What Nigeria, Korea share in Myeongseong film – KCCN

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

The Korean Cultural Center in Nigeria (KCCN) at the weekend showed a popular Korean film depicting the last Korean Empress, Queen Myeongseong, noting that it exposes the similar historical and political development which Nigeria share with Korea.
According to the Public Relations Manager of the KCCN, Juri Min, the aim of screening the film to the large audience who attended the event was to keep Nigerian movie enthusiasts abreast of the Korean historical development and how it related to Nigeria.
The film tells story of pre-colonial era of the Korea nations before the invasion of the country by the Japanese army. The north and South Korea was commonly known as Jeosun Dynasty, which was ruled by an Empress, Queen Myeongseong, who was latter killed by the Japanese army.
It was a story of how the Empress, who played a very significant role in the history and affairs of the Korean people, rose to power and how she fought to defend the territory of the Jeosun Dynasty before she was killed.
Speaking on the import of the music which has become transformed into a film, the Public Relations Manager of KCCN said “It is about the last Empress of Korea. It is a musical but it has been transformed into a movie so that so that people can watch and know about Korean history”.
Explaining further she said “we had a very sad history in Korea and that is what we want to show to people of Nigeria to know our history also, that we once had a sad history”.
Min said also that long time ago, both north and South Korea was simply identified as Joesun Dynasty before it was divided into north and South Korea, adding that Empress Myeongseong was the last Empress Korea had.
She said the movie will portray Nigeria and Korea as people with similar history given that they once suffered colonialism before independence, pointing out that it will help to build the understanding and bilateral relationship between Korea and Nigeria as one people.
A movie enthusiast, Chisom Asika, who was at the KCCN during the movie screening, said it was an insight into the Korean culture, though musical, but X-rays the pre colonial era of the Korean people before the Japanese invasion.
To this end, he urged the Nigerian government to borrow a leaf from the Koreans to help preserve and expose the Nigeria pre-colonial history and tradition, adding that through the movie one could see what the Koreans had to go through to gain independence from Japan.