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Others interviewed in the documentary left their hometowns in North Korea for various reasons, and were drawn to the village by the government's promises of land and houses. One Cheorwon resident recalls in the movie that her late father had settled in the village hoping to cross the border as soon as two Koreas were reunited so that he would see his family in the North. The documentary shows close details of their houses, built in the late 1960s to early 1970s. Until recent years the residents could not renovate or expand their houses because they were built as a government-controlled propaganda village. Under Park Chung-hee's rule, the government planned to develop the village to show the prosperity of South Korean life to North Korea, which also constructed its own propaganda village north of the demilitarized zone. Many houses in the movie still retain the bright orange roofs meant to be visible from afar in North Korea. A resident recalls feeling numb to the loud propaganda messages aired by two Koreas during times of heightened tension, which scared newcomers to the village and led to sleepless nights. In the documentary, Kim's father talks about how he joined an airborne unit hoping he could parachute into his North Korean hometown of Tanchon to meet his family. Last month, governments in Seoul and Pyongyang were on the brink of letting hundreds of divided families temporarily reunite. But North Korea called off the event a few days before the reunion, an acute disappointment for people who are mostly in their 70s or older and are eager to see their families before they die. About 22,000 Koreans from North and South Korea had brief family reunions during a period of eased tensions that ended in 2010. Kim's father, who is in his 80s, is no longer hopeful about meeting his family. He did not apply for the reunion last month, the director said.
[Associated
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