Some context for last boost (https://bird.makeup/users/whyyoutouzhele/statuses/1863983048867586453), which says

韩国电影《首尔之春》冲上微博文娱热搜榜第一。
The Korean film "Seoul Spring" has risen to the number one spot in Weibo's Entertainment Trending Topics.

The film "Seoul Spring" has the English title "12.12: The Day". It is about the military coup in South Korea which took place on December 12, 1979, led by Chun Doo Hwan. It was followed by another coup on May 17, 1980. This was followed by the Gwangju pro-democracy student protests and Gwangju Massacre in May 1980. This was the start of the establishment of Chun Doo Hwan's military dictatorship (not to be confused with the previous Park Chung Hee military dictatorship). The term Seoul Spring refers to this time period: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seoul_Spring

All of this happened within living memory for many South Koreans. People in their 50s and 60s now were students at the time of the Gwangju Massacre. These events are covered extensively in South Korean popular culture as well, such as the "Seoul Spring" / "12.12: The Day" film, which is one of the most popular films in South Korean film history. The director Kim Sung Soo himself was a student at that time, too:

https://variety.com/2024/film/news/korea-oscars-12-12-the-day-director-interview-1236208671/

“That night left a very clear memory. I was getting ready to apply for colleges that winter night when I saw in my own neighborhood an armored military vehicle passing down the street,” Kim tells Variety. “I climbed to the rooftop of my friend’s house and watched the shootout happen for next 30 minutes. I remember listening to the sound of the gunshots running through the night sky. I could not shake the question of why this was happening in my town, in my neighborhood.”

This trending post is on the Chinese social media platform, Weibo, and the screenshot was posted by the overseas dissident "Teacher Li is Not Your Teacher" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teacher_Li_Is_Not_Your_Teacher). His Twitter account has become a de facto hub for distributing uncensored information and news from China over the past few years. For an idea of real social issues in China now, I encourage following his account (replicated at @whyyoutouzhele here on the Fediverse). The posts are all in Chinese but Google Translate is pretty good for getting an idea. Note that there will be disturbing content (for example, images and videos of the random knife / car attacks that have been happening in China recently, such as the attacks in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024).

There are of course many sensitive political events that happened in China in the 1980s as well, the most significant of which is the June 4, 1989 Massacre at Tiananmen Square. That is part of why it is significant that a film about military repression of pro-democracy movements is trending on Weibo, and why Teacher Li is posting about it.

#korea #southkorea #rok #china #prc #history