot.
A petition calling for his acquittal has gathered 2,781 signatures, including Cannes award-winning filmmaker Park Chan-wook and Kim Sung-su, who directed box office hit 12.12: The Day. It has also been supported by 51 organisations including the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), Directors Guild of Korea, and Association of Korean Independent Film & Video. The petition was submitted to the Seoul Western District Court today (April 16).
It warned that the indictment could set a “dangerous precedent by criminalising artistic documentation and undermining freedom of expression”. It also called on the court to distinguish between those who incited violence and those who recorded it.
The Korean Independent Film Council, one of the petitioning bodies, said in a statement: “Jung entered the site not as a participant, but as a filmmaker driven by ethical duty and a commitment to documenting reality. Prosecutors disregarded the public interest of his work and charged him as a rioter — a clear violation of artistic freedom.”
BIFF also submitted a separate petition, which stated: “As a documentary filmmaker with a duty to chronicle moments of national crisis, Jung cannot be viewed as part of the far-right group responsible for the unprecedented violence.”
Jung is known for his documentaries, which have chronicled key moments of social trauma in South Korea, including the Yongsan tragedy, Sewol ferry disaster and Itaewon crowd crush.
His 2013 film Non-Fiction Diary picked up awards at the Berlinale, Busan and Sitges while his 2017 documentary Bamseom Pirates Seoul Inferno, which followed a South Korean punk band, premiered at International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) and went on to screen at Jeonju, BFI London Film Festival and Goteborg among others.
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