War Film Recommendation Northern Limit Line

[John Kettler]

South Korea's Cold War didn't end with the collapse of the Soviet Union collapsed. Far from it. North Korea's government is, was and has long been the ROK's implacable foe and ceaselessly and seeks to intimidate, harass and even raid the country when able to do so. Sometimes this results in bloodshed. While the land border area is heavily fortified on both sides and has a DMZ between the borders, no such barriers exist at sea. It is there that the one of the other lines must be defended, and it's known as the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime boundary between the two Koreas. If any vessel crosses it, the ROK Navy handles things, whether it be protecting ROK fishing vessels from DPRK patrol boats, turning around wayward fishermen, stopping infiltrators, fending off very aggressive DPRK warships or even outright combat. 

This is a South Korean film, aimed at a South Korean audience, and depicts that culture, that navy and  a real life naval engagement (the Second Battle of Yeongpyeong) which rocked that small nation in 2002 as South Korea's soccer team went up against Turkey. It offers a deep look at what most of us know pretty much zero. As it happens, I have a wonderful, Korean-American sister-in-law (married to a now-retired brother who served a year there), two-Korean American nieces and one nephew and had Korean neighbors, so have some small acquaintance myself with the culture but nothing on the ROK Navy. I have directly experienced the warmth, politeness and generosity of Koreans.

This isn't US Navy carrier strike groups, AEGIS and SSNs, this is South Korea's forever war at the individual sailor patrol boat level, where a big gun on the ROK side is a 40 mm Bofors, and some DPRK patrol boats sport tank turrets. Not kidding. 

I can safely say I've never seen a war movie like this one (Ep 1 is the whole enchilada), and certainly not one with wrenching footage of the funerals of those who were depicted in the film. I freely admit this film moved me to tears. I recommend it unreservedly. This one is in Korean with English subtitles.

Regards,

John Kettler

Edited December 29, 2015 by John Kettler