[Spoiler alert: If you have not seen Mr. Sunshine, the article below contains spoilers. Please stop reading now if you do not want the details to the episodes.]
Welcome to the final post for Mr. Sunshine themed Resistance.
The theme should not be a surprise since Mr. Sunshine ends as Joseon’s autonomy is taken away.
Let’s look at some of the key moments that propel ordinary people into resistance fighters.
Glory Hotel
As we saw at the end of episode 23, we see a huge explosion at the Glory Hotel.
Yang-hwa (Hina) gets Il-sik and Choon-sik, from the pawnshop, to help her find some explosives. She has decided to blow up the hotel full of Japanese soldiers. Even knowing the danger ahead, Il-sik agrees to help.
Yang-hwa gives Soo-mi a document and tells her to run away. Ae-shin sneaks inside the hotel for her mission, but she finds Il-sik and Choon-sik planting the explosives. She tells Ywang-hwa that she will take their place, so that they will have a chance to live. Yang-hwa sends away all her staff, but she stays behind. After Ae-shin lights the fuse, she tries to get Yang-hwa and run as far away from the hotel as possible. Just as they are running from the hotel, the building blows up. The blast throws Ae-shin and Yang-hwa off the tracks.
We see four characters taking a stand against the Japanese occupation. We expect this from both Ae-shin and Yang-hwa because they have been part of the Righteous Army from the beginning. What we see is Il-sik and Choon-sik, who can no longer stand to be bystanders. They can’t ignore what is happening because life has become too brutal under Japanese’ rule.
Both Ae-shin and Yang-hwa are severely injured. Dong-mae has Yang-hwa on his back, but many others shut their doors to them. The tailor remembers that Yang-hwa had saved him, so he hides the duo.
Yu-jin carries Ae-shin away from the hotel and the rickshaw driver steps up to help them. The trio is stopped by the Japanese soldiers, but the blacksmith kills the soldiers to rescue them.
Again, ordinary people stepped up and risked their lives.
Soo-mi gives the dethroned Emperor the letter Yang-hwa wrote. It’s a confession letter, which states that Kudo Hina, a Japanese woman, was the culprit behind the bombing of the hotel. This is Yang-hwa’s last resistance. She has used her identity that was forced upon her by her father to give the dethroned Emperor a leverage – to prevent further persecution of Koreans, at least for this particular incident.
Brutality of Life
The hospital is filled with patients after the incident [Joseon military’s disbandment]. The Japanese soldiers tell the nurse to empty the beds for their soldiers, but she says that the beds are already taken. So, the soldier shoots three of the Korean patients to free the beds for his men. The soldier also tells the nurse that he will kill her if she takes anymore Korean patients.
Later, a mother brings her young son who was shot. The Japanese soldier shoots the boy, so the nurse can continue to treat the Japanese soldiers. This is her limit. The nurse leaves the treatment room, takes the supplies from the supply room, and leaves.
The tailor who helped rescue Dong-mae and Yang-hwa is being berated by his Japanese boss. He has had enough of the abuse and decides to leave.
The rickshaw driver has to listen to Minister Song Byeong-jun complain about the stench of blood and disgust for his own people. The rickshaw driver has had enough. He drives the rickshaw and dumps the minister into the stream.
These ordinary people have had enough of oppression, so they extraordinary steps to resist. They leave behind a life they know for the unknown. They head to the secret camp where the Righteous Army members are burying the dead. They want to fight.
Here is why they fight. Hwang Eun-san, potter, sums it up pretty well in his speech.
“When we add one in number, they increase by ten. If 100 want to save our country, a thousand people want to give it up. But the ten that they increase by will crumble easily. That’s because traitors don’t risk their lives. But we fight to protect our country with our lives.”
I want to make a note of this scene. While the potter is saying this, the Japanese interpreted goes to provide information about the Righteous Army. When the potter says traitor, the literal translation is ‘people who sell their country’. Just like Interpreter Hyung-ki, there are more Koreans willing to sell their country to advance themselves.
The point Hwang Eun-san is making is exactly this: people who sell their country are doing it for their own survival and wealth. It takes enormous amount of courage to fight for their country, to save Joseon. Every time they go out, they know that their lives are in danger. It still doesn’t stop them. This makes them much more powerful and dangerous than an army of country sellers.
So, they fight even then they are outnumbered because numbers aren’t equal. When you have more to lose, you fight with everything. Those country sellers (traitors) will be the first ones to run away in the face of danger.
For Joseon
In an effort to save the people from the Japanese soldiers, the Righteous Army create a diversion, which includes Haman-daek and Haengrang. They know that they are going to die, but they are undeterred.
