J.S.A.

When two North Korean soldiers are found dead in the Joint Security Area -- a border region guarded by both North and South Korea -- the incident sparks a political firestorm that threatens to turn into an all-out war. Based on the Sang-yeon Park novel DMZ, Chan Wook Park directs an engaging and emotionally resonant military drama indicative of the growing maturity of South Korean drama. - Netflix blurb

Joint Security Area, an 800 meter diameter area near Panmunjom, the gateway between North and South Korea. 板門店 means something like "shopping for justice" - maybe at a convenience store, for a midnight snack, when one needs a ramen around 12:30 so one will have strength in the morning to go to work.

In 1996 in Seoul there was a traveler's place near the center of town that had a good reputation, an international meeting place, a decent place to stay, not very boring. It is a few city blocks from the American embassy, near which are always stationed 2 or 3 buses of South Korean soldiers. In SK, there is a universal subscription program for males, of 2 years and 2 months. It is instructional to be walking past, there are often some soldiers next to the bus cooking rice and warming up kimchee for a meal. Universal subscription (or conscription, actually) means that it's not much of a strain to make a movie about the army, that makes a lot of sense.

There exist some useful notes. Soldiers tend to smoke, as one probably has too much energy while one is on duty, cigarette in Korean is "tambae", pronounced "Tom Bay". Sounds like the word "Tom Brady"; the male lead in this movie looks a lot like Tom Brady. In addition, the word for brother is "opa"; the word for tobacco in Asia has long been the same word as the word for "opium", at least as far as the dictionary is concerned. If one noodles on this, one may as well ask, "Is my brother good for a cigarette?"

Another note might be that near the end, one of those red panels with the gold letters that one sees in Asia and Asian movies is damaged; these red boards are made in factories and sold in stores.

There is a huge amount of joy and morality in this film, all so cleanly handled. I think that one can either throw cats at the military or one can pay the military. If one hasn't considered this question before, I think I know what one's answer would be if one were in the military.

This movie falls into the category of "Suitable for people who give a care about our military future." Available at Netflix; made in 2002.

A picture of Pyongyang from the Answers.com, a site that mirrors the Wikipedia. It is always kind of a funny feeling to be looking up something about Lusaka, Zambia, or eflornithine, or Titanium mining in Africa, and to find one's own work at the top of the search results. Content on the Wikipedia is generally completely copyable and distributable, w/o much limit, by its policy.

This picture looks like it was taken at 6 AM on a June or July morning. The subway entrance appears to be on the right.