Hwang Jung-Min 황정민 [Upcoming Movies: “12.12: The Day”, “Mission Cross”, “Veteran 2”, “Hope”]

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June 29, 2018

 

Korean Spy Thriller Sells to Over 100 Countries

 

Source: The Chosun Ilbo

 

 

Yoon Jong-bin's latest film "The Spy Gone North" has been sold to 111 countries.

 

The espionage thriller, which was invited to the Midnight Screenings section at this year's Cannes Film Festival in May, received rave reviews there and at home.

 

"We received a lot of inquiries from foreign buyers after the film was premiered at Cannes. We sold it to 111 countries in Asia, Latin and North America, and more recently European countries such as France, Poland, Spain and the U.K.," the film’s distributor CJ E&M said Thursday.

 

Set in the mid-1990s, the movie revolves around a South Korean secret agent who infiltrates North Korea to obtain information on the North's nuclear weapons programs.

 

It will hit local theaters on Aug. 8. 

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Published on May 2, 2018 by CJ ENTERTAINMENT
 

 

Source: Pierce Conran @pierceconran

New character posters for Yoon Jong-bin's inter-Korea spy yarn THE SPY GONE NORTH. Hwang Jung-min, Lee Sung-min, Cho Jin-woong and Ju Ji-hoon will go head-to-head August 8. #공작

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

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July 3, 2018

 

'The Spy Gone North' director: Actual spy operations aren't like in the movies

By Shim Sun-ah

 

SEOUL, July 3 (Yonhap) -- One interesting thing about director Yoon Jong-bin's latest film, "The Spy Gone North," is that it has little action for a spy movie. But it is tense the whole way through with the main characters from South and North Korea involved in a tricky psychological war, according to many critics who saw the film at the Midnight section of this year's Cannes Film Festival in May.

 

"I had no choice because the film is based on a true story," director Yoon Jong-bin said during a promotional press conference for the film in Seoul on Tuesday. "As a filmmaker, I felt a lot of pressure to make a spy film without action. Directors can resort to action scenes to immerse audiences into their films."

In this file photo provided by CJ E&M, director Yoon Jong-bin (2nd from L), and cast members of Yoon's latest film "The Spy Gone North" pose for photographers during the 71st Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, on May 14, 2018. (Yonhap)

 

After much thought, Yoon decided to make it the main concept of the movie: a spy flick without much action but plenty of tension, only with the situation where the protagonist conducts a fraught covert operation to infiltrate the highest ranks of the North Korean leadership.

 

Hwang Jung-min, who played the South Korean spy Park Seok-yeong, said it was a very tricky job to simultaneously deliver multiple emotions.

 

"Unlike typical Hollywood spy movies full of physical action, the film features a 'verbal war' where both parties try to deceive or are deceived by each other," said the veteran actor.

 

"While pretending to tell the truth to the dialogue partner, I had to let the audience understand what I had deep in my mind. It was difficult to deliver such multi-layered emotions."

   

In the film set in the 1990s, Park goes undercover as a businessman in North Korea to infiltrate its nuclear facilities using the codename "Black Venus." He approaches Ri Myung-un (Lee Sung-min), a high-ranking North Korean official in charge of earning foreign currency for his country in China, and succeeds in arranging personal meetings with the North's supreme leader after years of maneuvering.

 

A still from "The Spy Gone North" (Yonhap)

 

But Park is plagued by an inner conflict after observing the two Koreas' leaders making a secret deal to prevent liberal candidate Kim Dae-jung from winning the 1997 presidential election.

 

The film is based on an autobiography of real-life ex-spy Park Chae-seo, who operated as "Black Venus." The director said he decided to fictionalize the story after reading it.

 

"I first came to know the story of the spy codenamed 'Black Venus' while preparing for a movie about the state intelligence agency," Yoon said. "I was surprised to know that the country's intelligence agency conducts such an operation."

