KMovie Based On True Story

Centers around the events that led to 1987’s June Struggle.

Adapted from a popular webcomic by artist Kang Full, 26 Years presents a unique vision of “coming to terms with the past”. In the fictional story, a group of five ordinary citizens band together in order to assassinate the man responsible for the massacre of innocent civilians in Gwangju in May 1980, known as Gwangju Uprising. Heavily implied as Chun Doo Hwan who is a South Korean politician and former South Korean army general who served as the President of South Korea from 1980 to 1988, ruling as an unelected coup leader from December 1979 to September 1980 and as elected president from 1980 to 1988. 

- Cinema Escapist & Wikipedia -

Inspired by real events.

Based on a true story of a group of 71 undertrained and underarmed, outgunned student-soldiers of South Korea during the Korean War, who were mostly killed on August 11, 1950, during the Battle of P'ohang-dong. It was made in commemoration of those who fought during the Korean War, to raise awareness of the existence and importance of the student-soldiers during that period.

- Wikipedia -

Loosely based on the reign of Gongnim of Goryeo (1330–1374), but it doesn't strictly comply with historical facts.

-Wikipedia-

Perhaps the first feature movie to depict the Gwangju Uprising. The movie’s director Jang Sun Woo was jailed under Chun Doo Hwan’s regime, and used A Petal to express raw social commentary on the brutality of authoritarian rule.

- Cinema Escapist -

Based on the Japanese occupation of Korea, it focuses on the female prisoners of war.

The movie depicts the real story of Jeon Tae Il, a young tailor at a garment factory in the Pyung-hwa market in Seoul. He committed suicide by self-immolation in November 1970 as a means of protest against the abject working condition in his country, sparking the creation of the labor unions in South Korea and consequently, the anti-government and pro-democracy movements in the country.

- Asian Movie Pulse -

Inspired by the director/writer Jo Jae Min's past experience.

Based on the true story of German reporter Jürgen Hinzpeter and Korean taxi driver Kim Sa Bok. Jürgen Hinzpeter covered the Gwangju Uprising, which took place from May 18-27, 1980 in Gwangju, South Korea. It not only re-ignited interest in the Gwangju Uprising, but also helped surface the real-life taxi driver’s identity (which previously nobody knew).

- AsianWiki & Cinema Escapist -

Based on a true story of the anarchist and revolutionary Park Yeol, who organizes the anarchist group Heukdohoe, which planned to assassinate Japan's Crown Prince Hirohito during Japanese colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. The movie also highlights the relationship between Park and his lover Fumiko Kaneko, a Japanese nihilist who sympathized with Koreans oppressed under Japanese rule. Park Yeol is the leader of the anarchist group Bulryeongsa, which has 14 Korean and five Japanese members.

- Wikipedia -

Based on the true story of Hwang Yoo Mi. In 2003, at the age of 21, she began work at a factory for Samsung Semiconductor. In 2005, she was diagnosed with leukemia and died in 2007. Her father Hwang Sang Ki, who worked as a taxi driver, fought against Samsung Semiconductor to take responsibility for his daughter's death.

- AsianWiki -

Based on true story of church goers being persecuted for giving service in secret in North Korea.

- HanCinema -

Based a true story of a South Korean and North Korean table tennis players who unite together to play in the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships in Chiba, Japan.

Based on a true story of Kim Eun Ja and Süleyman Dilbirliği, whose real-life reunion was shown in the 2010 Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation documentary Kore Ayla directed by Chuncheon MBC.

- IMDb-API -

Based on the life of Kim Dae Jung, the 8th President of South Korea.

Inspired by the sinking of the MV Sewol ferry on April 16, 2014. It explores the aftermath of how The Sewol tragedy affected many families.

Based on the true story of Park Kyung Won, one of the first Korean female pilots.

Based on a true story of the Korean athletes who ran the 1947 Boston International Marathon, the first international marathon held since World War II.

Inspired by a 2007 incident in which Homever, a supermarket chain owned by E-Land Group, dismissed temporary workers, mostly women, and replaced them with outsourced employees to bypass a new law requiring that employees be given regular-worker status after a certain period. Dismissed employees and labor unions went on strike in front of the supermarket for 512 days until the matter was settled, with some employees reinstated.

- Wikipedia -

Based on a true story of a race horse named "Luna" who debuted in 2004 at the Pusan Gyeongnam Race Park and would go on to win 13 of 33 races.

