The Best Korean Movies
My all time favorite Korean movies, in no particular order. For Korean gangster or period movies, please check out my other lists, The Best Sageuk Movies and The Best Korean Gangster Movies.
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- DirectorHun JangStarsSong Kang-hoThomas KretschmannYoo Hae-jinA widowed father and taxi driver who drives a German reporter from Seoul to Gwangju to cover the 1980 uprising, soon finds himself regretting his decision after being caught in the violence around him.
- DirectorKim Ki-dukStarsKim Ki-dukOh Yeong-suJong-ho KimA boy is raised by a Buddhist monk in an isolated floating temple where the years pass like the seasons.
- DirectorKim Ki-dukStarsLee Seung-yunJae HeeHyuk-ho KwonA transient young man breaks into empty homes to partake of the vacationing residents' lives for a few days.
- DirectorKim Ki-dukStarsRyu Seung-beomLee Won-geunKim Young-minA North Korean fisherman breaks his boat engine by accident and drifts down to South Korea. After enduring brutal investigations in the South, he eventually gets sent back to North Korea.
- DirectorKim Ki-dukStarsHan Yeo-reumSeo Ji-seokJeon Gook-hwanOn a fishing boat at sea, a 60-year old man has been raising a girl since she was a baby. It is agreed that they will get married on her 17th birthday, and she is 16 now. 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...
- DirectorBong Joon HoStarsSong Kang-hoKim Sang-kyungKim Roe-haIn a small Korean province in 1986, two detectives struggle with the case of multiple young women being found raped and murdered by an unknown culprit.
- DirectorBong Joon HoStarsKim Hye-jaWon BinJin GooA mother desperately searches for the killer who framed her son for a girl's horrific murder.
- DirectorGeun-seop JeongStarsUhm JunghwaKim Sang-kyungSong Young-chang15 years ago, a mother lost her child in a kidnapping case. A similar crime happens again and she won't let him go this time.
- DirectorJae-young KwakStarsCha Tae-hyunJun Ji-hyunIn-mun KimA young man sees a drunk, cute woman standing too close to the tracks at a metro station in Seoul and pulls her back. She ends up getting him into trouble repeatedly after that, starting on the train.
- DirectorLee Hae-junStarsJeong Jae-yeongJung Ryeo-wonYeong-seo ParkA failed suicide attempt leads a heartbroken man to live a life in the wilderness.
- DirectorYoung-Tak KimStarsCha Tae-hyunKang Ye-wonLee Moon-suA man's failed suicide attempt enables him to see ghosts, who later keep following him everywhere. It is now up to him to fulfill their wishes to make them go away.
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsLim Soo-jungRainPark Byeong-eunA girl who thinks she is a combat cyborg checks into a mental hospital, where she encounters other psychotics. Eventually, she falls for a man who thinks he can steal people's souls.
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsLee Yeong-aeLee Byung-hunSong Kang-hoAfter a shooting incident at the North-South Korean border DMZ leaves two North Korean soldiers dead, a neutral Swiss and Swedish team investigates what actually happened.
- DirectorKang Woo-sukStarsAhn Sung-kiSol Kyung-guHuh Joon-hoBased on a true story of 1968 Korean Republic Army plan to assassinate North Korean president Kim Il-Sung. 31 criminals and death row inmates are recruited into secret training on the island of Silmi; for two years they are subjected to maximum mental and physical abuse before the mission is cancelled and the unit terminated.
- DirectorKang Je-kyuStarsJang Dong-gunWon BinEun-ju LeeWhen 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.
- DirectorYoung-Sung SohnStarsHa Jung-wooPark Hee-soonJang HyukElite attorney Kang Seong-Hee goes up against a top prosecutor over a case involving a man accused of killing his wife.
- DirectorWoo-seok YangStarsSong Kang-hoKwak Do-wonIm Si-wanAn ambitious tax attorney decides to represent an old friend in court.