  

A still from "The Spy Gone North" (Yonhap)

 

As the film was shot over six months in the first half of last year, the director said he has never imagined the currently thawing tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

 

When questioned about how he felt seeing the first summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on April 27, as a director who made a movie about an intelligence war between the two Koreas, Yoon said that he was touched and filled with emotion, not as a filmmaker but as a South Korean citizen. "In particular, I was so moved to see on the TV the two leaders shaking hands that my eyes welled up with tears."

   

He expressed hope that his film would be able to provide a chance to look back on the past two decades in inter-Korean relations.

 

"Although my film portrays an intelligence war, it has a story of people in its heart. It's a film about co-existence and reconciliation," he added.

 

The movie also stars Cho Jin-woong of "The Handmaiden" as director of the overseas bureau of the state spy agency who orchestrates the covert operation and Ju Ji-hoon of "Along With The Gods: The Two Worlds" as a senior official of the North Korean spy agency.

 

"The Spy Gone North" is set to open in local theaters on Aug. 8

 

sshim@yna.co.kr

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Source: Pierce Conran @pierceconran

 

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July 10, 2018

 

THE SPY GONE NORTH Infiltrates 111 Markets

 

by Pierce Conran KoBiz

CJ Entertainment Scores Global on YOON Jong-bin Espionage Drama

 

CJ Entertainment has revealed that their espionage drama The Spy Gone North has been sold to 111 countries around the world. From director YOON Jong-bin and featuring HWANG Jung-min alongside LEE Sung-min, CHO Jin-woong, and JU Ji-hoon, the film debuted in the midnight section of the Cannes Film Festival in May.

 

European buyers for the film include Signature Entertainment (UK and Ireland), Metropolitan Filmexport (French-speaking Europe), La Aventura (Spain) and Mayfly (Poland). YOON’s film was also snatched up by Twin (Japan), Catchplay (Taiwan), Viva Communications (the Philippines), MATV (Malaysia), Clover Films (Singapore) and Edko Films (Hong Kong and Macao) in Asia, Cine Asia for Australia and New Zealand, and Borsalino Films for Latin America (including Brazil and Mexico).

 

HWANG Jung-min (Ode to My Father, 2014) stars as the real-life South Korean operative Black Venus, who tried to broker a business deal with North Korea in the 1990s in order to obtain nuclear development plans. CHO Jin-woong (Believer) plays his South Korean handler and LEE Sung-min (The Sheriff in Town, 2017) is the North Korean officer he attempts the deal with and JU Ji-hoon (Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds, 2017) plays a North Korean officer who doesn’t trust him. Director YOON previously made Nameless Gangster : Rules of the Time (2012) and KUNDO : Age of the Rampant (2014), among others.

 

Meanwhile, The Spy Gone North is one of three big-budget Korean titles being released this summer. It will bow on August 8, following KIM Jee-woon’s ILLANG : THE WOLF BRIGADE and KIM Yong-hwa’s Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days. 

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July 23, 2018

 

[V Report Plus]

‘Spy Gone North’ no typical spy film: director Yoon Jong-bin

 

"The Spy Gone North" official poster (CJ Entertainment)

 

“The Spy Gone North” will be no ordinary spy action film, according to director Yoon Jong-bin.

 

(Naver's V Live)

 

“While spy films usually revolve around triumphing against an antagonist, (“The Spy Gone North”) is a story about the psychological essence of being a spy,” Yoon said via Naver’s V Live on Monday.

 

To accentuate the character-based plot, the film’s cinematographer Choi Chan-min explained that there “had to be a lot of close-ups” to portray detailed emotions and expressions.

 

Hwang Jung-min, whose filmography lists no shortage of box office hits, including “The Himalayas” (2015) and “The Wailing” (2016), plays the lead role of Park Seok-yong, a character loosely based on former South Korean intelligence agent Park Chan-seo.