- AsianWiki -

Based on the little-known story of North Korean war orphans sent to Poland, where they formed an unlikely bond with their teachers before their traumatic return home. It traces the journey of the 1,200 orphans sent from the North during the 1950-53 Korean War. The devastating conflict, which sealed the division of the flashpoint peninsula, killed at least half a million civilians and left at least 100,000 children without parents.

- Yahoo News -

Based on "Frog Boys", a true unsolved murder case from the early 1990s.

When five boys went out to spend the national holiday catching frogs at Mount Waryong and never returned, it was bound to create a media frenzy. The group disappeared on March 26, 1991, but their bodies were only found 11 years later.

Based on a true story about a homemaker in her 40s going through all possible means to capture a voice fishing gang leader.

Based on "Frog Boys", a true unsolved murder case from the early 1990s.

When five boys went out to spend the national holiday catching frogs at Mount Waryong and never returned, it was bound to create a media frenzy. The group disappeared on March 26, 1991, but their bodies were only found 11 years later.

Based on Hwaseong serial murders, an unsolved serial murder case that occurred in the South Korean city of Hwaseong between September 15, 1986 and April 3, 1991. In each case, a woman or girl was found bound and murdered. The murders are considered to be the most infamous in the modern history of South Korea and have been compared to those of the Zodiac Killer.

- Wikipedia -

Inspired by real events, Nth Room case.

Based on the real-life story of a murderer and Busan-native who offered a deal to a detective in 2010 by claiming responsibility for hidden crimes of murder, and of the detective who struggled to unleash truth about the unreliable confessions. 

- Yonhap News Agency -

Based on a true story of Korea's first soprano singer Kim Woo Jin and Yun Shim Deok.

Set during the IMF crisis in 1997.

Inspired by real events, Nth Room case.

Inspired by the ‘Kim Bu Nam Case’ in 1991.

Director's statement:
The culprit Kim, who was 30 years old at that time, murdered a man in his 50s. It was found out later that it was in fact a act of revenge taken by a woman, 21 years of following that he raped her at the age of 9. The truth was massively shocking. I still clearly remember what she said. “I murdered a beast, not a man.” It was too intense for me to forget. That made me decide to make a film about sexual assault when I become a director. 

Punishment for sexual assault between students are often very weak or sometimes the perpetrator is even found not guilty. I thought this is what causes a dilemma. Because the law forgives the culprits it doesn’t mean that the victims forgive them as well. Instead of making a simple revenge story, I wanted to show how painful it is for the victim through her mother’s point of view. Because a mother is someone who knows the preciousness of life very well, so I thought it would also be hard for her to punish the perpetrator in an extreme way. I figured that it would make a good film as long as the emotions and drama were solid enough.

- KOFIC -

Based on the life and work of Korea’s renowned poet, Yun Dong Ju.

Inspired by a real life incident that took place January, 1991 in Mogadishu, Somalia. Officials from the South Korean Embassy and North Korean Embassy worked together to escape from that country during a civil war. 

- AsianWiki -

Based on a true story of a female college student found dead in Busan in 1991, and her death was honored in a Cheondo ceremony. But when performing the final ritual that involves throwing rice into the sea using a bowl attached to a long piece of red fabric, the fabric stretched tight and suddenly snapped. Then the empty bowl floated back to the shore to stop in front of one young man. The father of the dead girl instinctively felt that he was the culprit, but there was no tangible evidence to prove he was.

-Wikipedia-

Based on a true story about the horrifying incident that happened to the band who went on a trip to Chuncheon.

Based on the life of Bae Jeong Ja (1870–1950), a young Korean orphan adopted by Ito Hirobumi and raised as his daughter. However, she betrays him and her Japanese upbringing after falling in love with a freedom fighter named Hong Jun.

Based on the Japanese book Karate Baka Ichidai, which is a fictionalized account of karate competitor Choi Yeung Eui. He went to Japan during World War II to become a fighter pilot, but found a very different path instead. He changed his name to Masutatsu Oyama and went across the country, defeating martial artists one after another. This movie concentrates on the period when he is still young, and developing his famous karate style, Kyokushin.

- Wikipedia -

Inspired by a true story.

The film unfolds a story of the historical figure King Sejong the Great (1397-1450) ― fourth king of the 1392-1910 Joseon Kingdom ― and his relationship with the genius inventor Jang Yeong Sil. 

