South Korea Celebrates Historic Oscar Wins for ‘Parasite’

Congratulations, South Korea!!

South Koreans are celebrating after movie director Bong Joon Ho and his film Parasite won big at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles.

Parasite won the Oscar for Best Picture and three other Academy Awards Sunday night.

Parasite is a dark comedy about a poor South Korean family that makes up false job experiences so they can work for a wealthier family. The wealthy family gives them positions as tutors, housekeepers and personal drivers.

Its wins made history in both the Hollywood and South Korean film industries. Parasite is the first non-English-language film to win best picture in the 92-year history of the award ceremony. It also is the first South Korean film ever to earn an Oscar.

“Can you believe that Parasite won the Academy best picture?” asked South Korea’s biggest newspaper, Chuson Ilbo. “It rewrote the Academy’s 92-year history,” the paper added.

South Korean social media were flooded with congratulatory messages. Bong Joo Ho, Parasite and related film industry news were the top internet search terms throughout Monday. In the days before the awards ceremony, searches had largely been about the outbreak of the coronavirus from China.

But concerns about the virus as well as political and economic problems seemed to ease Monday as South Koreans celebrated the film’s success.

President Moon Jae-in and his advisors began a meeting by clapping their hands in celebration. Moon later wrote on Twitter that he is proud of Bong and others involved in the film. The South Korean leader said he was “grateful to them for giving courage and pride to our people who are overcoming difficulties.”

At Yonsei University in Seoul, the university Bong attended, students belonging to a school movie club watched the awards show together.

                                                                                                      Adapted from VOANEWS February 10, 2020