New IMF documents have been released. It is time to investigate whether our choices were right.

Korea is one of those countries with particularly acute inequality, where it seems as if one’s own happiness is gained mostly through someone else’s misfortune. The Center for Freedom of Information and Transparent Society asked the IMF to disclose documents from its 1997 talks with the Korean government. Despite there being many possible solutions to the situation Korea was in at the time, the government chose to enter into negotiations with the IMF over a bailout. The following year, the government implemented a set of neoliberal policies such as the opening of Korea’s financial industry and greater labor flexibility. The results left deep scars in all our lives. Now it is hard to imagine any type of social solidarity. Did we make the right decisions in 1997?

In the first quarter of 2021, the quintile of equivalized market income in a household of more than one person was 16.20 times. It is the difference in market income between the lowest 20% and the highest 20% of households. When the pandemic is over, inequality will be worse. Many solutions will be tried to solve the inequality problem. However, we take the income gap based on skills and abilities for granted. Meanwhile, there is no sight of the state. The documentary goes back to the origin of today’s inequality and replays the financial crisis in 1997. Based on the newly-released IMF documents, the film will guide audiences to raise questions about the vanished nation.