ARTISTIC PERFORMANCE AT SYMBOLIC SITE

[Anchor Lead]

The anti-communist interrogation room in central Seoul was where student activist Park Jong-cheol was tortured and killed, sparking the nationwide democratic movement in June 1987. The brutal story also garnered great public attention after it was made into a film. A group of young artists have been holding a unique performance at this symbolic site. Let's take a look.

[Pkg]

The movie "1987" deals with various events in Korea's modern history including how a young man named Park Jong-cheol was tortured to death. The anti-communist interrogation room in Namyeong-dong, Seoul featured in the movie. The tragic venue that set off the nationwide democratic protests in June of that year is a vivid reminder of a turbulent time. The building's fifth floor houses 16 interrogation cells measuring only 13 square meters. The windows of those rooms are much narrower than the ones on the other floors. Water spews out of these windows. It represents Korea's past when water torture was rampant. In Room 508, right next to 509 where Park was tortured a sliver of light passing through the narrow window serves as a guideline for a tattoo. It is a performance that records an historical moment on the body in an historical place.

[Soundbite] KANG RA-GYEOM(ARTIST) : "I took part in this project with a question "What can young artists who are in the same age group as Park Jong-cheol and other student activists do here?"

Artists get on a lift truck to peer into the closed interrogation rooms. When they arrive at the fifth floor, they get a letter from a locked inmate.

[Soundbite] PROF. LIM MINOUK(KOREA NATIONAL UNIV. OF ARTS) : "The performances presented here focus on the venue's current significance, rather than on its tragic past."

This exhibit features performances by 13 teams of young artists who put the tragic site of human rights abuses in a new light.