A military official reads aloud an apology letter from the defense minister at a ceremony in October 2024. [Newsis]
A military official reads aloud an apology letter from the defense minister at a ceremony in October 2024. [Newsis]

The introductory subtitle of "Silmido" — a film that depicted the unit's covert operatives as convicted criminals, including death-row inmates and those serving life sentences — has been revised 23 years after its release.

The Defense Ministry requested that distributor CJ ENM update the subtitle in July, following a petition from the Silmido Victims' Bereaved Families Association, according to Yonhap. CJ ENM accepted the request, and the revised subtitle has been in use since Sept. 4, the ministry announced Wednesday.

"Silmido" opened in December 2003, based on the story of Unit 684 and the Silmido incident — events widely regarded as among the most tragic in modern Korean history.

In the film, the unit's operatives were portrayed as convicted criminals, including death-row inmates and those serving life sentences. However, an investigation by the Defense Ministry's Truth Commission on Past Affairs found that most of the real Silmido operatives were ordinary civilians.

The original film carried a disclaimer stating that the backgrounds and circumstances of the trainees depicted bore no relation to other North Korea infiltration units or operatives, past or present.

The new subtitle reads: "The depiction in 'Silmido' of the unit's operatives as special criminals, death-row inmates, and life-sentence prisoners differs from historical fact. The Ministry of National Defense's Truth Commission on Past Affairs and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission have clearly established that none of the Silmido unit operatives were on death row or serving life sentences, and that most were ordinary civilians. We offer our deepest condolences to the Silmido unit operatives and their bereaved families who have suffered because of the film 'Silmido.'"

The Defense Ministry said it hopes the move "will ensure that the public accurately understands that the Silmido unit operatives were ordinary civilians — not death-row or life-sentence prisoners — and will contribute to restoring the honor of the victims and their families."

Unit 684 was formed in April 1968 under the direction of the Central Intelligence Agency and the Air Force to infiltrate North Korea, following the January 1968 armed incursion by North Korean commandos, including Kim Shin-jo, into Seoul.

The unit comprised 31 operatives — the same number as the North Korean commandos. Seven died during training. The remaining 24 were kept in complete isolation on Silmido for three years and four months, subjected to brutal training and mistreatment. In August 1971, the 24 members killed unit personnel and escaped toward Seoul. They advanced as far as Daebang-dong, where they clashed with military and police forces; 20 died in the confrontation. The four survivors were sentenced to death. The Air Force carried out the executions the following year without notifying the families and buried the bodies without returning them to their next of kin.

Defense Ministry holds exhumation ceremony in 2024

The Defense Ministry held an exhumation ceremony in October 2024 to begin recovering the remains of four Silmido unit operatives, according to Yonhap.

The ceremony marked the first breaking of ground at Byeokje Cemetery in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, where the four operatives are believed to have been buried in secret.

At the ceremony, the head of the ministry's Military Human Rights Improvement Task Force read aloud an apology letter issued in the name of the defense minister — the first such apology in 53 years.

Then-Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun wrote in the letter: "I pray for the souls of the deceased and offer my deepest apology and condolences to the bereaved families for the pain and grief they have endured. I will make every effort to restore the honor of the deceased and ease, even in a small way, the suffering of their families."

Then-Truth and Reconciliation Commission Chairman Kim Gwang-dong also conveyed his condolences in a tribute read by a liaison official. "I extend my deepest sympathies to the bereaved families who have waited all these years without being able to receive the remains of their loved ones," he said. "I hope that, beginning with this ceremony, the remains will be recovered and laid to rest so that the souls of the victims may finally be honored."

In May, efforts to recover the remains of Silmido unit operatives — missing for more than half a century — resumed. The Defense Ministry announced plans to excavate three suspected burial sites within the year, starting with Byeokje Municipal Cemetery, followed by the former Air Force intelligence unit site in Oryu-dong, Guro-gu, Seoul, and an area near a pavilion inside Incheon Family Park in Bupyeong-gu, Incheon.

"Silmido" was the first film in South Korean history to draw 10 million admissions nationwide.

The film starred Seol Kyung-gu, Ahn Sung-ki, Heo Jun-ho and Jeon Jae-young, among others.

It won Best Film at the Blue Dragon Film Awards in 2004, among other honors.


yul@heraldcorp.com