Pulgasari (불가사리)(1985) is a cult classic perhaps best known for its historic background – its director Shin Sang-ok being kidnapped by Kim Jong-il, who was Shin’s lifelong admirer and fan of Godzilla and Kaiju films, to create a Godzilla-inspired movie set to rock the pants of Westerner and demonstrate the soft powers of North Korea. Loosely based on the Korean mythic creature – Bulgasari, this movie is, perhaps not without irony, about a giant pro-peasantry metal-eating monster that stood by the side of the peasant army to overthrow the corrupt monarchy of the feudal Goryeo Dynasty in Korea.
