Discoveries from South Korea World Cinema

Sang-min faces sexual discrimination at her advertising job and her lover's publishing company goes bankrupt. However she is determined to find a solution to both their problems

A man and a woman who is only given so much time to live fall in love and resolves heart aching love into a bright and cheerful one.

A member of Coast Guard Platoon 23, Private Kang monitors a high-infiltration stretch of beach lined with barbed-wire fencing. Driven by the belief that killing a spy is the highest honor, he waits for a chance to prove his worth.

The story of those who see and make films, and the cinema that brings them together.

Jang-bu was an ordinary boy except his special talent; To see every moving thing like a slow motion video. As friends teased him by calling ‘monster eyes’, he decided to stick at home and not to go out. Television has been his only friend. Time passes by, and now grown-up Jang-bu works at the CCTV control center which is the best job for him. When he sees people’s life through camera, he feels he’s sharing their ordinary life that he’s never had. This new job opens his heart to the world and Jang-bu starts to make some friends out of the control center. With his dear friends he receives sense of himself and finally decides to propose a girl that he loved for long from CCTV…

A sexy film about backpackers and travel guides.

Changsu does not have any family, friends or lover living in prison as a substitute prisoner for the others. After 3 years in prison, he came back to his normal life with gambling and drinking. One day, Miyeon, appears to him, and everything changes. She enlightens his life for the first time. Changsu bets his everything to save this woman for the first, and for the last time in his life.

The gangster Pil-je appears on 1st Avenue in the redevelopment area and decides to do something brutal, but gradually becomes closer to the villagers and becomes confused. Pil-je begins to feel the feeling of love for boxer Myung-ran.

Yeong-cheol and Ha-ni are talking at a cafe. Yeong-cheol is fond of writing so Ha-ni keeps on asking questions about it… Yeong-cheol entertains this questions while also making approaches to Ha-ni… Ha-ni seems to have a plot in mind for Yeong-cheol… The last 4 parts are complete and can be uploaded, then Ha-ni seduces Yeong-cheol who wouldn’t say anything about the story… She ties the sleeping Yeong-cheol to a chair and tells him that the story he wrote is turning into reality. Yeong-cheol couldn’t believe it…. He throws abusive words towards Ha-ni… Yeong-cheol who stubbornly said he couldn’t change his writings, and Ha-ni who wants to redeem his boyfriend and the people around her… What could their ending be?

A teenaged boy transforms from a 'fashion terrorist' to a 'fashion king' in order to win the heart of the prettiest girl in school. The story is about high school boy Ki-myung, who has a crush on the prettiest girl in his class and opens his eyes to fashion in order to become the best dressed person in the world.

Sometime in the near future, the Korean peninsula attempts to reunify. The South Korean government, which needs enormous funds for the unification to succeed, develops a landmark new technology called the TWR. The TWR is a high speed nuclear reactor and other countries want the technology. To prevent terror in the aftermath of the TWR breakthrough, the government establishes a new organization named NTS (National Anti-Terror Service). Jung-Woo (Jung Woo-Sung) is transferred to the NTS group from the NIS. He's excited about the transfer and hopes to live the life of a real agent, but then discovers his main responsibility is to watch North Korean defectors.

In June 1950, soon after the start of the Korean War, a troop of North Korean soldiers enter a small South Korean village. Captain Jeong-woong proclaims that they came to liberate the villagers but their true agenda is to ferret out the reactionaries. The villagers and Seol-hee, who is separated from her fiance on her wedding day, offer them heartfelt hospitality and cooperation to avoid falling out of the army's favor. Eventually friendships starts to build up between the soldiers and the villagers.

A bad guy, a cruel guy, a lame guy, a cowardly guy and the meanest woman gets involved in a beautiful university student's murder case.

Ishigami comes home from work and discovers his wife dead. Just then, he receives a phone call from his wife and falls in utter confusion. Unexplainable things keep happening as Ishigami struggles to find his wife. Gradually, Ishigami realizes all his memories are gone and finds himself acting like someone else. What is his true identity?

