By Kwak Yeon-soo

A special exhibition exploring Korea's zombie content and its rise to international fame is taking place at the Korea Film Museum in western Seoul.

The exhibition, titled "All of Us are (Not) Zombies: 21st Century K-Zombie Chronicle," features the clothing worn by actors during the production of the 2016 hit film "Train to Busan," a video showcasing how zombies move by choreographer Jeon Young who designed zombie movements in "Train to Busan," "Kingdom" and "Peninsula," and director Yeon Sang-ho's storyboards of "Seoul Station," an animated prequel to "Train to Busan." The title of the exhibition itself is also a parody of the 2022 zombie series "All of Us Are Dead."

Kim Hong-Joon, director of the Korean Film Archive which operates and hosts the museum, explained that Korean content has drawn enthusiastic global responses to the zombie genre.

"We organized this exhibition to have a better understanding of how zombies conquered pop culture in the 21st century, how K-zombies enchanted foreign viewers, and what distinctive elements of K-zombies stand out from other works," he said at the opening of the exhibition last week.

Choreographer Jeon Young, second from right, and Team Centerpiece pose at the exhibition titled "All of Us is (Not) Zombies: 21st Century K-Zombie Chronicle" held at the Korea Film Museum in western Seoul. YonhapZombies began to appear in Korean popular culture only recently, influenced by zombie films from the West, such as George Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" and Danny Boyle's "28 Days Later."

Zombie content didn't become a popular subject in Korean entertainment until 2016, with the release of the zombie-thriller "Train to Busan" which follows a group of terrified passengers stuck inside a blood-soaked train as they try to make their way to a safe zone while battling a viral outbreak. 

Netflix's 2019 series "Kingdom" sparked further interest, paving the way for similar content to come out. Director Cho Il-hyung's zombie horror film "#Alive" (2020) and director Lee Jae-kyoo's series "All of Us Are Dead" helped spread K-zombies to other parts of the world.

While Korea's zombie apocalypse stories feature suspense and super-fast zombies, they also explore themes like social inequality, bullying, and teen angst.

"What people like about Korean zombies is that they are not just monsters or evil creatures that we have to fight against. They were once human beings, our friends and neighbors before they got infected and transformed into zombies," director Yeon said.