Film 'Silmido' revises subtitles after 23 years: 31 men cleared of 'death row inmate' label, civilians not criminals

Correcting a distorted history: The truth moves beyond the screen

The blockbuster film 'Silmido', which drew more than 10 million moviegoers, has completely revised the explanatory subtitles at the start of the film, 23 years after its release. The move follows strong demands from the 'Defense Ministry' and the families of the victims to correct the film's dramatic premise, which portrayed the unit's operatives as heinous criminals, including 'death row inmates', despite being clearly at odds with the historical record.

The 'Defense Ministry' formally asked distributor 'CJ ENM' to revise the subtitles in July, based on a petition from the 'Silmido Victims' Families Association'. After the distributor acknowledged and accepted its historical responsibility, the ministry officially announced on the 23rd that the revised subtitles had been formally applied to VOD and other service versions beginning on the 4th of this month.

Released in 2003, 'Silmido' sparked a nationwide sensation with its portrayal of the tragedy of a special unit on Silmido Island under the Air Force, secretly established in 1968 for a retaliatory mission against North Korea. To heighten the drama, the film depicted the men as former weapons offenders or 'death row inmates'. But an exhaustive investigation by the Commission for Truth-Finding on Past Affairs found that an overwhelming majority of the 31 actual operatives were ordinary 'civilians'.

The original version also included a disclaimer subtitle stating that the film's circumstances were unrelated to reality. But because it failed to clearly explain the unit members' actual backgrounds, a damaging historical misconception that they were real 'criminals' spread among the public for years. The replacement subtitle now states plainly and specifically: "The depiction of the men as special criminals, death row inmates and life-term prisoners was a dramatic construct that differs from the historical facts. We have established clearly that most of them were ordinary 'civilians'."

A 'Defense Ministry' official stressed that the correction would be "an important opportunity to help remove the stigma imposed for more than half a century and restore the true honor of the victims and their families."

The historical 'Silmido' unit was secretly established in 1968 after the Jan. 21 incident in which North Korean armed infiltrators raided the Blue House compound. Of the 31 operatives, seven died during hellish training, while the 24 survivors were forced to live in detention, completely cut off from the outside world, for three years and four months. In August 1971, 20 died at the scene as they attempted a desperate escape in protest of inhumane brutality. The final four survivors met a tragic end as well: They were executed and secretly buried. Separately, the 'Defense Ministry' issued a formal apology in the minister's name at a groundbreaking ceremony for the excavation of the remains held in October, acknowledging the state's wrongdoing.