167 Films & TV Shows Set In South Korea During The 20th Century
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71: Into the Fire
π°π· South Korea The 1950sA civil war broke out in the 1950s between North and South Korea which changed the country forever. 71: Into the Fire centers on the struggles of 71 student soldiers who fought through the Korean War. Using real people and events based on the opening moves of the Battle of P'ohang-dong, the film exposes the personal and physical conflicts that these students faced when finding themselves on the last line of defense at P'ohang-dong Girl's Middle School against the NKPA's advancement, needing to hold out until back up from other Korean troops and the Allies arrived.
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A Little Pond
π°π· South Korea The 1950sThe Korean war does not start well for the US. They are being routed by the North Koreans and In July 1950, the early stage of the Korean War, at the Jugok Village in the middle of the Korean Peninsula, Chang-yee and his friends grow excited over the amateur singing contest knowing nothing about what is going on around them. At the time, the US Army keeps losing and are pushed back to the village, evacuating all villagers to head south. The villagers took refuge like going on a picnic believing that the US Army is protecting them, they just follow their orders moving south bound.
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Private Eye
π°π· South Korea The 1900sMissing Bodies, Five Clues β The story takes place in occupied Korea at the start of the 20th century, where a young student in medicine discovers the murdered body of the son of a government official. Being scared of being accused, he decides to hire Hong Jin-ho (a detective) to help him find the murderer before the police accuse him of the murder.
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The Good, the Bad, the Weird
π°π· South Korea Jilin Province Liaoning Province The 1930s The 1940sA Fistful of Fun! β The story of three Korean outlaws in 1930s Manchuria and their dealings with the Japanese army and Chinese and Russian bandits. The Good (a Bounty hunter), the Bad (a hitman), and the Weird (a thief) battle the army and the bandits in a race to use a treasure map to uncover the riches of legend.
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Dachimawa Lee
π°π· South Korea Jilin Province New Jersey The 1940sUnder Japanese imperialism, Korean national treasure Golden Buddha is stolen. More important to national security, the statue contains vital information concerning Korean freedom fighters and their whereabouts as well as their true identities. The interim Korean government appoints legendary Korean spy Agent Dachimawa Lee to recover the fabled statue and reveal the dark plot behind the theft.
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Once Upon a Time
π°π· South Korea The 1940sThe film is a heist comedy set in 1940s Korea, and stars Park Yong-woo and Lee Bo-young as a con artist and jazz singer who each plot to steal a valuable diamond from the Japanese authorities.
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Radio Dayz
π°π· South Korea The 20th CenturyIn April 1933, Koreaβs Japanese occupiers launched the countryβs first radio station, JODK. It broadcasts propaganda so as to better brainwash the Korean people into becoming loyal Japanese citizens. In need of a Korean producer for a radio drama about the greatness of Japanβs Asian Empire, they appoint Lloyd Park, a young man who has only joined the radio station through his fatherβs connections.
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Modern Boy
π°π· South Korea The 20th CenturyWhat's Harder than Fighting Imperialism? Try Finding Lost Love β During the Japanese occupation, a Korean modern boy, who wants to fit in with the Japanese, falls in love with a Korean freedom fighter.
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May 18
π°π· South Korea The 1980sThe citizens of Gwangju lead a relatively peaceful life, until one day the military takes over the city, accusing the residents of conspiracy and claiming that they are communist sympathisers preparing a revolution against the current government. Seeing as the soldiers beat defenceless people, mainly students, to death, the citizens are in for retaliation and form a militia.
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Epitaph
π°π· South Korea The 1970s The 1940sLove is the kiss of death. β Dr. Jung Nam finds a photo album dating back to his days as an intern at the Ansaeng Hospital. This triggers memories of his life. In 1942, as a young medical intern, Jung-Nam's arranged marriage ended when his fiancΓ©e, whom he had never met, committed suicide. Later he was assigned to monitor the morgue late at night. There he fell in love with a corpse, which is later revealed as the body of his deceased fiancΓ©e. Soon other mysterious events take place in the hospital, involving a young girl haunted by ghosts and a serial killer targeting Japanese soldiers.
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Voice of a Murderer
π°π· South Korea The 1990sOne day, the only son of famous news anchor HAN Kyung-bae, disappears without a trace. Soon, the kidnapper calls the mother demanding a $100,000 ransom. The police assign a veteran inspector to the case and assemble a top-notch task force to work under his command. But the kidnapper constantly outwits the police and continues calling the parents with yet more instructions for the money drop.
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Traces of Love
π°π· South Korea The 1990s The 2000sThe collapse of a department store disturbs a local community, causing strife for some, and bringing some people closer than ever before.
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Welcome to Dongmakgol
π°π· South Korea The 1950sBased on the long running play by Jang Jin, the story is set in Korea during the Korean War in 1950. Soldiers from both the North and South, as well as an American pilot, find themselves in a secluded and naively idealistic village, its residents unaware of the outside world, including the war.
