New Korean Film Revisits the Little-Known 1948 Jeju Tragedy

Hallan, the feature debut of director Ha Myung-mi, dramatizes the 1948 uprising on Jeju Island that escalated into a six-year counterinsurgency killing an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 civilians. Set two years into the conflict, the narrative follows a mother, A-jin, and her six-year-old daughter, Haeseng, as they navigate a landscape of spontaneous protests, harsh US-backed security measures, and guerrilla retaliation. The film does not assign moral superiority to either the US-trained Korean constabulary or the left-wing insurgents, instead focusing on ordinary people caught in the crossfire.

Its characters draw on real testimonies compiled by a local nonprofit research institute, echoing the renewed attention brought by Han Kang’s award-winning novel We Do Not Part. Hallan premiered at the New York Asian Film Festival and has been noted for its use of the Jeju dialect, requiring subtitles even for Korean audiences. The story underscores how the 4.3 massacre has become a unifying memory for Jeju residents, who now commemorate the victims together regardless of former allegiances.