Unsung Heroes (film)
Encyclopedia
Unsung Heroes, also known as Unknown Heroes or more literally as Nameless Heroes, is a North Korean propaganda film series about a spy in Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...

 during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

. Over twenty hours long, it was filmed and released in multiple parts between 1978 and 1981. It was the recipient of the Kim Il-sung Medal.

Production and reaction

Unsung Heroes received a widespread favourable reception in the domestic market, according to North Korean newspapers. Lead actor Kim Ryong-lin, who played the hero Yu Rim, stated that it was one of his favourite roles in over 20 years of acting; in a 1981 interview, he remarked that people had begun calling him Yu Rim instead of his real name after the series began, which he actually enjoyed because of his admiration for the character. Actress Kim Jung-hwa, who played female lead Kim Soon-hee, initially felt that she was unsuited for the role, as she had no prior military experience, or even experience playing a spy on-screen; her only preparation consisted of reading several books and interviewing real spies. The director Ryu Ho-son stated that his favourite scene was the one from the "Madonna Teahouse" in Part 5, in which former lovers Yu Rim and Kim Soon-hee each learn that the other is a North Korean agent.

Unsung Heroes was also responsible for propelling American defectors James Joseph Dresnok
James Joseph Dresnok
James Joseph Dresnok is an American defector to North Korea, one of six American soldiers to defect after the Korean War. He was featured on the CBS magazine program 60 Minutes on January 28, 2007, as the last United States defector alive in North Korea and was the subject of a documentary film...

 and Charles Robert Jenkins
Charles Robert Jenkins
Charles Robert Jenkins is a former United States Army soldier who lived in North Korea from 1965 to 2004 after deserting his unit and crossing the Korean Demilitarized Zone.-Military service and desertion:...

 to minor celebrity status in North Korea. However, it did not receive public attention in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 until 1996, when the U.S. Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...

 obtained a copy of the movie; a report issued by five of their analysts identified Charles Robert Jenkins
Charles Robert Jenkins
Charles Robert Jenkins is a former United States Army soldier who lived in North Korea from 1965 to 2004 after deserting his unit and crossing the Korean Demilitarized Zone.-Military service and desertion:...

 and one other unnamed American (later discovered to be James Joseph Dresnok
James Joseph Dresnok
James Joseph Dresnok is an American defector to North Korea, one of six American soldiers to defect after the Korean War. He was featured on the CBS magazine program 60 Minutes on January 28, 2007, as the last United States defector alive in North Korea and was the subject of a documentary film...

) as actors in the movie, providing the first evidence in three decades that Jenkins was still alive. Dresnok's popularity in his role is such that people in North Korea routinely refer to him as "Arthur," the name of the character he played in the film.

Unsung Heroes was broadcast on television in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 in 1982, and released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 in 2003 by Dalian Audiovisual Publishing House. It was also screened in Japan during the Kitakyushu Biennial 2007. Its theme song "Embrace the Song of Happiness" (기쁨의 노래 안고 함께 가리라; Kibbŭmŭi Norae Ango Hamkke Karira), composed by Chŏn Tong-u, remains widely known in North Korea; Grand National Party
Grand National Party
The Grand National Party is a conservative political party in South Korea. Its Korean name, Hannara, has a double meaning as "Great National" and "Korean National." The GNP holds a majority of seats in the 18th Assembly, lasting from 2008 to 2012....

 member Yu Hong-jun, head of South Korea's Cultural Heritage Administration
Cultural Heritage Administration
The Cultural Heritage Administration or CHA, formerly the Cultural Properties Administration, is an agency of the South Korean government charged with preserving key aspects of the Korean cultural heritage. It is headquartered in the city of Daejeon at the Daejeon Government Complex...

, became the center of controversy in 2005 when he sang the song at an official dinner while visiting North Korea.

Plot

The plot of Unsung Heroes is based on some actual historical events, but many names and details were changed for propaganda purposes. The movie opens with an unidentified spy master giving instructions to protagonist Yu Rim, a Korean expatriate in the United Kingdom
Koreans in the United Kingdom
Koreans in the United Kingdom include Korean-born migrants to the United Kingdom and their British-born descendants.-Population size:The 2001 UK Census recorded 12,310 British residents born in South Korea...

 working as a journalist, who is ordered to proceed to Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...

 and gather intelligence on the United States Forces Korea
United States Forces Korea
United States Forces Korea refers to the ground, air and naval divisions of the United States armed forces stationed in South Korea....

