Renowned South Korean filmmaker Park Chan Wook has been expelled from the Writers Guild of America (WGA) for violating strike regulations, foreign media including Variety reported on August 9.
According to the reports, the WGA removed both Park and Canadian actor-director Don McKellar from its membership after determining that they continued script work on the HBO series 'The Sympathizer' during the 2023 writers’ strike.
The strike, which lasted from May to September 2023, was organized to demand higher wages, fairer revenue sharing, and limits on the use of artificial intelligence in creative processes. The work stoppage brought much of the U.S. film and television industry to a halt. Seven members were disciplined for violating strike rules, with some appealing their penalties. Park and McKellar, however, did not appeal their expulsion.
Park and McKellar co-wrote 'The Sympathizer,' an adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize–winning novel by Vietnamese American author Viet Thanh Nguyen. The story follows a North Vietnamese spy who flees to the United States after the Vietnam War. The series stars Hoa Xuande, Robert Downey Jr., and Sandra Oh, among others, with Park serving as co-producer, co-director, and co-writer.
The WGA represents roughly 10,000 writers, and expulsion means the individual can no longer work on film or TV projects under the guild’s jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, Park is set to return to the Korean big screen for the first time in three years with his new film 'No Other Choice,' scheduled for release next month.
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