In this blog post, I will examine the tragic fate of Han Cheol-woo, a North Korean fisherman who crosses the inter-Korean border, as depicted in Director Kim Ki-duk’s film ‘The Net’. I will also explore the violence that the ideologies of North and South Korea inflict on individuals, the love for family, and the director’s perspective and message regarding the reality of the division.

The Clash of Ideologies and Inter-Korean Relations as Portrayed in the Film “The Net”

Ideology refers to the various ways and forms of perceiving the world; it encompasses various belief systems or frameworks of understanding, such as worldviews, religious views, values, ideologies, and ways of thinking. Since ideology is a system of thought and concepts, it is closely related to the current state of society. A society contains diverse ideas and beliefs, and ideology can be defined as the systematic organization of these elements. Ideology influences a society’s organizational structure and goal-setting, while for individuals, it helps establish an overall direction for life and a vision of an ideal way of living. However, just as there are various ideologies within a society, conflicts and clashes often arise between them. At times, friction and clashes frequently occur between different ideologies or among their adherents.
In his film ‘The Net’, director Kim Ki-duk focused on the cruelty inherent in such ideological friction and conflict. From ‘Waving the Taegeukgi’ and ‘Welcome to Dongmakgol’ to ‘Secretly, Greatly’, inter-Korean relations have been a recurring theme in South Korean cinema. “The Net” is Director Kim Ki-duk’s 22nd film and his third to address inter-Korean relations, following “Pungsan Dog” and “Red Family.” However, “The Net” takes a different approach from previous films on the subject. It does not force tears upon the audience but instead gazes squarely at the realities of the South and the North without embellishment or exaggeration.

The Tragedy of Han Cheol-woo, a North Korean Fisherman Who Crossed the Inter-Korean Border

The film ‘The Net’ tells the story of Han Cheol-woo (played by Ryu Seung-beom), a North Korean fisherman who is forced to cross the inter-Korean border after his boat becomes entangled in a net, and his desperate struggle to return to his family in North Korea. All Cheol-woo wants to protect is the small boat he worked for ten years to buy, his beloved wife, and his daughter. However, one day while fishing, an accident occurs when a net gets caught in the boat’s engine. Unable to abandon the boat—which is practically his entire fortune—Cheol-woo hesitates, and in that moment, the boat drifts across the military demarcation line into South Korea. Eventually, Cheol-woo is discovered by South Korean soldiers and immediately handed over to the South Korean intelligence agency. Cheol-woo closes his eyes tightly so as not to see anything in South Korea.
At the intelligence agency, an investigation into Cheol-woo begins. The investigators force him to write down, in multiple sessions, everything he has experienced from the day he was born until now. The interrogator (played by Kim Young-min) treats Cheol-woo as a potential spy and conducts the interrogation day and night, determined to frame him as such. Under the guise of an investigation, beatings and torture continue. However, Jin-woo (played by Lee Won-geun), the Intelligence Agency agent assigned to guard Cheol-woo, clashes with the interrogator, insisting that Cheol-woo must be treated humanely.
Unable to secure sufficient evidence to prove Cheol-woo’s espionage charges, the Intelligence Bureau chooses another method to change his mind—he stubbornly refuses to defect. They plan to let him witness South Korea’s capitalist society firsthand. The Intelligence Bureau releases Cheol-woo in Myeong-dong. Cheol-woo, who had been keeping his eyes closed to avoid seeing anything, is forced to open them and ends up touring Seoul against his will. However, even after seeing South Korea firsthand, Cheol-woo’s resolve remains unchanged. All he wants is to return to North Korea, where his family is. Eventually, Cheol-woo returns to North Korea, and before they part ways, Jin-woo gives him a teddy bear for his daughter and $100 as a parting gift.
But what awaits Cheol-woo upon his arrival in North Korea is not a peaceful life with his family, but another round of interrogation. The same scenario plays out at the North Korean State Security Department as it did at the South Korean intelligence agency. Investigators keep Cheol-woo awake all night, forcing him to write down his experiences in South Korea over and over again. During this process, the $100 Cheol-woo had been carrying is discovered, and he is finally allowed to return home in exchange for handing the money over to a North Korean State Security investigator (played by Son Min-seok). However, just because he has returned to his family’s arms does not mean everything is over. Following orders from higher-ups, Cheol-woo is barred from fishing and placed under special surveillance. Despite this, Cheol-woo sets out again on a boat to fish. Ultimately, he is shot and killed by North Korean soldiers, bringing his tragic story to an end.

