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Politics

The Long Way Home

June 17, 2021

North Korean housewife Ryun-hee Kim’s story is unique. After finding herself in South Korea, her only wish is to return to her family in the North. But politics make this impossible. Will her life ever be the same again?

https://p.dw.com/p/3uY7m
Dokumentation l Schattenblume – Gefangen zwischen Süd- und Nordkorea
Image: Taskovski
Dokumentation l Schattenblume – Gefangen zwischen Süd- und Nordkorea
Image: Taskovski

When Ryun-hee Kim, a North Korean housewife, needs medical treatment, she travels to China. In order to be able to pay the debts she incurred at the hospital, she starts working in South Korea. This proves to be a fatal step: She is forced to take South Korean citizenship, and is barred from returning home to her family.  

Dokumentation l Schattenblume – Gefangen zwischen Süd- und Nordkorea
Image: Taskovski


The film tells the perplexing story of Kim, whose longing to be reunited with her family in North Korea increasingly entangles her in political absurdities and power games. The filmmakers accompany her in her tireless struggle against the authorities and bureaucracy, and her imaginative and daring attempts to leave the capitalist South for the repressive dictatorship in the North. 

One woman's desire to reunite with her loved ones reflects the complicated politics and history of the Korean Peninsula.

Broadcasting Hours: 

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FRI 23.07.2021 – 01:15 UTC
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SAT 24.07.2021 – 15:15 UTC
SUN 25.07.2021 – 19:15 UTC
MON 26.07.2021 – 09:15 UTC

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