[New Creator]〈2〉Kang Ha-na, a 4th generation Zainichi Korean actress
Performed every year in the theater company created by his mother… Started performing on stage as a child actor at the age of 5
Became known to the public through the movie ‘Homecoming’… Appeared in the new film ‘Song of the Korean Female Worker’
“Comfort from seeing the strong women of the time”
Actress Kang Ha-na (24), whom we met at the Dong-A Media Center in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 12th, was quite an introverted person. She confessed, “I’m not good at speaking in front of people.” Her MBTI personality type is introverted (I). She says she feels embarrassed to sign autographs or take pictures with fans who come to her.
But when she stood in front of the camera, she changed. Her expression was filled with determination, with the red ribbon that Korean female workers used to wear when they protested against the Japanese tied to the end of her hair. It was a look that showed the hardships of female workers who endured persecution while working in textile factories 100 years ago. She was the Korean female worker herself who appeared in the movie ‘Song of Korean Female Workers’ that was released on the 7th.
Mr. Kang is a fourth-generation Korean resident in Japan, born in Osaka, Japan in 2000. His great-grandfather came to Japan from Jeju Island during the Japanese colonial period to make a living and settled in Osaka. He worked as a factory worker and other odd jobs to make a living. He said, “I went to a Korean school in Japan and then went to college in Korea, so I went to the acting department of the Korea National University of Arts.”
He started acting when he was 5. He took on a child role in the theater company ‘Daloreum’ founded by his mother in Japan in 2005. Starting with ‘4.24 Wind’ (2007), which dealt with the incident of fighting against the Japanese government’s order to close down Korean schools, he acted in at least one piece every year with the theater company. He said with a shy smile, “Actually, when I was young, I acted without knowing anything because my mother told me to.”
The work that made her name known to the public was the movie ‘Homecoming’ (2016), which is based on the true story of the victims of Japanese military comfort women. She played the role of ‘Jeong-min’, a 14-year-old girl who was taken away by the Japanese military without knowing English. She was nominated for the Best New Actress Award at the Blue Dragon Film Awards and the Grand Bell Awards. She said, “‘Homecoming’ is the work that led me to acting when I was contemplating whether I should continue on the path of an actress.” She said, “It made me realize why I should act and what meaning acting has.”
In 2022, director Lee Won-sik suggested that he make a film about the story of Korean female workers during the Japanese colonial period, which was another opportunity for him, who said, “As an actor, telling meaningful stories is the most satisfying thing.” He was drawn to the lives of women who had nothing to eat, so they roasted and ate pig intestines, and opened night schools to learn Korean. He said, “I thought that I couldn’t escape my birth. I decided to act in a way that would preserve my identity.”
In the film, Kang Ha-na plays two roles. She is the narrator who leads the journey to the past while listening to the testimonies of the female workers who have become grandmothers and walking around the spinning mill site, and she also plays the role of a young female worker who worked in a factory that was constantly running. In the film, the scene where the narrator Kang Ha-na encounters the female worker Kang Ha-na feels like the process of the current generation understanding the past. The scene where she reads the testimony in a calm voice with controlled emotions while disguised as a female worker is also impressive. She said, “The film is not just sad,” and “You can find comfort in seeing the process of the Korean female workers overcoming difficult situations with dignity and strength.”
College graduation assignments, worries about the future… By the time the nearly two-hour interview ended, he had returned to being an ordinary fourth-year college student. While he likes works that bring out his identity, isn’t he worried about being confined to a certain framework? Kang said with a smile, “I like comedies like William Shakespeare’s ‘The Taming of the Shrew’, and I also welcome romances,” and added, “I want to try various works.”
Reporter Lee Ho-jae [email protected]
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2024-08-14 10:00:08