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Asian cinema: Korean films

Asian cinema: Korean films
From the stylish blockbusters of Park Chan-wook and Bong Joon-ho to art-house gems by Hong Sang-soo and Kim Ki-duk, this is the place to go for reviews, interviews and features about movies both classic and new from South Korea.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM
Multimedia artist Lap-see Lam draws inspiration from her multicultural background. Photo: Mattias Lindbäck

Fried bananas and family lore: a Swedish-Chinese art story

Lam turns Swedish-Chinese restaurant culture and digital defects into haunting works about migration, memory and generational loss.

Reading Time:7 minutes
Signature dishes from The Blind Pig, in Sai Wan Ho. Photo: Handout

How Hong Kong helped a Finnish chef love his homeland

Reading Time:4 minutes
Kai Ching Estate in Kai Tak, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Photo: Alexander Mak

Too shiny, straight, serious, samey: when architecture stops feeling human

Reading Time:9 minutes
Coco Capitán poses for a portrait at ArtisTree, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong ahead of her upcoming show. Photo: Jocelyn Tam

From pirate dreams to public text, a restless creative voice arrives in the city

Reading Time:8 minutes
Christie’s auctioneer Rahul Kadakia and his billion-dollar gavel. Photo: Jocelyn Tam

‘We didn’t play with toys, we played with jewels’: meet the man born for the rostrum

Reading Time:3 minutes
Portrait of Abul Bajandar, his wife Alhima Khauton and two daughters, Bangladesh, 2023. Abul Bajandar know as “Treeman” - gigantic warts cover his hands and feet, huge protuberances with the texture of tree bark growing especially big around fingers and toes, but also in the arms and legs. These are an extremely rare symptom of his extremely rare condition, epidermodysplasia verruciformis. There are less than 10 documented cases worldwide and, since there is no known cure.

Credit: Miguel Candela

His dream came true. But for viral ‘tree man’, much worse was to come

Reading Time:7 minutes
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Content from SCMP's Specialist Publications
Zo In-sung (right) in a still from Humint, a Korean spy movie from director Ryoo Seung-wan that is now streaming on Netflix.
Asian cinema

Review | Humint: dynamic Korean spy thriller from Ryoo Seung-wan on Netflix

Starring Zo In-sung, Park Jeong-min and Park Hae-joon, Humint rewards patient viewers with some of the best heroic bloodshed in recent times.

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Asian cinema

The 10 most-watched Korean films of all time, including The King’s Warden

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Profile | Who is Seo In-guk, star of Netflix K-drama Boyfriend on Demand?

K-drama news

Profile | Who is Shin Hye-sun, star of Netflix K-drama The Art of Sarah?

Breaking out in 2016’s Five Enough, Shin Hye-sun has gone on to make her mark in series including Mr. Queen and Welcome to Samdal-ri.

Korean actress Shin Hye-sun is currently starring in the K-drama series The Art of Sarah. We examine Shin’s rise from audition rejections to K-drama stardom. Photo: Netflix
Asian cinema

What is it like to win the lottery? These 10 Asian movies have the answers

Winning the lottery can change your life forever, for good or bad. These 10 films from across Asia explore luck, wealth and greed.

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Asian cinema

The 10 most successful Korean art-house films of all time

As Yoon Ga-eun’s The World of Love hits Hong Kong cinemas, we look at Korean indie films that conquered the box office as well as festivals.

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Asian cinema

Why M+ and Chanel are bringing rare Asian avant-garde films to Mubi

Streaming platform Mubi teams up with Hong Kong’s M+ museum and Chanel to put the spotlight on 10 films, including a John Woo short.

John Woo in a still from “Dead Knot” (1969), which is streaming on Mubi as part of its partnership with M+ and Chanel.
K-drama news

Profile | Who is Go Youn-jung, rising star of Netflix’s Can This Love Be Translated?

After starting out as a model, Go rose to K-drama stardom in series such as Alchemy of Souls and Moving. Now she leads her first romcom.

Asian cinema

Loved Back to the Past? 10 Asian time travel gems you may also enjoy

After the success of Louis Koo’s Back to the Past, here are 10 other Asian time-travelling movies that are well worth checking out.

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Asian cinema

Korean film icon Ahn Sung-ki remembered: 5 of his best films

Known affectionately as ‘The Nation’s Actor’, South Korea’s Ahn Sung-ki starred in more than 100 feature films during his long career.

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Ahn Sung-ki poses on the red carpet during the opening ceremony of the 26th Busan International Film Festival in 2021. Photo: AFP
South Korea

South Korean ‘nation’s actor’ Ahn Sung-ki dies at 74

Ahn collected over 40 major movie awards in his lifetime, including winning the Grand Bell Awards for best actor five times.