King Sejong (1397 - 1450) who is highly respected to this day, was acknowledged as an outstanding ruler of Korea’s Joseon dynasty at least partly because of the remarkable advances in science that took place during his reign. The king prized scientific and technological developments—from calendar systems to traditional Korean medicine—that would help his nation succeed, honoring inventors for their gifts, whatever social class they came from. He also instituted the Korean alphabet "Hangeul" during his reign.

- The Korean Times & Forbes -

Explores the Gwangju Uprising from the perspective of a perpetrator. While the movie addresses important topics, recent sexual assault allegations against Kim Ki Duk seem to have blunted its potential for impact. After a brief summer 2017 release, there’s no word on other distribution possibilities.

- Cinema Escapist -

 Inspired by true events that occurred at Virginia Tech 2007, where Seung Hui Cho committed one of the deadliest mass shootings in American History.

Based on the infamous Miryang case in South Korea which shocked the nation in 2004 and continues to fuel public outrage even today.

Director's statement: 
The crew and I tried to create the world of GEORGIA as if the parents’ departed daughter were designing one of her illustrations.

- Jayil -

Based on the true story of the Chungju Sung Shim baseball team, located in Chungju City, North Chungcheong Province. The school's baseball team started in September 2002 and consisted of 25 players who were deaf.

- AsianWiki -

Based on an urban legend, a real psychiatric hospital that is said to be the most haunted place in Korea. Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital is private property, which means trespassers can be punished by law. Villagers of Gonjiam have also filed numerous complaints over noise made by visitors.

- The Star -

Based on a true story about a transgender person jailed with male inmates.

The Miryang Gang rape, which happened in a South Koreas middle school in 2004, saw at least 41 male high school students gang-rape a number of middle- and high school girls over the course of 11 months. Loosely-based on the incident, the movie circles around Han Gong Ju who loses her friend after both became victims of a terrible gang rape incident.

- Wikipedia -

'Hansan' is a film of the Battle of Hansando, the Battle of the Korean Navy, which largely defeated Japanese naval forces off the coast of Hansando on July 8, 1592.

Two Ghost Hunting YouTuber goes to Gonjiam.

Portrays a mischievous young boy's reaction to his older brother's battle with childhood cancer, based on the true story of the siblings Seol Hwi and Chang Hwi.

- Wikipedia -

Based on the real-life story of the trials that took place in Shimonoseki in the 1990s. The movie follows a group of Busan-based women who engaged in a court case against the Japanese government to highlight the ordeals of Korean women who were forced into sexual slavery as comfort women by the Japanese military during World War II.

- Wikipedia -

Based on musical “Youngwoong” , the musical was first performed on October 26, 2009.

Based on real-life events from Gwangju Uprising and IMF Crisis.

Read more about it here:
Senses of Cinema - Peppermint Candy

Based on the infamous Na Young Case (also known as Cho Doo Soon Case) in 2008.

Inspired by  the life of Hwang Jin Yi, the most famous courtesan (or gisaeng) in Korean history.

Based on the true story of the women who testified before the U.S. House of Representatives to pass House Resolution No. 121, a resolution stating that Japan should formally acknowledge, apologize and accept its coercion of young women into slavery during colonial times and World War II. Pictured are two victims, Jan Ruff O'Hearne and Ok Boon, as depicted in the movie.

-Korea.net -

Inspired by a a real life incident. On July 14, 2015, a group of elderly women were found ill at village hall in Sangju, North Gyeongsang Province after drinking a soda laced with pesticide. 2 of the women died. Police arrested a woman in her 80's and sentenced her to life imprisonment.

- AsianWiki -

Based on a true story about two brothers who are not related by blood but grew up together and stayed by each other’s side for 20 years. 

Based on a true story of Jang Hee Bin's life.

Elements of the story are based on King Sejo of Joseon, who launched a coup that allowed him to seize the throne from his young nephew. He killed a number of people to secure the throne, including his nephew Danjong of Joseon, who was poisoned following a plot to remove Sejo from power.

- Wikipedia -

It's set during the Jeju Uprising or Jeju Massacre, an insurgency on Jeju Island following an anticommunist suppression campaign that lasted from April 3, 1948 until May 1949.

- Wikipedia -

Based on the real-life first South Korean jury trial that took place back in 2018.