A former jockey who became blind after losing his wife in an accident gets a second chance with the help of his daughter and an injured horse.

While a South Korean man wanders the city in search of the woman he just broke up with, she successively meets and flirts with two men who claim to have met her before.

A man on death-row wants to taste "doenjang jjigae" (a spicy Korean bean paste stew) before he dies. Television producer Choi Yu-Jin hears of the inmate and researches his story for an upcoming news report. Choi Yu-Jin then comes across a mysterious woman named Jang Hye-Jin who makes doenjang jjigae that brings tears of joy to those who tastes her recipe. As Choi Yu-Jin delves further, he learns of Jang Hye-Jin's heart breaking relationship with Kim Hyun-Soo.

An unlucky-in-love woman grows obsessed with finding out the writer behind a series of romantic notes inside the library books that she checks out.

They're losers, but nice ones. Every day they sit at Yeri's bar, smitten by the young Chinese-Korean woman. Yeri doesn't have a preference. To her, they are equally sweet: Jongbin, a milk-drinking epileptic, Ikjune, a former petty criminal, and the introverted Jungbum, who fled from North Korea.

Woo Yeong-min retired from the police force after trying to save his partner and causing his death. After a series of mysterious deaths in the shopping mall in which his uncle has allowed him to work as a security guard prior to its reopening, he must face both his own fear of mirrors and the mystery surrounding the fire that closed down the mall.

Haneda and Jeong-won are a married couple. He looks faithful, but one day Haneda witnesses Jung-won having an affair in the hospital. She attempts to kill him, but he becomes paralyzed. A few days later, Haneda tries to unsuccessfully kill herself, but her heart might stop any day so she takes advantage of her stationary husband.

Seung-hye moves to a new house that she has been looking forward to so much with her junior, Na-yeong, but is swindled by a double contract and moves in with a strange man, Soo-cheol, and his senior Hyeon-joon. Armed with powerful male hatred, Seung-hye distanced herself from the men even by dividing the house in half, but her junior, Na-yeong, falls into the hands of Hyeon-joon, a wolf dressed in sheep's clothing. Seung-hye hates men's genitals because male hatred is deeply ingrained in her brain. To this Seung-hye, she suddenly witnessed Soo-cheol's genitals. She tries to forget it, but the penis stuck in her mind and she can't unsee. She concludes that Soo-cheol "fooled her into liking sex" and treats Soo-cheol as a rapist.

Asako in Ruby Shoes succeeds in providing yet another challenge to views of a homogeneous South Korea by presenting to us the Asian side of modern globalization. The film jumps back and forth from Korea and Japan, with each main character feeling out of place in their respective homes.

In a repressive city-state, a tomboy schoolgirl persuades three classmates at an all-girls school to rebel by forming a triad gang.

On the day of the hundreds billion dollar contract deal just ahead, Jung suddenly disappears after he leaves for a convenient store. Inspector Kim who is desperate to get an exclusive crime case in the hope of drawing media attention finds out that Jung had many jealous colleagues and starts to investigate the case focusing on embezzlement and kidnapping. On the other hand, inspector Park finds out that Jung’s fiancee Mi-sun, a sales manager at the insurance company, has recently took out a life insurance policy on Jung’s life and points her as a suspect. The more investigation goes further the more case gets mysterious and things start to get out of control as a missing case develops to an assault, a kidnapping and finally to a murder.

After the unusual attack on a school 'flower boy', Sung-min, on February 14, the same attacks begin to happen at different high schools on every month of the same day. Rumors say that the next victims will be at Neulparan High School.

Eun-bi, an orphaned girl who works as a prostitute, is moved to action when her prostitute friend is brutally gang raped and the police do nothing because her friend was a prostitute. Deciding to run for Korea's parliament, she runs into mob coercion and deception along with way. This movie is a funny but insightful satire of the corruption of Korean elections.

