A South Korean man who narrated and acted in last years’ mockmumentary, Propaganda, has been shunned by the Korean community in his home town of Christchurch, New Zealand, over accusations that he is a North Korean sympathiser. According to a New Zealand media report, Eugene Chang and his wife Jean have been refused communion at their Korean Catholic church, and had to leave the board of trustees of their local Korean school after parents refused to send their children there while Chang remained involved in the film.
The mockumentary made waves in 2012 by appearing to have come from North Korea, and argued that the world is controlled by corporates who use consumerism, religion and pop culture to prevent people rising up against their corrupt rulers. North Korea was presented as the “glorious exception” and Mr Chang posed as a North Korean philosophy professor in the film. Excited debate ensued as to the film’s authenticity and origins.
A South Korean man who narrated and acted in last years’ mockmumentary, Propaganda, has been shunned by the Korean community in his home town of Christchurch, New Zealand, over accusations that he is a North Korean sympathiser. According to a New Zealand media report, Eugene Chang and his wife Jean have been refused communion at their Korean Catholic church, and had to leave the board of trustees of their local Korean school after parents refused to send their children there while Chang remained involved in the film.
The mockumentary made waves in 2012 by appearing to have come from North Korea, and argued that the world is controlled by corporates who use consumerism, religion and pop culture to prevent people rising up against their corrupt rulers. North Korea was presented as the “glorious exception” and Mr Chang posed as a North Korean philosophy professor in the film. Excited debate ensued as to the film’s authenticity and origins.
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Dr. Sarah Son is a lecturer (assistant professor) in Korean studies at the University of Sheffield. She completed her Ph.D. on identity and inter-Korean relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London in 2014, before spending five years working in South Korea in the nonprofit sector on North Korean human rights issues.