During the trial of a man charged with killing his mother in December 2008, the first jury found him not guilty (real case). The rate of not guilty verdicts has been three times higher in trials with juries than without. At the present, the National Assembly is discussing an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Law that requires the judges to follow the jury's verdict.

Based on the true story of the teacher Jung In Young who discovered Olympic weightlifter Jeon Byung Gwan.

Based on the true story which took place in 1995—forgotten in most people’s memories despite dozens of casualties.

Director's statement:
I wished to portray the paradox that cannot be avoided by those whose only mean of resistance is fire, even though it endangers themselves.

- Siff.kr -

Inspired by real events from a murder case when a woman killed a longtime friend and two young children in a fit of jealousy, in 2003.

Based on historical events in Korea during the late 1930s to 1940 when Korea was under Japanese occupation, the Korean language was "demoted" in status and significance and eventually outright banned in 1938 in favor of the Japanese language. The characters were based on the real-life scholars and members of the Korean Language Society who continued working on the dictionary even after the ban was enforced. In 1942, more than thirty of the group were arrested and imprisoned by the Japanese and two died in prison. The Korean Language Society didn't resume activities until Korea re-gained independence after Japan surrendered to the Allies in 1945.

The Korean title “Malmoi” comes from the first Korean language dictionary manuscript which  roughly translates to "collecting vocabularies", it was written by Ju Si Gyeong and published in 1911, he was one of the founders of modern Korean linguistics.

- Wikipedia & AsianWiki -

Based on the true story of Kim Koo who was a Korean nationalist politician. He was a leader of the Korean independence movement and a reunification activist after 1945. He changed his named from Kim Chang Soo to Kim Koo in 1912 at the age of 37.

Inspired by a true story of Bae Hyung Jin,  it accurately illustrates the social and private difficulties for people with autism and their families. 

"At the age of 19 in 2001, he ran the Chuncheon Marathon, completing the race at 2h 57min 7s for 42.195km.  A year later in 2002, he completed triathlon consisting of swimming (3.8km), cycling (180.2km) and running (42.195km) at 15h 6min for 228.195km.  This is Korea's national record set by youngest person, let alone by a handicapped man. 

The cause of autism is yet to be known. It's estimated that one out of a thousand is born with it. There are about 40 000 autistic patients in Korea. It was only 1999 that autism was registered legally a handicapp."

The story of events leading up to the 1980 Gwangju massacre in South Korea when thousands of students and protesters were killed by armed troops during an anti-government demonstration.  It never mentions Chun Doo Hwan by name, and some Koreans criticized how it sacrificed factual accuracy for dramatization. 

Based on the life of Kim Hyun Hee, a North Korean agent whose Japanese teacher was Yaeko Taguchi, a Japanese abductee. She was paroled in 1998, and 12 years later she met Yaeko's son Kochi and told him that his mother was still alive.

- Wikipedia -

Inspired by real events, Me Too Movement.

Based on the true story of the first known serial killer in South Korean history, which took place in Gyeonggi Province. Although the movie doesn’t mention it, between 1986 and 1991, 10 women were found murdered in Hwaseong. 

- Wikipedia -

Based on the novel "Sosoouigyeon" by Son A Ram (published April 26, 2010 by Dulnyouk Publishing Co.). The novel is inspired by the 2009 "Yongsan Tragedy," which claimed the lives of 5 residents and 1 police officer.

- AsianWiki - 

Based on a true story, taking place in the 1980s in an isolated countryside of the Kyungsang Province.

Inspired by actual events and based on a true story that revolves around the serious social issue of child abuse.

Based on the true story of a 70 year old South Korean fisherman who killed four woman between September & August, 2007 in Bosung, South Jeolla Province, South Korea. Events have been fictionalized for the movie.

- AsianWiki -

Based on movie director Kang Ui Suk's own experience as a high school student.

Loosely based on a real case which took place in 1527 - in Korean Kings’ records, it said a creature had killed people near the capital of Joseon. King Jungjong moved to another palace for 3 years for safety to avoid the monster which appeared at the palace. He ordered his men to hunt it down, but to no avail, said the historical record. No one knew for sure what the monster was and what happened to it, it remains a mystery to this day.

Based on true story of the fauvist painter Goo Bon Woong and Lee Sang, the poet and writer.

The adopted son on whom the story is based on is Aaron Bates, a licensed insurance broker for his family's insurance brokerage, Insurance Services of America.