. Initially, he only has three contacts in Seoul: Park Mu, the chief press officer for the Republic of Korea Army
Republic of Korea Army
The Republic of Korea Army is the largest of the military branches of the South Korean armed forces with 520,000 members as of 2010...

, Janet O'Neill, the wife of senior American intelligence official Dr. Kelton, and Lee Hong-sik, his handler, through whom he maintains contact with Pyongyang
Pyongyang
Pyongyang is the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea, and the largest city in the country. Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River and, according to preliminary results from the 2008 population census, has a population of 3,255,388. The city was...

. Once there, Yu also runs into his old lover Kim Soon-hee, who is apparently employed by the United States Counter Intelligence Corps
Counter Intelligence Corps
The Counter Intelligence Corps was a World War II and early Cold War intelligence agency within the United States Army. Its role was taken over by the U.S. Army Intelligence Corps in 1961 and, in 1967, by the U.S. Army Intelligence Agency...

, and is introduced to Colonel Klaus. Yu begins gathering intelligence on a coup plot by rightest South Korean general Sin Jae-sin, which Lee helps him pass back to North Korea using his unwitting friend Kim Su-gyong as a courier. Lee is suspected by a US counter intelligence agent Martin who found Lee takes care of homeless kids. Soon after, Lee is killed in a shootout with CIC agents, including Kim Soon-hee, leaving Yu unable to pass his crucial intelligence back to his government. Yu calls Lee from a bar and found the person on the other side is not Lee thus hangs up immediately. However, a waitress in that bar is arrested and tortured by Colonel Klaus, who learns that a man suspected to be Yu was seen making the phone call.

Yu flees to a Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

 safehouse run by a North Korean singer, where he is instructed to return to Seoul and contact an agent code-named White Horse. However, he is suspicious of White Horse, and sets a trap for him, in which he is revealed to be working with Colonel Klaus for the Americans, and gets killed by an unknown person. Yu obtained the information from Janet O'Neill that John Foster Dulles
John Foster Dulles
John Foster Dulles served as U.S. Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959. He was a significant figure in the early Cold War era, advocating an aggressive stance against communism throughout the world...

 is visiting Europe to get reinforcement. Yu meets Louise, a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 army low rank officer from an Irish Proletariat
Proletariat
The proletariat is a term used to identify a lower social class, usually the working class; a member of such a class is proletarian...

 family, and makes him a Communist, to relay this information; Louise stages his own kidnapping so that he can disappear to the North for training, and later returns to Seoul. Two months later, Yu receives a coded message on Voice of Korea instructing him to contact an agent named Diamond, who turns out to be his old lover Kim Soon-hee, ostensibly working for the Americans, but really a double agent
Double agent
A double agent, commonly abbreviated referral of double secret agent, is a counterintelligence term used to designate an employee of a secret service or organization, whose primary aim is to spy on the target organization, but who in fact is a member of that same target organization oneself. They...

 for North Korean intelligence. With Dulles's agenda exposed to the media, the US thus plans a battle for demonstration, but Yu obtains this information from Park Mu. Americans are defeated by a well prepared North Korean army, and failed to get more reinforcement from European allies.

Yu continues to gather intelligence on General Sin's coup attempt, this time passing messages back to Pyongyang by way of a radio operator disguised as a disabled veteran who begs outside hotels. Yu hides messages in cigarette filter
Cigarette filter
A cigarette filter has the purpose of reducing the amount of smoke, tar, and fine particles inhaled during the combustion of a cigarette. Filters also reduce the harshness of the smoke and keep tobacco flakes out of the smoker's mouth.-History:...

s, which he then throws on the ground near the beggar. However, he is unaware that he is being followed by the CIC, who are filming his activities. Colonel Klaus hears about a North Korean spy disguised as a veteran, and begins reviewing video tapes to check on Yu's activities. Kim saves the day by cutting the scenes out of the tapes to avoid further suspicion falling on Yu, but the disappearance of the scenes triggers Klaus' suspicion towards Kim herself instead. Klaus stages a test of loyalty for her, in which she is kidnapped and threatened with execution by American agents in Hokkaidō
Hokkaido
, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...

, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 pretending to be Communists; however, Kim correctly senses this is a trap, and escapes by killing the agents.

Park Mu realizes that Yu and Kim are spies without any evidence. As the person who leaks out the demonstration battle intelligence, Park is pushed by Klaus, and kills Kim who tries to protect Yu. Later, Yu kills Park for revenge.