 

(Naver's V Live)

 

“The words in the script are a mouthful. It felt like a Shakespearean play,” said Hwang. “It’s verbal action.”

 

Of the film’s director, Hwang said he is “tenacious” and his work is jammed with concepts.

 

(Naver's V Live)

 

The mastermind behind action hits “Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time” (2012) and “The Berlin File” (2013), Yoon debuted in South Korea’s cinematic industry with his college graduation thesis film “The Unforgiven,” which was widely acclaimed at the 2015 Busan International Film Festival.

 

“‘For whom and what are we fighting for?’ was the question that I wanted to throw,” said Yoon.

 

“The Spy Gone North” will hit theaters on Aug. 9.

 

Naver’s real-time broadcasting app V allows fans to interact with their favorite K-pop stars through live broadcasts. The app is available for Android and iOS. For more information, visit http://www.vlive.tv.

 

By The Korea Herald (khnews@heraldcorp.com)

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July 26, 2018

 

HWANG Jung-min and KIM Hye-soo Suit Up for RETURN
Stars Line Up for JK YOUN’s Space Rescue Drama

 

by Pierce Conran / KoBiz

 

 

Stars HWANG Jung-min and KIM Hye-soo are set to feature side by side in blockbuster filmmaker JK YOUN’s upcoming space rescue drama Return (translated title). JK Film, the production company behind the film, announced on July 5 that the actors will take on the lead roles in the heartbreaking story of an astronaut who is stranded in Korea’s first space station following an accident.

 

Box office magnet HWANG has featured in several hits of late, including YOUN’s previous film Ode to My Father (2014), RYOO Seung-wan’s Veteran (2015) and LEE Il-hyung’s A Violent Prosecutor (2016).

 

KIM is one of the top actresses in the country and has recently featured in hits such as CHOI Dong-hoon’s The Thieves (2012) and HAN Jun-hee’s Coin Locker Girl (2015). HWANG previously played a supporting role in the KIM Hye-soo drama My 11th Mother (2007) but this will be the first both play lead roles opposite each other.

 

Director YOON made history in 2014 when he became the first Korean filmmaker to helm two films that welcomed over ten million admissions when the epic drama Ode to My Father soared to 14.26 million viewers. He first breached the mark in 2009 with his disaster drama Haeundae. YOON stated that he visualized both HWANG and KIM as he wrote the screenplay.

 

Return is one of three space-set dramas that have been announced in recent weeks, alongside The Moon, a project to be helmed by Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds (2017) filmmaker KIM Yong-hwa and Lightning Arc, a new film by A Werewolf Boy (2012) director JO Sung-hee.

 

Once casting is complete, Return will kick off production during the second half of this year before finding its way to theaters at some point in 2019.

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Photos: CINE21

 

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August 1, 2018

 

[V Report Plus] ‘Hitmaker’ Hwang Jung-min to hold in-depth talk on ‘Spy Gone North’

 

(Naver's V Live)

 

Hwang Jung-min, one of South Korea’s highest-grossing actors, promised an in-depth talk with fans on the upcoming film “Spy Gone North” slated for release on Aug. 8.

 

Hwang plays the lead role of Park Suk-young, a character loosely based on former South Korean intelligence agent Park Chan-seo.

 

Set in 1997, Park Suk-young ventures into the land of enemies with his identity veiled under the code name “Black Venus.”

 

The actor promised a “meaningful conversation” on the film and himself as an actor, asking movie fans to tune in for the talk at 9 p.m. Friday on Naver’s V Live.

 

Naver’s real-time broadcasting app V allows fans to interact with their favorite K-pop stars through live broadcasts. The app is available for Android and iOS. For more information, visit http://www.vlive.tv.

 

By The Korea Herald (khnews@heraldcorp.com)

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August 2, 2018

 

'The Spy Gone North' is taut and engaging without gunfire

By Shim Sun-ah

 

SEOUL, Aug. 2 (Yonhap) -- North Korean spies have often appeared in South Korean films. But none have featured South Korean spies who have gone to the North.

