Seoul, South Korea: Film Festival Attendees Condemn Organ Harvesting in China After Seeing Documentary

(Minghui.org) The fifth Seoul Larkspur International Film Festival, an annual event, opened on May 30 at KBS Art Hall. This year’s films showcase justice, freedom, and human rights. About 1,600 film and television stars as well as celebrities attended the the festival’s opening. State Organs, a film screened during the opening ceremony, impressed audience members.

Opening ceremony of the fifth Seoul Larkspur International Film Festival at Yeouido in Seoul on May 30

During the seven years since it was produced, State Organs has received about 40 awards in the United States, Japan, Taiwan, and elsewhere. The film describes the experiences of two young people who were arrested by the police and then disappeared while they were detained. The film shines a light on the forced organ harvesting carried out in China by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Cindy Song, one of the producers, said she was glad the film was selected for the opening ceremony. “The victims in the film are from Qingdao, which is just across the sea from South Korea,” she explained. “I believe it’s important for people in South Korea to hear this story.”

YouTuber Dayner Kim

Dayner Kim, a well-known South Korean YouTuber with over 288,000 subscribers, spoke about the documentary. He said the CCP’s suppression of Falun Gong, including forced organ harvesting, is already widely known around the world. By focusing on one family, this documentary depicted their devastating pain. “It left me with a profound sense of grief and solidarity,” Kim added.

Several films on Chinese human rights were forced to cancel before the film festival started. “There are forces in South Korea working in tandem with the CCP to block any content that criticizes or exposes its crimes. That’s why we’re seeing sponsorships withdrawn, venues revoked, and films banned,” Kim said in an interview after the screening.

“If the people of South Korea aren’t outraged—if we don’t wake up—this country could become another China, no different than a nation under CCP rule,” he added.

Former parliament member Min Kyung-wook

Min Kyung-wook, a former South Korean lawmaker and presidential spokesperson, said after seeing the film, “Testimonies of families struggling in pain, the firsthand accounts of doctors involved in [extracting organs], and the confessions of police and soldiers who once carried out this persecution and torture left me so shocked that I wished none of it were true.”

He thinks it is unfortunate that such a crime against humanity has become a supply chain in China. “It’s almost beyond belief that such atrocities are being systematically carried out to suppress faith, elevated to the level of state-sponsored, industrial-scale operations. I hope the truth reaches not just the South Korean people, but the global community—so these crimes can be stopped as soon as possible.”

Professor Lee Je-bong

Lee Je-bong, a professor in the Department of Education at the University of Ulsan in South Korea, said the documentary helped him understand what is going on in China. “We must stop this brutal slaughter from continuing. We must pay attention. We must act,” he said.

He was also disturbed by the challenges screening the documentary faced at the festival. “What kind of sovereign nation are we if a film can’t even be shown freely?” he said. “We’re seeing clear evidence that the CCP has deeply infiltrated many sectors in South Korea—politics, the arts, academia. It’s heartbreaking.”

He thinks it is important to note that the CCP is not China. “The film draws a clear distinction between the two—that’s what makes this film so meaningful,” Lee said. “The Chinese people must be freed from the CCP’s oppression, and South Korea must break free from its influence.”