The best Kim Eung-soo’s history movies

South Korea, 1993. An agent of the National Intelligence Service is sent to Beijing with the assignment of infiltrating a group of North Korean officials with the ultimate goal of obtaining information about the North Korean nuclear program.

The struggles of an artist. Jang Seung-up (1843-1897), also called Owon, focusing on the years 1882 to 1897, when Korea was in political upheaval, caught between China and Japan, the conservative dynasty dying, and peasant revolt at hand. Jang, born poor, has genius; a merchant, Kim, becomes his patron, finding him a teacher. Jang must convince others that a commoner can have talent, then move beyond his ability to copy old masters and find his own style. He's bedeviled by a temper and alcohol, arguments with patrons as he seeks commissions, and relationships with kisaeng, particularly Mae-hyang, that start and stop. It's the life of a restless spirit producing great art.

A Korean reunification plan is upset by a Japanese invasion plot, revealing a century-old secret between the countries.

On October 26, 1979, President Park Chung-hee, who had ruled South Korea since 1961, was assassinated by his director of intelligence. The film depicts the events of that night.

The story follows Hwang Jin Yi, a kisaeng (female entertainer) who lived in 16th century Korea. Hwang Jin-Yi was a beautiful, talented and intelligent young woman who was able to read and write well, but because she was an illegitimate child, she had no other recourse but to become a kisaeng where she used her position to gain favor with the noble classes.