 

Director Yoon Jong-bin's latest feature "The Spy Gone North" is a rare movie that realistically portrays a breathtaking covert operation by a South Korean agent sent to infiltrate the highest ranks of the North Korean leadership.

 

The rising young director of "The Unforgiven" (2005) and "Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time" (2012) reaches a new height in the history of Korean spy movies by creating one that is as taut and engaging as the "Mission: Impossible" or "007" franchise films without any elements of traditional spy movie grammar: gasp-worthy action, chases and gun battles.

 

This photo provided by CJ Entertainment is a still from "The Spy Gone North." (Yonhap)

 

Set in the 1990s when the Korean Peninsula was on the brink of war over North Korea's nuclear weapons program, Major Park Seok-yeong (played by Hwang Jung-min) is recruited by the state intelligence agency to work as a spy.

 

He is ordered to go undercover as a businessman in North Korea to infiltrate its nuclear facilities using the code name "Black Venus." He approaches Ri Myung-un (Lee Sung-min), a high-ranking North Korean official in charge of earning foreign currency for his country in China, and succeeds in arranging personal meetings with the North's supreme leader after years of maneuvering for the filming of a South Korean TV commercial in various locations in the North.

 

However, after observing the South's conservative government making a secret deal with the North to prevent liberal candidate Kim Dae-jung from winning the 1997 presidential election while carrying out his mission, the man who was in the highly dangerous mission out of pure patriotism is plagued by an inner conflict.

 

This photo provided by CJ Entertainment is a still from "The Spy Gone North." (Yonhap)

 

The film is based on the autobiography of real-life ex-spy Park Chae-seo, who operated as "Black Venus." Yoon portrayed the real world of spies. It is a spy flick without much action but plenty of tension, with a situation where the protagonist conducts a fraught covert operation to infiltrate the highest ranks of the North Korean leadership.

 

The new film's achievement is also attributable to remarkably subtle performances by its four main actors -- Hwang Jung-min, Lee Sung-min, Cho Jin-woong and Ju Ji-hoon.

 

Hwang, in particular, so masterfully portrays Park Seok-yeong that he looks just like a typical businessman when he cringingly smiles before North Korean officials to win their hearts, and like a skilled agent when he engages in a tricky psychological war against them.

 

This photo provided by CJ Entertainment is a still from "The Spy Gone North." (Yonhap)

 

The movie's fresh wide angle shots of Pyongyang's downtown areas separates it from all other films featuring the North. They allow audiences to see views of the city from an angle that looks down from the sky or behind the characters sitting in the back seat of a moving car.

 

The CJ Entertainment presentation is to open in local theaters on Aug. 8. It premiered in the Midnight Section of this year's Cannes Film Festival in May.

 

 

sshim@yna.co.kr

[rubie]

August 2, 2018

 

[Herald Review] Words spark tension in ‘The Spy Gone North’

 

As a child of the ’90s when James Bond films first started to take the loud, bombastic, shoot-’em-all approach, it feels weird to watch a spy film in which not one bullet is fired.

 

To be fair, “The Spy Gone North” is like the love child of a political thriller and a spy film, but director Yoon Jong-bin’s attempt to raise tension through words, not actions, is admirable and quite effective.

 

The film is based on a real-life event that occurred during the 1990s, with the creators taking liberty with the fictional details. 

 

It starts by introducing a South Korean black operative who goes by the codename “Heukgeumseong,” played by Hwang Jung-min, and his mission to infiltrate one of the most heavily guarded and secluded countries in the world, North Korea.

 

“The Spy Gone North” (CJ ENM)

Disguising himself as a South Korean businessman, the spy soon gains the trust of a high-ranking North Korean official Lee Myeong-un -- played by Lee Sung-min -- and is even granted an audience with the North Korean leader at the time, Kim Jong-il. 