The Japanese soldiers open fire at the palanquin shooting everyone around it because they think Ae-shin is inside the palanquin. Ae-shin arrives to find Haman-daek and Haengrang shot. She goes to Haman-daek who is still alive and Ae-shin is inconsolable.
People witnessing the incident hear the Japanese soldiers coming back and they hide Ae-shin from Japanese view. People link their arms in defiance as they block the Japanese soldiers from Ae-shin.
As Yu-jin takes in the scene, we hear him read the memo sent by the Americans after they fought the Koreans in the Shinmiyangyo Incident in 1871. This was from episode 1.
“The enemies are still desperately fighting back even in the face of crushing defeat. Despite being on the verge of losing, there has not been a single deserter. Even though they’re cornered by the overwhelming military power of our forces, the enemies keep getting back up time and time again under the battle flag of their general.”
Yu-jin is reminded of Ae-shin’s reason when she saved So-ah. “One day that woman could be me. I must save her.”
On the day Ae-shin is in danger, the people rally around her.
“The country that woman protected with her life is protecting her this time.”
It takes enormous amount of courage to stand up to the Japanese soldiers and their rifles, but people still resist – for Joseon and the people they love.
For History
Hui-seong’s resistance is subtle, at least to the people around him, but it is just as important. He risks his life to take photos of the incident. He also makes sure that he takes the picture of the ministers in the throne room.
“What bigger honor is there than to take the photo of those who wrote history? This will be seen by all Korean descendants, so I will do my best job.”
Of course, these ministers will be known as the traitors that sold Joseon to Japan. Hui-seong wants to record the faces and names of the people because they should be remembered by future generations. People still have not forgotten or forgiven these people.
Hui-seong continues his quest by releasing his editorial for Koreans and hiding the pictures for someone to discover in the future.
“Japanese soldiers framed six innocent Koreans as mobs and slaughtered them with guns. Now that they are in possession of Korean Law, they will not stop their brutal tyranny. My fellow 20 million Koreans, I know you are terrified, but we must fight. Like thunder and like a storm.”
Why they resist
Yu-jin runs into a war correspondence, Frederick Arthur MacKenzie, from UK. He has been looking for the Righteous Army without much success and he asks Yu-jin for help.
Other members of the Righteous Army are suspicious of the foreigners, but Yu-jin makes a case to them.
“You are hiding now, whereas your enemies are busy burying the heinous deeds they’ve committed. No other country knows about the fight you’ve been putting up or the sad situation this small country is in. Exposing your current situation to other countries is meaningful in my opinion.”
It takes Ae-shin to win them over.
“Let’s tell the world about our fearless steps to help Joseon regain her sovereignty.”
The blacksmith steps up and offers to be interviewed.
“We know that all of us are bound to die if we continue this fight. But we’d absolutely hate to live as the Japanese’ slaves. We’d much rather die as freemen.”
This is at the heart of the resistance. They are fighting for independence and to maintain their identity. Koreans have the fight to rule themselves and to maintain their way of life – keep their traditions.
It is one thing to be ruled, but they are faced with brutality and prejudice in their own country by invaders. That is what they are fighting.
As we speed towards the last few remaining minutes of the series, we witness countless deaths. Hui-seong dies while being tortured, Yu-jin sacrifices himself to allow Ae-shin and her group to escape to Manchuria. Dong-mae dies trying to kill as many Musin members before he dies. Hwang Eun-san and his comrades die fighting off the Japanese soldiers. They are all resisting in their own way for their own reasons.
Despite the deaths, we are left with a hopeful feeling. Ae-shin is in Manchuria; she is training the future fighters.
“Those were glorious days. Each one of us was a flame, and all of us bloomed, burnt, and wilted vehemently. And once again, we wish to ignite the embers left by our comrades. My English still hasn’t improved much, so I had to keep my goodbye short. Goodbye, my comrades. When our country regains independence, ‘see you again’.”
Then several more years later, we see a grown Do-mi in 1919 in front of Yu-jin’s grave marked:
Eugene Choi 1863-1907 “The Greatest & Noble One, still on a picnic here in Chosen.”
“The Ending credit: “Goodbye Mr. Sunshine in our independent country see you again.”
Koreans resistance is just beginning. It will take until the end of World War II in 1945 to rid themselves of Japan. It will take another several decades until they rid themselves of the harsh military dictatorship. South Korea will come out of the darkness and emerge as one of the richest countries – free and independent. For nearly a hundred years, people fought and died – for independence.
I hope these posts provided some helpful context.
I will see you next time for a lighter subject matter. For the rest of the month, I will review some of Korea’s movies – some for history and others for fun.