An individual caught in the net of the state; violence born of ideology

Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the post-Cold War era dawned alongside globalization. Even now, as discussions have moved on to the “post-post-Cold War” era, the Korean Peninsula remains one of the few places where relics of the Cold War still exert a powerful influence. The 38th Parallel, symbolizing the binary thinking of the Cold War era, continues to divide the peninsula into North and South. And the Republic of Korea has come to accept this division as a given reality. If this situation persists for too long, individuals may gradually become desensitized to the anxiety created by the division and, without even realizing it, slowly sink into it. The film highlights precisely this danger, and this is the point that director Kim Ki-duk focuses on.
Any one of us could become Han Cheol-woo. Any one of us could be swept up by the violence of ideology. This is not a question of whether South Korea or North Korea is right. In the film, an investigator from South Korea’s National Intelligence Service and an agent from North Korea’s State Security Department appear, forming a mirror-image conflict. Cheol-woo struggles desperately to prove that he is not a spy. But just as a fish caught in a net is pulled in tighter the more it struggles to escape, the more he struggles, the deeper he sinks into suffering. He is like a fish whose gills are torn, covered in bruises, and slowly losing its life. A fish—an individual—caught in the net of the state. In the film, Han Cheol-woo says, “I think I’ve caught too many fish with this net over the years. Now it seems I’ve become firmly entangled in that net myself.” In the end, he has indeed become ensnared in the net of ideology.
But Han Cheol-woo is not the only one caught in the net. The same is true of the South Korean intelligence agency investigator who, after losing his family during the Korean War, became consumed by hatred and is determined to frame Cheol-woo as a communist spy at all costs. He relentlessly subjects Cheol-woo to physical violence. The department head, who claims South Korea is a free country yet dismisses Cheol-woo as a brainwashed man who knows nothing and insists he cannot be sent back to a dictatorship, is also trapped in that net. He ignores Cheol-woo’s wish to return to North Korea, where his family is, and inflicts psychological violence upon him. The North Korean State Security Department investigator, who condemns South Korea as a “rotten capitalist state” yet steals the $100 Cheol-woo brought with him, is no different. All of these people are trapped in the “web” of ideology, unable to move an inch. Through these characters, the film concisely illustrates the unique circumstances facing both North and South Korean societies.

Love for Family and Disillusionment with the North and South Korean Systems

There is only one reason Cheol-woo is willing to return to North Korea even at the cost of brutal beatings: his family. Even the enticement that he’ll be able to live comfortably without a care in the world if he simply defects doesn’t sway him. It is perfectly natural that family takes precedence over ideology. However, when one considers how many people become victims of the illusions created by the framework of ideology, the tragedy of the reality depicted in the film feels all the more poignant.
The plot device in which Cheol-woo happens to meet a prostitute in the heart of Seoul is also significant. As if unable to understand why the prostitute is lamenting her circumstances, Cheol-woo asks, “What on earth is so hard about your life?” Although Cheol-woo lives in a “free” country, he encounters people who are not truly free but are instead prisoners of money. Through them, he realizes that freedom does not necessarily guarantee happiness. Similarly, when he sees a North Korean investigator—who condemns South Korea as a “rotten capitalist society”—crumble in the face of just $100, even his faith in North Korea’s ideology begins to waver. As a result, both North and South Korea become objects of disillusionment for Cheol-woo.
Ultimately, Cheol-woo sets sail once again. This choice is similar to that of the protagonist in Choi In-hoon’s novel ‘The Square’, who, undeterred by any enticements, chose a “neutral country.” For Cheol-woo, trapped in a situation where he could not fully commit to either the South or the North, boarding the ship again was the only choice he could make.

Director Kim Ki-duk’s Perspective on Inter-Korean Relations and the Film’s Limitations

The film’s greatest strength lies in the director’s candid perspective on inter-Korean relations. Director Kim Ki-duk strips away the elements of tragedy and tears—commonly found in works dealing with inter-Korean relations—and quietly follows the individuals tossed about on the stage of ideology. This is not a film that asks whose side you’re on. It neither imposes the superiority of capitalism nor emphasizes solely the ugliness of North Korea’s dictatorial regime. By calmly presenting the realities of both the South and the North as they are, it provides an opportunity for the audience to ask their own questions and assess the reality for themselves.
The somewhat blunt and one-dimensional characterizations and dialogue may come across as childish. As a result, it can feel as though one is watching a fable. However, it is precisely because of this simplicity that the message the film conveys comes across as even more intense and direct. This is because it does not over-embellish or emotionally sugarcoat complex situations, but instead lays bare the violence of ideology head-on.
Still, there is a lingering sense of regret that director Kim Ki-duk seemed to have too much he wanted to say in the film. The director constantly conveys his own voice through Jin-woo’s dialogue. While I sympathize with the issues the film raises, the overly親切 explanation sometimes makes it feel as though the director’s message is being forced upon the viewer.

What should we leave for the next generation once we’ve cast off the net of ideology?

Nevertheless, I deeply resonate with the message Director Kim Ki-duk seeks to convey through the film ‘The Net’. It has been nearly 60 years since the net of ideology was cast over the Korean Peninsula. Both you and I could become fish caught in that net at any moment. We could become fish that thrash about within it, only to have our scales stripped away, our gills torn, and ultimately, our very souls destroyed.
The time has come to cast aside the net of this corrupted ideology. We must no longer use ideology as a political tool. Rather than getting caught up in the foolish question of “which side are you on?”, we need to make an effort to understand one another and reach out sincerely. We must break free from the dichotomous thinking that divides North and South and labels the other side as the enemy.
At the end of the film, we see Han Cheol-woo’s daughter, unaware of anything, smiling brightly. The smile of this young daughter—who knows nothing of the suffering her father endured or how the web of ideology destroyed a human life—is all the more heartbreaking.
Cheol-woo was ultimately unable to escape the web. However, the world in which his daughter will live must not be trapped in the same web. I hope that the web of ideology will be lifted from the Imjin River, where the next generation will live.