Journalist Sang-jin uncovers the existence of the so-called 'Troll Factory' while investigating an online public sentiment manipulation story, and is confronted with an unbelievable truth.

A detective and a fortune teller join forces to find a kidnapped child whom no one expects to be alive. Based on a true story.

The ghost of a student who died at a Korean school comes back to seek vengeance and protect her friends.

Smith's boarding house. Women feel the void in Smith greatly. Hyuk-joo and Myung-soo try to approach them, but they all react coldly... Then one day, a black exchange student, Jackson, arrives at a boarding house. Each of the female boarders is dedicated to seducing Jackson in their own way. I like their affectionate attacks, and I accept all affectionate attacks...

In a post-trauma search for truth, Shon Sun’s path winds through a mysterious jungle where the line between past and present fades.

As a pickpocket, Hye-bin gets stuck on Seok-gwang's gambling table one day and doesn't realize that those days are the beginning of darker days in her life. Who will survive the last round of gambling? After all the games, Hye-bin steals Seok-gwang's money and runs away.

Do-hee wants a husband! Yeon-hwa is a married woman with a 100-degree level of prudishness and the highest level of sexual desire! Age is just a decoration. Tommy is an immature man who gets an erection every day due to the scent of a bitch-like woman in heat. And Ho-yoon, Tommy's friend who dreams of divorce due to his uncomfortable sleeping with his wife. A crazy drama about adultery.

On a fishing boat at sea, a 60-year old man has been raising a girl since she was a child. It is agreed that they will get married on her 17th birthday. They live a quiet and secluded life, renting the boat to day fishermen and practicing strange divination rites. Their life changes when a teenage student comes aboard.

A young woman is tricked into prostitution, thinking she is going to sell beverages at a village store. She soon learns about the dark world of Korea's red-light districts, where their pimps and society exploit her.

An erotic film about a junior boyfriend.

Ji-sung, a Korean wave star living in Macau, invites his wife's cousin to live in Japan. Minwoo's wife, Mika, is a fan of intelligence and is soaked with the anticipation of meeting her favorite celebrity.

"Sunday Seoul" is a film with three nonsensical episodes: THE WEREWOLF: A high school student Do-yeon who is the victim of bullying in school, is the main character of the first episode. He is not good at studying or at fighting. One day, an unexpected change happens to his body. THE VISITOR: On a pitch-black stormy night, a woman is visited by a stranger seeking shelter. The stranger eventually, is revealed as a serial killer on the run. THE YOUNG ADVENTURER: Seeking revenge for his father, a son embarks on a journey in which he encounters a young girl by chance and starts to learn martial arts.

A laid-back countryside detective Byung-su takes his family to the Philippines for his 10th wedding anniversary. In fact, his hidden agenda is to track down his old friend Yong-bae who scammed him and got away a few years ago. In Manila, Byung-su finds Yong-bae in prison for murder, and hears about the case surrounding 'Yamashita’s Gold'. Swayed by a share of the Gold that Yong-bae offers, Byung-su suddenly becomes embroiled in the case.

A dark secret hidden surrounds a mysterious girl who is an outcast the entire village alienates and a boy who tries to get close to her who has a tragedy of his in his past. As romance blossoms so do rumours.

Young lovers, Seung-hyeon and Ji-a, were drifted apart without even getting a chance to open themselves up. 7 years later, they meet again in their hometown. Embracing their feelings for each other at last, they fall in love once again and share cherishable moments together.

Kingdom of Joseon, ancient Korea. A usurper has conquered the throne. His ministers are being systematically eliminated by a mysterious assassin. An arrogant master swordsman is in charge of putting an end to the carnage.

Eun-joo falls for playboy Jung-hwan after he rescues her from drowning, and vows to make him her man. One thing leads to another, and they had a one night stand. Several years later, Jung-hwan is still living the high life while Eun-joo is working as a prosecutor. When they eventually cross paths, she reveals that he's the father of her twins, and tries to make him grow up and take responsibility.