 

What stands out is the style. The camera pans between the actors from angles that show the complex emotions of the characters. 

 

Breathing life into the images is the superb acting of the actors. Hwang accurately depicts a seemingly approachable man wondering what it is that he is fighting for, and Cho Jin-woong -- playing his superior Choi Hak-seong -- brings the solid presence of a man trying to convince himself it is the right thing to do. Lee Sung-min’s character is complex in that he stands on the other side of the protagonist, but shares a perspective on the better future of the Korean Peninsula. 

 

The multidimensional nature of the characters, and the blurred line between good and evil, bring the characters to life, and their interaction is a joy to watch in a somewhat predictable plot. 

 

The way Kim was shot deserves mention. He is a hard man to depict in fiction, as he is often reduced to a cartoonish villain or a merciless psychopath for the convenience of the plot.

 

What's done here is very impressive. The movie does not forget to show that he is the most revered, most feared person in the country. It does so through Lee’s reaction, who, despite being a charismatic figure, is reduced to a bumbling, scared idiot in front of the leader. The reaction is what makes Kim so scary despite the goofy hair and plump figure. 

 

Of course, the movie does not forget to leave a subtle clue to indicate that Kim is still an egotistical dictator. 

 

“The tragedy of South and North Korea persists and I wanted to ask, why is this still going on? What are we fighting for?” said director Yoon.

 

The movie goes a step beyond the South-North standoff. A group of South Korean politicians conspiring with the North to win the presidential election “cause” a small border skirmish designed to raise security concerns among South Koreans. They assumed such fears would help them win the election against liberal candidate Kim Dae-jung whom they had been framing as a communist.

 

For those not familiar with Korean history, this actually happened. An official of the presidential office and a couple of businessmen met with North Koreans in Beijing in 1997, ahead of the presidential election, and asked them to rain fire -- so to speak -- on the inter-Korean border. The accused had confessed that they conspired to do this, but later denied it.

 

The lower court found them guilty of such charges, but an appellate court overturned the ruling by rejecting the confession -- as it was made without the presence of the defendants’ attorneys. The court did find them guilty of contacting North Korean officials to ask for armed action and sentenced them to prison terms, which was confirmed by the Supreme Court.

 

The scene of South and North Koreans sitting together and conspiring over what to do in order to retain power shows that things are not always so black and white. Heukgeumseong, taught to regard all elements of the hermit kingdom as evil, sees the human side of the North Koreans through his interaction with them, extending his perspective to beyond what is presented to him.

 

The flick looks at the event that occurred more than two decades ago, yet the message is strangely contemporary. The search for what is right and wrong is an eternal question. 

 

It is a movie that resonates inside you, touching off many thoughts, but also one that will probably have a hard time in the box office. “Along With the Gods: The Last 49 Days” opened this week to shatter all kinds of records with its visuals, humor and easy-to-follow message. 

 

“The Spy Gone North” is not one that you can kick back and enjoy. It makes you think, particularly about the issues still going on in Korean society. The film opens in theaters Wednesday.

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)

[rubie]

August 4, 2018

 

HanCinema's Film Review: "The Spy Gone North"
 

By William Schwartz HanCinema.net

 

 

Director Yoon Jong-bin wastes no time in having National Intelligence Service administrator Hak-seong (played by Cho Jin-woong) bully former intelligence operative Black Venus (played by Hwang Jung-min) into infiltrating the North Korean nuclear weapons program. "The Spy Gone North" takes place some twenty years ago, so the veracity of Hak-seong's nuclear tip is questionable from the very beginning. But the bigger problem is that Black Venus's cover story of engaging the North Korean government in trade deals starts to take on greater importance than his actual mission.

