Filmmaker Park Chan-wook has responded to his expulsion from the Writers Guild of America, denying that he violated union rules that forbade writing during the 2023 writers’ strike.
The WGA revealed Friday that Park and Don McKellar had been kicked out for working on “The Sympathizer,” an HBO series based on the 2015 novel by Viet Thanh Nguyen.
Park’s company, Moho Film, issued a statement to Maeil Business Newspaper in South Korea on Tuesday, stating that the scripts for the show had been completed and the show had been shot when the strike began on May 2, 2023.
“At the time of the strike, ‘The Sympathizer’ was in post-production,” the company said. “Editing does not constitute writing, so it was permitted under WGA regulations.”
Variety reported Monday that the dispute centered on conflicting interpretations of the WGA contract as it pertains to post-production. The WGA maintains that even things like cutting down a scene for time constitute “writing services” that are forbidden during a strike. The Directors Guild of America has advised its members that the WGA’s position is incorrect, and that they may be contractually obligated to perform such activities during a strike.
“While editing, the two received a proposal from HBO to change some of the settings,” the statement continued. “They held a brainstorming session to see if the new settings could be implemented based on the footage. However, they were aware that new script writing was not allowed during the strike, so they did not rewrite or revise any of the existing scripts for any scenes. The new writing took place after the strike ended.”
According to Moho Film, a WGA trial committee recommended that Park and McKellar be given a private warning because “the violations were unintentional and stemmed from a misunderstanding of their roles during post-production.”
“However, in April 2025, the WGA Board of Directors disregarded the committee’s recommendation and expelled the two writers without specific explanation,” the company said.
At the time, Park was in post-production on “No Other Choice,” which is set to debut later this month at the Venice Film Festival. Park elected not to appeal the board decision to the membership due to the time commitment, but continues to maintain his innocence.
“I have never violated any rules,” Park said in the statement. “I seriously considered appealing, but I ultimately decided not to appeal because I wanted to focus on ‘No Other Choice,’ which was in post-production in Korea at the time, and I couldn’t afford to spend as much time as the hearing on an appeal, even though I can still write without being a union member.”
Under federal law, the expulsion has no impact on Park’s ability to write on WGA-covered projects. It does mean that he cannot vote in guild elections or be eligible for guild awards.
Park joined the WGA to work on “The Sympathizer,” as his previous work had been outside the U.S. Moho Film emphasized that Park supports union solidarity.
“Director Park has always had a deep respect for his fellow writers and creators, and has consistently maintained a spirit of solidarity with them, and will continue to do so in the future.”
The WGA also expelled Edward Drake, the writer-director of the independent film “Guns Up,” which was in production when the strike began. The guild alleged that Drake made forbidden script revisions during filming, but Drake maintained that he was following the DGA’s guidance, which allowed for minor tweaks.
A trial committee recommended an 18-month suspension, but the board increased the penalty to expulsion. Drake appealed, and the WGA membership upheld the expulsion on a 54%-46% vote in May.
The WGA did not respond to a request for comment.