- Wikipedia -

“If a child is born unwanted, does it mean that they don't deserve to live like other children?”

Based on a true story that happened in Korea in 2013 and sparked a nationwide debate that resulted in a special law on child abuse the following year. 

Director's statement:
“It has a clear message for society, and as a mother myself, I know that a child feeds on a parent’s love. I thought that I ought to participate,” Director Jang Kyu Sang said, adding that saying and doing hideous things in the film was a painful experience.

- Chosun -

My Love, Don't Cross That River is a documentary movie that follows elderly married couple Jo Byeong Man and Kang Kye Yeol until the last moments of their 76-year marriage. Documentary movie maker Jin Mo Young filmed Jo and Kang in the couple's mountain village in Hoengseong County, Gangwon Province for 15 months.

- Wikipedia -

Based on the true story of Kim Ho Joong, who first appeared on Korean TV show STARKING on July 18, 2009. During the program, Kim Ho-Joong surprised people with his vocal abilities and also made people cry because of his background story. 

- AsianWiki -

Based on a story of a Korean named Yang Kyoung Jong who was allegedly captured by the Americans on D-Day. Yang Kyoung Jong was conscripted into the Japanese Imperial Army, the Red Army, and the Wehrmacht.

- Wikipedia -

Based on true occurrences, Lee Tae, who was a real North Korean journalist was captured and later in his life was able to publish his memoirs as "Nambugun: The First Released Autobiographical Memoirs of a Partisan in Mt. Jiri" in 1988. Nambugun, literally meaning "forces in the south", was officially known as the Independent Fourth Division of the Korean People's Army, led by General Lee Hyun Sang, the leader of the North Korean partisans fighting in the south.

- DVDCompare -

Known for his outspoken social views, director Chung Ji Young had a very political objective with National Security: to influence South Korea’s 2012 Presidential Election, ostensibly in favor of liberals. He didn’t succeed on that front: conservative candidate Park Geun Hye (Park Chung Hee’s daughter) won 2012’s election.

- Cinema Escapist -

Based on the 2000 "Iksan murder case" where a teenage boy was falsely accused of the murder of a taxi driver and spent 10 years in prison.

Based on the true event, serial killing incident which depicts the burglar and killing using taxi in Korea from 2004 to 2010.

Based on the "Salt Farm Slaves" incident that shocked the world in 2014.

Read more about it here:
Slavery on salt farms in Sinan County
S. Korean court says government must pay salt farm slaves

Inspired by true event, the suicide of actress Jang Ja Yeon in 2009.

Based on the real-life events of the Second Battle of Yeonpyeong.

Based on real events, the movie takes place in Korea from the 1950s to the 1980s.

Based on the real-life events of the Battle of Inchon, although it presents a fictionalized version of the historical CIA/US military intelligence operation "Trudy Jackson", conducted before the actual landing operation.

- Wikipedia -

Inspired by the important national events – the IMF crisis, the authoritarian brutality in the ‘80s, the 1980 Gwangju Democratization Movement, and more.

Inspired by real events, but the story itself is fictional.

"A pipeline is an underground network for transporting gasoline. South Korea's pipeline system is about 1,200km long. Crude oil from overseas is refined at various refineries, and is transported to major cities via pipeline every week. There are those who drill into it to syphon oil and make money. They're known as 'moles'."

Based on a true story of Uhm Bok Dong, a Korean hero, and the winner from the time when Japan held a bicycle race in order to take over Korea during the Japanese Invasion.

Based on a true story of a basketball team in a high school in Busan.  

Inspired by real events about student movements, take place in Busan in 1974.

After 1945, the student movements were mainly concerned with righting alleged wrongs in the Korean government. Students rose for instance against the South Korea's government of Syngman Rhee after the allegedly rigged elections in March 1960. 1980 marked a turning point in the South Korean student movement.

- Wikipedia -

Based on the life of legendary wrestler Rikidozan (November 14, 1924 - December 15, 1963). Born as Kim Shin Rak in South Hamgyong, Korea, Shin Rak immigrated to Japan at the age of 17, changed his name to Mitsuhiro Momota and became a sumo wrestler. But upon finding out that only native-born Japanese could become Yokozuna, or grand champion, he left Japan’s national sport to become a professional wrestler. Thus he became the godfather of pro wrestling in Japan, and under his guidance, pro wrestling would become the most popular sport in Japan.

- AsianWiki -