At the end, North Korean armies starts new attacks, and forces the allies to peace negotiation. Due to Yu's effort, Sin Jae-sin's coup is crashed by South Korean president Syngman Rhee
Syngman Rhee
Syngman Rhee or Yi Seungman was the first president of South Korea. His presidency, from August 1948 to April 1960, remains controversial, affected by Cold War tensions on the Korean peninsula and elsewhere. Rhee was regarded as an anti-Communist and a strongman, and he led South Korea through the...

's agents. Sin commits suicide. Yu left Korea. Klaus, being afraid that his wrong doings which Yu told Dr. Kelton will be blamed, commits suicide also.

Characters

  • Yu Rim (Kim Ryong-lin): A former guard in an Imperial Japanese Army
    Imperial Japanese Army
    -Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...

     Prisoner-of-war camp
    Prisoner-of-war camp
    A prisoner-of-war camp is a site for the containment of combatants captured by their enemy in time of war, and is similar to an internment camp which is used for civilian populations. A prisoner of war is generally a soldier, sailor, or airman who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or...

     and later a graduate of Cambridge University, he was recruited by North Korean intelligence while working as a reporter in Istanbul
    Istanbul
    Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

    . He is sent to Seoul
    Seoul
    Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...

     to gather intelligence on United States forces there
    United States Forces Korea
    United States Forces Korea refers to the ground, air and naval divisions of the United States armed forces stationed in South Korea....

    .
  • Kim Soon-hee (Kim Jung-hwa): Yu's college sweetheart, now in a counter intelligence agent under Colonel Klaus. During the North Korean occupation of Seoul, she saved the life of an American agent who had been left behind, for which she was commissioned a lieutenant in the United States Army
    United States Army
    The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

     Counter Intelligence Corps
    Counter Intelligence Corps
    The Counter Intelligence Corps was a World War II and early Cold War intelligence agency within the United States Army. Its role was taken over by the U.S. Army Intelligence Corps in 1961 and, in 1967, by the U.S. Army Intelligence Agency...

     by Klaus.
  • Park-mu (Jung Woon-mo): Chief press officer for the Republic of Korea Army
    Republic of Korea Army
    The Republic of Korea Army is the largest of the military branches of the South Korean armed forces with 520,000 members as of 2010...

     and a friend of Yu-rim's from Cambridge.
  • Colonel Claus : Member of the United States Army Counter Intelligence Corps, and Yu's main adversary. The actor playing the part is credited as Son Dae-won : according to Charles Robert Jenkins
    Charles Robert Jenkins
    Charles Robert Jenkins is a former United States Army soldier who lived in North Korea from 1965 to 2004 after deserting his unit and crossing the Korean Demilitarized Zone.-Military service and desertion:...

    , he was actually "an Italian
    Italy
    Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

     vice dean of the music college in Pyongyang".
  • Captain Martin (Yun Chan): Member of the United States Army Counter Intelligence Corps and an aide to Colonel Klaus.
  • Dr. Kelton (Charles Robert Jenkins
    Charles Robert Jenkins
    Charles Robert Jenkins is a former United States Army soldier who lived in North Korea from 1965 to 2004 after deserting his unit and crossing the Korean Demilitarized Zone.-Military service and desertion:...

    ): The mastermind behind the Korean War
    Korean War
    The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

    .
  • Janet O'Neill (Shu Ok-soon): The wife of Dr. Kelton, her cousin was a British soldier
    British Army
    The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

     whose life was saved by Yu when interned in a prisoner-of-war camp. Though the character is supposed to be British, she was played by a Eurasian
    Eurasian (mixed ancestry)
    The word Eurasian refers to people of mixed Asian and European ancestry. It was originally coined in 19th-century British India to refer to Anglo-Indians of mixed British and Indian descent....

     actress of mixed Korean/Russian descent, a common practise in North Korean cinema.
  • Shark (Kim Duk-sam): a corrupt agent in the Counter Intelligence Corp, who sells information to rival South Korean generals jockeying for power.
  • Lee Jin-yong: Kim Yun-hong
  • Wang Soong: Rho Jung-won A reporter from Taiwan
    Taiwan
    Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

    , and son of the secretary of Chiang Kai-shek
    Chiang Kai-shek
    Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....

    .
  • Knife: Kang Keum-bok
  • Seul-hwa: Park Sub
  • Carl, U.S. secret police captain: Larry Allen Abshier
    Larry Allen Abshier
    Private Larry Allen Abshier of the U.S. Army was one of six American soldiers to defect to North Korea after the Korean War.-Defecting:...

  • Lewis, British Army lieutenant (Jerry Wayne Parrish
    Jerry Wayne Parrish
    Cpl. Jerry Wayne Parrish of the U.S. Army was one of six American soldiers to defect to North Korea after the Korean War....