That irony is what underscores "The Spy Gone North" as an espionage thriller. Every single scene where Black Venus has to interact with North Koreans is loaded with tension, since if his true identity is discovered, Black Venus will almost certainly be murdered. The North Korean characters are supremely paranoid, and for good reason. They know full well what men like Hak-seong are capable of, and don't believe for a moment that capitalists are capable of truly noble motivation.

 

But the Communists..? Well that's actually surprisingly ambiguous. "The Spy Gone North" takes place during The Long March, with famine and starvation being the norm. In one of the film's more disturbing scenes Black Venus sees this firsthand. Yet rather than coming off as a condemndation of the North Korean regime, here the tone is very much...why does the nuclear weapons program matter so much again? Nominally, at least, the North Korean characters are trying to resolve their awful domestic situation.

 

The South Korean characters can't be as easily defended. At multiple points we see Hak-seong sabotage his own long-term intelligence operations for dubious short-term political purposes. It becomes a bit galling, after a point, how Hak-seong treats North Korean authoritarianism as an existential threat, yet sees no contradiction in his own actions to prioritize the political power of the National Intelligence Service over South Korean voters.

 

So it is that scenes featuring North Korean leader Kim Jong-il (played by Lee Sung-min) have a reverberating spooky quality. It's not just because Lee Sung-min is suitably terrifying in the role, but because we can also guess how his South Korean counterpart can be similarly manipulated. The main qualification for being a good spy is being a good liar, and a sufficiently consummate liar will use that skill at all times even with alleged allies.

 

Or for that matter, himself. The long-winded justifications the more sinister characters in "The Spy Gone North" use to justify their actions are in their own way merely complex lies they tell themselves. It's awfully convenient, after all, how the national interest and their personal interests manage to coincide perfectly. So it is that Black Venus's lack of competing interests allows him to see the situation the most clearly and take the biggest risks in the name of an actual greater good. Take note that Black Venus is based on a real South Korean spy- an unlikely hero, given the reward we see him being given in the postscript, but the one the Korean peninsula needs.

 

Review by William Schwartz

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August 8, 2018

 

Hwang Jung-min is Charming in Highlight Video for "The Spy Gone North"

 

Source: HanCinema.net (please refer here for video)

 

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August 10, 2018

 

Korean Spy Thriller to Hit Theaters Overseas

 

Source: The Chosun Ilbo

Yoon Jong-bin's latest film, "The Spy Gone North," will hit theaters overseas after its release here on Wednesday.

 

The espionage thriller, which was invited to the Midnight Screening section at this year's Cannes Film Festival in May and received rave reviews, will be released in Asia, Europe, North America, and Oceania, starting with the release in North America this week.

 

The film was also invited to the annual Melbourne International Film Festival, which runs until Aug. 19. Held over three weeks, it is one of the oldest film festivals in the world and the largest in Oceania.

 

Set in the mid-1990s, the movie revolves around a South Korean secret agent who infiltrates the North to obtain information on North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

 

[rubie]

August 11, 2018

 

Espionage flick takes a subtle approach to tension :

‘The Spy Gone North’ tells a heartwarming tale despite difficult reality

 

Source: INSIDE Korea JoongAng Daily

 

“The Spy Gone North” is an espionage film from director Yoon Jong-bin, starring Cho Jin-woong, left, Hwang Jung-min, right, and Lee Sung-min. [CJ ENTERTAINMENT]

 

“The Spy Gone North” is another male-centered local action flick with nary a major female character in sight. But despite the skewed gender ratio, the espionage film successfully keeps audiences focused throughout its longer than two-hour running time without the lofty action spectacle like car chases or explosions, which are usual tropes in the genre. 

 

Screened at this year’s Cannes Film Festival in May, CJ Entertainment’s release boasts an intricate plot that allows viewers without much knowledge about Korea’s geopolitical situation to be able to follow the story without much difficulty. 

