In 2000, the South Korean movie Joint Security Area (hereafter, JSA) achieved both commercial and critical success. The movie illustrates fictional fatal accidents between South Korean and North Korean soldiers in the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) based on mysterious plots. JSA was screened immediately following the summit talks between North and South Korea in 2000, and it served as a milestone for the hoped-for reunification between the North and South. However, compared to its source novel DMZ, and with its implications about the real Joint Security Area and DMZ as the border between the two countries, JSA’s reception as a “Korean blockbuster” and “well-made movie” (a high production movie in Korea) reveals South Korea’s problematic attitudes toward North Korea. This movie marked a change in South Korean attitudes toward the North. No longer seen by South Koreans as fearful “monsters,” North Koreans became humans, albeit ones who symbolized “boorishness” and “inferiority.” Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the movie contains South Korea’s distorted attitudes toward North Korea: South Koreans regard North Koreans as “Others” yet presume that they share the same culture based on their shared race. However, the standard of cultural “same-ness” among Koreans of the same ethnicity has always been intertwined with South Korea's perceived cultural superiority over North Korea. This attitude can be defined as “Norientalism,” or Orientalism toward North Korea, a form of semi-imperialism. As we learn from imperialism’s history, exploitation begins after recognizing “Others” not as monsters, but as humans. Semi-imperialism has been a fundamental attitude not only in the Korean reunification debates, but also in recent representations of the North in South Korean popular culture. In this context, JSA foreshadowed South Korean’s shifting attitudes toward North Korea.