    ): An Irish British army officer, who becomes a Communist and Yu's assistant with Yu's help.
  • Arthur, U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel : James Joseph Dresnok
    James Joseph Dresnok
    James Joseph Dresnok is an American defector to North Korea, one of six American soldiers to defect after the Korean War. He was featured on the CBS magazine program 60 Minutes on January 28, 2007, as the last United States defector alive in North Korea and was the subject of a documentary film...

    . Appears only in Episode 14.
  • Interpreters: Kim Chang-soo
    Kim Chang-Soo
    Kim Chang-Soo is a South Korean footballer who currently plays as defender for Busan I'Park in the K-League.His previous club is Ulsan Hyundai and Daejeon Citizen....

    , Paik Kyung-a

Episodes

Year No. Korean title English translation Hanja
Hanja
Hanja is the Korean name for the Chinese characters hanzi. More specifically, it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation...

McCune-Reischauer
McCune-Reischauer
McCune–Reischauer romanization is one of the two most widely used Korean language romanization systems, along with the Revised Romanization of Korean, which replaced McCune–Reischauer as the official romanization system in South Korea in 2000...

Revised Romanisation
Revised Romanization of Korean
The Revised Romanization of Korean is the official Korean language romanization system in South Korea proclaimed by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, replacing the older McCune–Reischauer system...

1978 1 《적후에서》 Behind Enemy Lines 《敵後에서》 Chŏkhu esŏ Jeokhu eseo
2 《적후에서 또 적후에로》 Behind Enemy Lines Again 《敵後에서 또 敵後에로》 Chŏkhu esŏ tto Chŏkhu ero Jeokhu eseo tto Jeokhu ero
1979 3 《적후에서 홀로》 Alone Behind Enemy Lines 《敵後에서 홀로》 Chŏkhu esŏ Hollo Jeokhu eseo Hollo
4 《옛성터에서》 In Ancient Ruins 《옛城터에서》 Yessŏngtŏ esŏ Yesseongteo eseo
5 《금강석》 Diamond 《金剛石》 Kŭmgamsŏk Geumgamseok
6 《한밤중의 저격사건》 Shooting at Midnight 《한밤中의 狙擊事件》 Hanbamjung'ŭi Chŏgyŏksagŏn Hanbamjung'eui Jeogyeoksageon
7 《정적속에서의 전투》 Battle in the Midst of Calm 《靜寂속에서의 戰鬪》 Chŏngjŏksok'ŭi Chŏntu Jeongjeoksok'eui Jeontu
1980 8 《위험한 대결》 A Dangerous Confrontation 《危險한 對決》 Uihŏmhan Taegyŏl Uiheomhan Daegyeol
9 《안개작전》 Operation Fog 《안개作戰》 Angaejakjŏn Angaejakjeon
10 《위기》 Peril 《危機》 Uigi Uigi
11 《일요일에 있은 일》 What Happens on Sunday 《日曜日에 있은 일》 Ilyoil e Issŭn Il Ilyoil e Isseun Il
12 《웃음속에 비낀 그늘》 The shade cast by laughter 《웃음속에 비낀 그늘》 Usŭmsok e Pikkin Kŭnŭl Useumsok e Bikkin Geuneul
13 《판문점》 Panmunjeom 《板門店》 Panmunjŏm Banmunjeom
Panmunjeom
Panmunjom, located in Gyeonggi Province, is a village on the de facto border between North and South Korea, where the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement that ended the Korean War was signed. The building where the armistice was signed still stands, though it is on the northern side of the Military...

14 《죽음의 섬》 Island of Death 《죽음의 섬》 Chukŭmŭi Sŏm Jugeumui Seom
15 《달없는 그밤에》 On that Moonless Night 《달없는 그밤에》 Talŏmnŭn Kŭbam e Daleomneun Geubam e
16 《전투는 계속된다》 The Battle Continues 《戰鬪는 繼續된다》 Chŏntunŭn Kyesok Toenda Jeontuneun Gyesok Doenda
17 《유인》 Seduction 《誘引》 Yu'in Yu-in
18 《운명》 Destiny 《運命》 Unmyŏng Unmyeong
1981 19 《붉은 저녁노을》 Evening Glow 《붉은 저녁노을》 Polkŭn Chŏnyŏk Noŭl Bolgeun Jeonyeok No-eul
20 《우리는 잊지 않는다》 We do Not Forget 《우리는 잊지 않는다》 Urinŭn Ijji Annŭnda Urineun Ijji Anneunda
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