Cha In-pyo

English subbed teaser for Crossing, a South Korean movie based on life accounts of numerous North Korean refugees. In theatres later this month.

Actor Cha In-pyo starred as a North Korean coal miner who crossed illegally into China to get medicine for his wife. His wife passed away soon after he crossed the border, and he’s separated from his 11-year-old son (Shin Myung-chul) who’s desperately trying to reunite with him from North Korea.

The story shares the hardship of North Korean refugees in late 1990’s, with famine striking the country and killed an estimated 1 million people.

The North Koreans couldn’t cross into South Korea directly because of landmines and heavy military presence at the border… these defectors had to cross into China and made a de-tour to South Korea instead.

The Chinese government, an ally of the North Korean regime, does not recognise the defectors as refugees and would send them back to North Korea to face stiff action.