Lee Byung-hun, Kim Go-eun, Song Kang-ho and more star in 2021 Korean films – can they show it’s not all about K-drama and prove Parasite’s Oscar win was no fluke?

Jan 7 , 2021

Kim Woo-bin, Park Jae-il, Kim Tae-ri and Lee Byung-hun are all set to star in highly anticipated South Korean cinema releases in 2021. Photo: @kingwoobin, @cine_21, @kimtaeri_1/Instagram, Jaeger-LeCoultre

Eagerly awaited 2021 releases include Kim Han-min’s sequel to The Admiral: Roaring Currents – South Korea’s most successful film ever – Old Boy director Park Chan-wook’s murder mystery Decision to Leave and aviation disaster drama Emergency Declaration

With plenty of films that were slated to hit our screens in 2020 being forced to delay their release dates – as well as a slew of brand new movies set for the cinema – there’s a lot to look forward to in 2021. From historical action to thrillers and romances, this year looks to be a promising one for the big screen – at long last.

Hansan: Rise of the Dragon

Director Kim Han-min, the masterful mind behind War of the Arrows (2011) and The Admiral: Roaring Currents (2014), is returning with another naval epic Hansan: Rise of the Dragon (also billed as Hansan: The Emergence of Dragons). Like Roaring Currents – by far the highest-grossing film in South Korea ever, selling over 17 million seats – it centres on the legendary historical figure Admiral Yi Sun-sin. Park Hae-il will play the Admiral, while Byun Yo-han will depict his Japanese rival. Set five years before the events of Roaring Currents, the film will dramatise the Battle of Hansan Island, which took place in 1592.

Decision to Leave

South Korean director Park Chan-wook at the 69th Cannes Film Festival in 2016. Photo: AFP

Park Chan-wook, the celebrated director of Oldboy (2003), Thirst (2009) and The Handmaiden (2016), is back behind the camera with Decision to Leave. It’s a romantic murder mystery that follows a detective who develops romantic feelings for a mysterious widow after she becomes a suspect in her husband’s murder. The cast is headed by Park Hae-il and Chinese actress Tang Wei. Other cast members include Lee Jung-hyun, Go Kyung-pyo and Park Yong-woo.

Emergency Declaration