 

Directed by Yoon Jong-bin of “The Unforgiven,” which was recognized in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section in 2005, “The Spy Gone North” steps a couple decades into the past to tell the true story of a former South Korean military officer named Park Seok-young (Hwang Jung-min) who was recruited in 1993 by the National Intelligence Service to infiltrate North Korea with the code name Black Venus.

 

Amid the leaks of news in 1993 that North Korea is developing nuclear weapons, Choi Hak-seong (Cho Jin-woong), the director of the South Korea National Intelligence Service (NIS), appoints Major Park to infiltrate the North Korean city of Yongbyon, where the nuclear plant is reportedly located. He is told to look into the situation and figure out whether nuclear weapons are actually being developed and whether they have been completed.

 

To do so, Park masquerades as an opportunistic businessman seeking to rake in money by doing business with the North. For the mission, Park resorts to watching videos featuring businessmen to learn how they speak and behave in certain situations instead of polishing up on how to use state-of-the-art weapons or bulking up to fight against his enemies.

 

The film later proves that Park’s efforts aren’t a waste of time as he is endlessly tested by North Korean officials - Ri Myeong-un (Lee Sung-min), who is in charge of earning foreign currency for his country in China, and Jeong Mu-taek (Ju Ji-hoon) from the State Security Department - even after Park seems to have managed to convince them that he is a bona-fide businessman whose sole aim is to earn money. 

 

Lee, who started out as a stage actor and has proved his talent through roles in a variety of genres, once again masters the challenging role. With the slightest alterations to his facial expressions, the actor successfully creates a tense ambience and delivers a taciturn and seemingly emotionless character who cares deeply about finding a way to better the lives of starving North Koreans. 

 

Ju, known for brighter roles like the character he played in the fantasy blockbuster “Along With the Gods” and the romance drama “Princess Hours,” also leaves a memorable impression playing the mistrustful role, although not much backstory is provided as to how the young character managed to move up the political hierarchy. 

 

After earning trust as the man that will be able to pull in great amounts of foreign cash into the secluded nation, the Korean spy agent is invited to fly to the North Korean capital of Pyongyang to meet its then-leader Kim Jong-il, where Park proposes a joint-venture. 

 

Played by actor Ki Joo-bong, the scenes featuring the North’s former leader is tense and frightening - Army officers march in a sharply choreographed formation surrounding Kim while a little white dog toddles along at his feet.

 

But with only little time left, the movie suddenly takes a different turn. This happens when Park learns that his boss, director Choi, is scheming with the North to interfere with the upcoming national election to disrupt people’s desire for a liberal government. The entire security department of the government will be revamped if the liberal opposition candidate Kim Dae-jung wins. 

 

In return for a massive amount of money, Choi asks the North to pose a security threat to the South, through which Choi hopes to stir up voters’ hearts to discourage them from diverting from the status quo. 

 

From this point on, the espionage film suddenly transforms into Park’s mission to prevent his boss from meddling in the national election. Though their interests collide, Park and Ri are both determined to do what is best for the people of their homelands and ultimately embrace their opposing intentions. 

 

The sudden transformation from an espionage drama into a buddy flick is sufficiently convincing. However, some scenes demonstrating Park and Ri’s close-yet-distant relationship are so cringeworthy and awkwardly sentimental that they are almost laugh-enducing. 

 

“The Spy Gone North” starts off grave with a focus on the tense political relations between the divided Koreas but ends on a lighter tone, focusing on conflicting individuals with different ideologies. Ultimately suggesting hope for improved relations between the South and North, this is a timely movie that fits well during the historic warming in South-North relations.

 

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]

[rubie]

Source: Jason Bechervaise @Jasebechervaise

 

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August 14, 2018

 

Movie about real-life Korean 'double' agent becomes box office hit 

Actor Hwang Jung-min plays the role of a South Korean agent in the movie "The Spy Gone North." Courtesy of CJ Entertainment

 

By Jung Da-min The Korea Times

 

A movie based on the life of a "double" agent with shifting allegiances between the two Koreas has become a box office hit, drawing 2 million viewers in the first five days, surpassing fantasy sequel "Along with the Gods" on Monday.