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Blue Swallow
π°π· South Korea The 20th CenturyPark Kyung-Won, dreamed of flying since she was a little kid. To achieve her dream of becoming a pilot, Kyung-Won, at the age of 26, travelled to Japan and enrolled in an aviation school. While studying at the aviation school, she supported herself by driving a taxi. One day, Kyung-Won picks up a male passenger, who turns out to be a Korean exchange student Ji-Hyeok. Ji-Hyeok is attracted to her and what she was trying to accomplish. Although he begins to court Kyung-Won, Ji-Hyeok leaves to enlist in the army. A few years later, Kyung-Won flies her first flight and becomes a pilot. Her accomplishment is well received Korea. Meanwhile, Kyung-Won takes under her wings, fellow female Korean aviation student Jung-Hee, who wants to follow in Kyung-Won's footsteps. Also, Ji-Hyuk is discharged from the army and is commissioned as a officer in a aviation school. Ji-Hyuk and Kyung-Won meet again and soon realize their feelings are as strong as ever.
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Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War
π°π΅ North Korea (DPRK) π°π· South Korea The 2000s The 1950sWhen two brothers are forced to fight in the Korean War, the elder decides to take the riskiest missions if it will help shield the younger from battle.
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Once Upon a Time in High School
π°π· South Korea The 1970sA model student transfers to the notorious Jungmoon High School known for its severe corporal punishment by teachers and power struggles between school gangs.
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Repatriation
π°π΅ North Korea (DPRK) π°π· South Korea The 1990s The 2000sIn the spring of 1992 documentary filmmaker Dong-won Kim met Cho Chang-son and Kim Seak-hyoung, two North Koreans arrested by South Korean authorities years before. Convicted of spying for the North, they were incarcerated and spent thirty years as political prisoners. These men, and many others like them, underwent conversion schemes in prison that involved torture: those who renounced their communist beliefs were released from prison early. The others, known as "the unconverted," served their full terms. None could return home to the North, however, until the turn of this century, when tensions between North and South eased significantly. Director Dong-won Kim followed these men for ten years, documenting how they survived -both physically and psychologically, the dehumanizing time spent in prison, and their quest, once released, to finally go home.
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Big Fish
Alabama π«π· France π°π· South Korea The 1940s The 1950s The 1960s The 1970s The 1980sAn adventure as big as life itself. β Throughout his life Edward Bloom has always been a man of big appetites, enormous passions and tall tales. In his later years, he remains a huge mystery to his son, William. Now, to get to know the real man, Will begins piecing together a true picture of his father from flashbacks of his amazing adventures.
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Oldboy
π°π· South Korea The 1980s The 2000sLaugh, and the world laughs with you. Weep, and you weep alone. β With no clue how he came to be imprisoned, drugged and tortured for 15 years, a desperate businessman seeks revenge on his captors.
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Memories of Murder
π°π· South Korea The 1980sThe worst of them will stay with you... forever β 1986 Gyunggi Province. The body of a young woman is found brutally raped and murdered. Two months later, a series of rapes and murders commences under similar circumstances. And in a country that had never known such crimes, the dark whispers about a serial murderer grow louder. A special task force is set up in the area, with two local detectives Park Doo-Man and Jo Young-Goo joined by a detective from Seoul who requested to be assigned to the case.
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Silmido
π°π· South Korea The 1970s The 1960sOn 31 January 1968, 31 North Korean commandos infiltrated South Korea in a failed mission to assassinate President Park Chung-hee. In revenge, the South Korean military assembled a team of 31 criminals on the island of Silmido to kill Kim Il-sung for a suicide mission to redeem their honor, but was cancelled, leaving them frustrated. It is loosely based on a military uprising in the 1970s.
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Blue
π°π· South Korea The 1950sTwo friends in the Korean Navy, Lee and Kim are both part of an elite diving squad, specialising in emergency deep sea salvage dives. Lee is straight-laced and takes his duties seriously, while Kim treats the Navy as a lark. When Kang, a diving instructor and Kim's former girlfriend, is posted to the unit, this creates tension between the friends as they compete for Kang's affections. The tension is heightened when Lee is promoted ahead of Kim, creating a rivalry between the two. Kim's gung-ho approach to diving, and the danger he poses for himself (and his fellow divers), leads to further problems. Matters come to a head when an incident at sea causes the sinking of a submarine, requiring the unit to attempt a dangerous salvage rescue of the sunken submarine.
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Bungee Jumping of Their Own
π°π· South Korea π³πΏ New Zealand The 1980s The 2000sA male teacher starts to suspect that one of his male students is the reincarnation of his first love.
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The Last Witness
π°π· South Korea The 1950sBased on a true story and a legendary Korean novel, this movie follows Detective Oh (superstar Lee Jung Jae) and his investigation into the mysterious murder of a North Korean. His investigation leads him to a diary, which was written by a nun who - along with her boyfriend - helped lead the escape of North Korean POWs held captive during the Korean War. Detective Oh eventually becomes emotionally involved with the case and pursues the writer of the diary and her long-lost boyfriend, hoping to crack the case and learn more about the story of the POWs.
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Il Mare
π°π· South Korea The 1990sLove that resides in one place at two different times. β Eun-joo moves out of her house "Il Mare", leaving behind a Christmas card for the eventual new owner of the house in 1999. In it she asks him/her to forward any mail of hers to her new address in the city. It is 1997 and Sung-hyun, the first owner of "Il Mare" is moving in and finds in his mailbox the Christmas card from Eun-joo. Thinking it was a joke, Sung-hyun leaves her a letter telling her so and reminds her that its 1997 not 1999. Eventually the two realize that they are separated by two years of time but can somehow communicate through the mailbox and begin to form a friendship through their letters.
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