A comic artist and an unemployed sex columnist are trying to work together in order to win a lucrative comic-book competition.

Film director Jin Young walks out the door after presenting a screenplay that he hopes will be turned into a film. On his way to the parking lot, he meets an attractive woman named In Ae and spends the night with her. Next day, he receives a phone call from Sang Ho, a producer whom he has not heard from for the last three years. Jin Young meets the producer, who's now confined to a wheelchair after a hit-and-run incident. Distraught by his wife's infidelity, Sang Ho asks Jin Young to shadow her, cathing her affairs on camera. Shockingly, the wife turns out to be In Ae, and Jin Young now faces a dilemma...

Lee Ji-Bong is a former Olympics bronze medalist for weight-lifting, but a career-ending injury from the games forces him into early retirement. Unable to find another vocation, he becomes destitute. Down and out, he ends up working at a shady nightclub passing out flyers until he is visited by his former coach who insists he begin a career as a coach at a high school. There, he forms a weight-lifting team comprised of a rag-tag group of outcasts.

Seo-hee, Nam-hee and Lan. These three girls happen to read their tarot cards. Tarot cards tell them once-in-a-life-time opportunities will be coming to each of them simply by holding tarot cards and chanting magic spells. And the magic spells are nothing but their own names! Once their names are said, very special events begin to unfold.

Jin-Myung is a psychiatrist and exorcist. With his assistant, Ji-Kwang, they attempt an exorcism on Geum-Joo. She suffers from a bizarre phenomenon. They then face a powerful existence within Geum-Joo. Extreme horror arises out of her.

A North Korean diplomat defects to the South during the Cold War, but the South Koreans have their suspicions as to whether he is an actual defector or a double agent.

Seok-jin, a magician at a club, meets a mysterious woman, Ha-yeon, who soon becomes his assistant and fiance. Things take a turn when she is found dead and he must find out what happened.

A mysterious explosion occurs at the Balam Bridge in Seoul on November 20th, 1994. In front of hot-blooded local news reporter Lee Bang-Woo, Yoon Hyeok appears. Yoon Hyeok is from the same hometown as Lee Bang-Woo, but they haven't seen each other in a long time. Yoon Hyeok hands over documents to Lee Bang-Woo and hints that the case of the Balam Bridge was fabricated.

With the death of her long-time director, Chan-sil, a film producer, is now unemployed. While working as a cleaning lady at an actress' house, she meets a young man. Attracted to him, Chan-sil realises old anxieties are about to emerge: her already gone-youth, messed-up love life, and broken career.

A young man moves into a run-down apartment building and soon gets into a relationship with a neighbor. Both the characters and the building have traumatic histories, and over time the ghosts of their past come to light.

"Did you husband find out? Are you alright?" "I don't care. I just want to do this all day". Ga-hee appeared in front of Seong-min who was bored running a book store after retiring. Ga-hee runs a ballet school and wasn't on very good terms with her husband, which led to her and Seong-min falling madly in love together. They know they shouldn't be together, but that's what makes everything even better. Later on, their love reaches the point of destruction...

College freshman Hae Won butts heads with his cold boss at a rooftop restaurant—until unexpected feelings stir, challenging both their walls and hearts.

After an embarrassing divorce ceremony, Hyun-woo returns to the single life that he dreamed of and hopes to enjoy his freedom forever. Just six months later, his ex-wife Sun-young comes back into his life, but as the love interest of Sang-chul, an old friend from high school. Now he has to try and escape from her sudden return and avoid his friend who's keen on introducing his new love to his old friend.

Two men love one woman. Seo-yeon chooses who to have a relationship with, every time. Jin-woo and Dong-hyeon competes with Seo-yeon's attention, but she doesn't think the setup is strange. Actually, there is a reason why she doesn't want to choose between the two. Who will win Seo-yeon's love in the end? The unending love story between the three is just beginning.