- DirectorTae-hwa EomStarsGang Dong-wonShin Eun-sooLee Hyo-JeFive children go to the mountains; magically, one comes back a man.
- DirectorSung-hee JoStarsSong Joong-kiPark Bo-youngYeong-ran LeeSummoned by an unexpected phone call, an elderly woman visits the country cottage she lived in as a child. Memories of an orphan boy she knew 47 years ago come flooding back to her.
- DirectorYong-hwa KimStarsHa Jung-wooCha Tae-hyunJu Ji-hoonAfter a heroic death, a firefighter navigates the afterlife with the help of three guides.
- DirectorYong-hwa KimStarsHa Jung-wooJu Ji-hoonKim Hyang-giIn the afterlife, one guardian helps a man through his trials, while his two colleagues help a former guardian on earth.
- DirectorSoon-rye YimStarsKim Tae-riRyu Jun-yeolJin Ki-jooA young woman grows tired of life in the city and returns to her hometown in the countryside.
- DirectorYoung-jae LeeStarsLee Byung-hunLee Dae-yeonJeon Do-yeonHong-yun is a high school girl in a little mountain village who falls head-over-heels for a handsome new school teacher, Mr Kang. What with taking care of her youngest baby brother for her widowed mother and the impossible age difference, it is a roller-coaster ride for her as she tries to become someone special for Mr. Kang while he seems interested in the other new teacher at the school, Miss Yang.
- DirectorHyun-seung LeeStarsLee Jung-jaeJun Ji-hyunMu-saeng KimIn 1999, a voice actor moves from Il Mare, a seaside house, and leaves a Christmas card in its (magical) mailbox. An architecture student receives it in 1997, and a friendship separated by 2 years begins.
- DirectorJe-yong LeeStarsLee Jung-jaeLee Mi-sookMin KimA lonely housewife begins falling in love with her sister's fiancé.
- DirectorJung Ji-wooStarsPark Hae-ilKim Mu-yeolKim Go-eunIn this film, Lee Jeok-yo is a respected poet who cares fondly for his 30ish year old disciple Seo Ji-woo. The world of these two men is shaken when 17-year-old Han Eun-gyo comes into the picture.
- DirectorBong Joon HoStarsSong Kang-hoLee Sun-kyunCho Yeo-jeongGreed and class discrimination threaten the newly-formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan.
- DirectorJeong-hyang LeeStarsYoo Seung-hoEul-boon KimHyo-hee DongThis is the story of a 7-year-old boy, Sang-woo, born and raised in the big city, and his mute grandmother, who has spent her whole life in a small rural village.
- DirectorKang Hyeong-cheolStarsA.J. SimmonsOh Jung-seDo Kyung-sooThe story of Ro Gi Soo, a tap dancing North Korean soldier who was held captive in the Geoje prison camp during the Korean War.
- DirectorHa Jung-wooStarsHa Jung-wooHa Ji-WonHwang Bo-raSet in the 1960's, this film is a story about a man without money or plans and his struggles with reality, based on the bestselling novel 'Chronicle of a Blood Merchant'.
- DirectorDong-hoon ChoiStarsGang Dong-wonLim Soo-jungKim Yoon-seokJeon Woo-chi, an undisciplined womanizing Taoist from the Joseon era, ends up in present-day Korea causing mayhem with his knack for magic.
- DirectorTae-Yun KimStarsJung WooKang Ha-neulKim Hae-sookHyun-Woo, who is the sole witness to the murder of a taxi driver, is accused of committing the crime and persecuted and prosecuted. He is sentenced to a sentence of ten years. An opportunistic lawyer picks up the case sensing an opportunity, which leads to a struggle to reclaim justice.
- DirectorSeung-wan HongStarsMoon So-riPark Hyung-sikJo Soo-hyang"The Juror" is about the justification of a court of jurors who discuss an unexpected event.