 

Director Yoon Jong-bin at a movie set. Courtesy of CJ Entertainment

"The Spy Gone North" revolves around Park Chae-seo, a spy for the South in the 1990s at the height of inter-Korean rivalry. Park went by the codename "Black Venus."

 

The movie, directed by Yoon Jong-bin, is an adaptation of journalist Kim Dang's namesake novel. The fictitious Park Seok-young is the protagonist in the movie.

 

Adding to its popularity are revelations by Park Chae-seo, who recently told the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper, that one of his opposite numbers in the North was Jang Song-thaek, brother-in-law of then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

 

Jang was publicly humiliated and executed on the orders of current leader Kim Jong-un during Kim's purge drive. 

 

Park, who worked for the South's spy agency from 1993-98, told Maeil Business News he had also met Kim Jong-il.

 

As with the "Black Venus Case," one focus of the movie is on allegations that Park was involved in an alleged attempt to persuade the North to stage a military provocation ahead of the 1997 election to sway voters to ditch liberal presidential candidate Kim Dae-jung and support conservative Lee Hoi-chang.

 

Park also contacted Kim's opposition party.

 

Although the Supreme Court ruling in the case did not touch on this, the movie depicts the then-ruling conservative party as offering $4 million in return.

 

In reality, Kim beat Lee to become president, and an investigation was launched. Park's identity was revealed in the process. After Kim left office, the highest court in 2003 acknowledged that there had been an attempt to meet the North's leadership.

 

A movie set for a dock to Kim Jong-il's villa. Courtesy of CJ Entertainment

 

A movie set for a room of Kim Jong-il's villa. Courtesy of CJ Entertainment

 

But the court concluded that there was not enough evidence to prove there was an attempt to persuade the North to intervene in the election.

 

Park served six years in prison until 2016 for delivering military secrets to the North. At the height of his career in 2004 to 2005 he was involved in a joint inter-Korean commercial featuring the South's diva Lee Hyo-ri and the North's dancer Cho Myung-ae. Lee makes a cameo appearance in the movie.

 

Spoiler

Lee Hyo-ri, left, and Cho Myung-ae during a commercial shooting in Shanghai in this 2005 Korea Times file photo.

 

Regardless of the blurred lines between truth and fiction, the movie reflects the latest political shift that has introduced detente following the inter-Korean summit on April 27. President Moon Jae-in and the North's leader Kim Jong-un are scheduled to have their third summit in Pyongyang, September.

 

By many standards, it appears inter-Korean relations have come a long way from the days of the "Northern Wind," and cases like Black Venus, where Pyongyang would be paid to help a certain party in the South's elections.

damin.jung@ktimes.com 

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Source: Pierce Conran

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Source: CJ Entertainment USA

 

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August 18, 2018

 

S. Korean spy thriller 'The Spy Gone North' released in U.S., Canada

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korean spy thriller "The Spy Gone North" has been released in the United States and Canada, its distributor has said.

 

CJ E&M America said the movie opened in local theaters in Washington D.C., New York and several other major cities on Friday.

 

Set in the 1990s when the Korean Peninsula was on the brink of war over North Korea's nuclear weapons program, the film tells the story of a South Korean spy who goes undercover as a businessman in North Korea to infiltrate its nuclear facilities.

 

Directed by Yoon Jong-bin of "Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time" (2012), "The Spy Gone North" premiered to a standing ovation in the Midnight Screenings section of the 71st Cannes Film Festival in May.

 

The rights to the film have been sold to distributors in the Americas and Asian and European countries like Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, France, Poland, Britain and Spain, according to CJ EnM.

 

This photo, provided by South Korean entertainment and media giant CJ EnM, shows a promotional poster for the South Korean spy thriller "The Spy Gone North." (Yonhap)