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🇰🇷 South Korea /Culture & Society

Japanese Photographer Captures the Faces of Korea in 100,000 Images: “My Last Wish Is Reunification”

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

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  • Japanese photographer Shisei Kuwabara first visited South Korea in 1964 and returned more than 100 times, taking about 100,000 photographs of its modern history.
  • His work includes anti-normalization protests, Cheonggyecheon settlements, U.S. military camp towns and the lives of people in cities, rural areas and the demilitarized zone.
  • A documentary titled “The Face of Photography” opens on October 2, while Kuwabara says his final wish is to photograph a reunified Korea.

For nearly six decades, Shisei Kuwabara has photographed Korea’s political upheavals, poverty and rapid transformation. The Japanese photographer first arrived in 1964 as a correspondent for a Japanese magazine and has since visited Korea more than 100 times, producing about 100,000 images.

His photographs cover scenes from the 1965 protests against the Japan-Korea treaty, the tightly packed shanties along Seoul’s Cheonggyecheon, U.S. military camp towns in Dongducheon and the deployment of Korean troops to the Vietnam War. He also photographed cities, rural communities, islands, Panmunjom and the demilitarized zone.

The changes in Korea today are so great that it is difficult even to choose what to photograph and how to photograph it.

— Shisei KuwabaraHe reflected on South Korea’s transformation before the documentary’s release.

A documentary directed by Ko Hee-young, “The Face of Photography,” opens on October 2. Ahead of its release, Kuwabara reflected on the scale of South Korea’s development. He said the changes had become so extensive that it was difficult to decide what subjects to photograph and how to approach them.

Foreign journalists had more freedom than Korean media, but reporting was not easy.

— Shisei KuwabaraHe described working during politically sensitive protests.

Kuwabara said his work often faced resistance. As a Japanese photographer, he heard insults from people who objected to his presence. Some also questioned why he focused on poor neighbourhoods and camp towns rather than polished scenery. He said foreign journalists had more freedom than Korean media but still had to evade authorities during protests, including by replacing exposed film with blank rolls.

The 1980 Gwangju uprising remains a source of regret for him. He was unable to reach the city before it closed while he was working elsewhere in Korea. He has also reported from North Korea seven times. “My last dream is to record reunification between North and South Korea with my own hands, but it seems difficult,” he said.

My last dream is to record reunification between North and South Korea with my own hands, but it seems difficult.

— Shisei KuwabaraHe described the final wish that shapes his continuing interest in the Korean Peninsula.
About this summary

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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