South Korean actor Ahn Sung-ki attends the 11th Busan International Film Festival in 2006. Photo: AP
Asian cinema

The 12 best Asian films of 2025: Ne Zha 2, Kokuho and more

Our pick of the best Asian films of the past year includes a record-breaking animation and a movie that is nothing short of breathtaking.

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Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Two Seasons, Two Strangers: a hypnotic ode to writing and travel

Starring Shim Eun-kyung and Yuumi Kawai, Japanese drama Two Seasons, Two Strangers is both fascinating and beautiful.

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K-drama news

Profile | Who is Kim Woo-bin, star of K-dramas Our Blues and Genie, Make a Wish?

Kim Woo-bin, who is marrying fellow K-drama star Shin Min-a this month, has proved he has the acting chops to match his good looks.

Korean actor Kim Woo-bin has starred in hit films and TV series including The Heirs, Twenty, Uncontrollably Fond, Our Blues and Genie, Make a Wish. He will marry his fellow K-drama star Shin Min-a this month. Photo: Instagram/kimwoobin
Asian cinema

Want to find solace in film? 10 movies that may offer catharsis and hope

Following last week’s tragic fire at a Tai Po estate in Hong Kong, we look at films in which humanity endures through the darkest of hours.

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Arata Iura (left) and Ryo in a still from Distance (2001), which was conceived in the aftermath of the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, carried out in March 1995 by the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult.
K-drama news

Profile | Who is Ahn Eun-jin, the late-blooming star of K-drama Dynamite Kiss?

Korean actress Ahn Eun-jin made the big time in Hospital Playlist and with her role in romantic drama My Dearest. We look back at her career.

Asian cinema

No Other Choice? Why Park Chan-wook and Lee Byung-hun made a comedy

Park Chan-wook’s film reunites the director with Lee Byung-hun after more than 20 years for a darkly funny tale with social commentary.

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K-drama news

Profile | Who is Choi Woo-shik, the handsome star of Parasite and romance K-dramas?

Appearing now in Would You Marry Me, the young-looking, goofy Choi Woo-shik is best known for his roles in Parasite and Train to Busan.

Korean actor Choi Woo-shik recently starred in the Netflix series A Killer Paradox and Melo Movie, and found fame in Parasite and Train to Busan. Photo: Netflix
Asian cinema

12 of the best movies at the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival 2025

Highlights of the 22nd HKAFF include local film Another World, Japanese period epic Kokuho and South Korea’s The World of Love.

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Asian cinema

Review | The People Upstairs: cheeky sex comedy directed by and starring Ha Jung-woo

Ha shows skill on both sides of the camera in his movie with Gong Hyo-jin and Kim Dong-wook as a prim couple seduced by swinging neighbours.

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Asian cinema

Can the Busan International Film Festival help Korean cinema stay on top?

BIFF’s new director sees the festival as an antidote to shrinking cinema audiences and a beacon for where Asian cinema is headed.

South Korean director Park Chan-wook (right) reacts with actress Son Ye-jin on the red carpet at the 30th Busan International Film Festival in Busan in September 2025. Photo: AFP
Asian cinema

Review | The Great Flood: Kim Da-mi can’t save bewildering Netflix sci-fi fantasy

Kim Da-mi stars in what begins as a disaster movie then spins off into science fiction, a move that will surely leave viewers floundering.

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Kim Da-mi (left) and Kwon Eun-seong in a still from The Great Flood. Photo: Netflix
Asian cinema

Review | Good News: hilarious Korean farce based on a real-life 1970s hijacking

Byun Sung-hyun’s riotously entertaining black comedy coming to Netflix features a whip-smart script and deftly judged humour.

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Asian cinema

Review | The Ugly: Yeon Sang-ho’s dark mystery is both intriguing and frustrating

Park Jeong-min, Kwon Hae-hyo and Han Ji-hyeon star in Train to Busan director Yeon’s first cinematic release in five years.

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K-drama news

Profile | Who is Kim Da-mi, the enigmatic star of Itaewon Class and Nine Puzzles?

The reserved Kim, who this year appears in Nine Puzzles, A Hundred Memories and The Great Flood, is a role model for aspiring actors.

Kim Da-mi in a still from Nine Puzzles. Photo: Disney+
American cinema

10 of the best movies from the 2025 Venice Film Festival

You won’t find the Golden Lion winner on this list, which includes harrowing Palestinian drama The Voice of Hind Rajab and British film Ish.

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Lee Byung-hun in a still from No Other Choice, directed by Park Chan-wook.
Asian cinema

Review | No Other Choice: Park Chan-wook takes on corporate culture in dark comedy

Lee Byung-hun stars in this Korean black comedy as a family man who is laid off after 25 years and goes on a desperate quest for a job.

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What's hot in Korea

Why the K-culture boom may fizzle out, according to experts

Netflix’s When Life Gives You Tangerines and Han Kang’s award-winning novels may all have contributed to the Korean wave, but has it peaked?

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