Movie about real-life Korean 'double' agent becomes box office hit
Actor Hwang Jung-min plays the role of a South Korean agent in the movie “The Spy Gone North.” Courtesy of CJ Entertainment
By Jung Da-min
A movie based on the life of a “double” agent with shifting allegiances between the two Koreas has become a box office hit, drawing 2 million viewers in the first five days, surpassing fantasy sequel “Along with the Gods” on Monday.
Director Yoon Jong-bin at a movie set. Courtesy of CJ Entertainment
“The Spy Gone North” revolves around Park Chae-seo, a spy for the South in the 1990s at the height of inter-Korean rivalry. Park went by the codename “Black Venus.”
The movie, directed by Yoon Jong-bin, is an adaptation of journalist Kim Dang's namesake novel. The fictitious Park Seok-young is the protagonist in the movie.
Adding to its popularity are revelations by Park Chae-seo, who recently told the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper, that one of his opposite numbers in the North was Jang Song-thaek, brother-in-law of then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
Jang was publicly humiliated and executed on the orders of current leader Kim Jong-un during Kim's purge drive.
Park, who worked for the South's spy agency from 1993-98, told Maeil Business News he had also met Kim Jong-il.
As with the “Black Venus Case,” one focus of the movie is on allegations that Park was involved in an alleged attempt to persuade the North to stage a military provocation ahead of the 1997 election to sway voters to ditch liberal presidential candidate Kim Dae-jung and support conservative Lee Hoi-chang.
Park also contacted Kim's opposition party.
Although the Supreme Court ruling in the case did not touch on this, the movie depicts the then-ruling conservative party as offering $4 million in return.
In reality, Kim beat Lee to become president, and an investigation was launched. Park's identity was revealed in the process. After Kim left office, the highest court in 2003 acknowledged that there had been an attempt to meet the North's leadership.
A movie set for a dock to Kim Jong-il's villa. Courtesy of CJ Entertainment
A movie set for a room of Kim Jong-il's villa. Courtesy of CJ Entertainment
But the court concluded that there was not enough evidence to prove there was an attempt to persuade the North to intervene in the election.
Park served six years in prison until 2016 for delivering military secrets to the North. At the height of his career in 2004 to 2005 he was involved in a joint inter-Korean commercial featuring the South's diva Lee Hyo-ri and the North's dancer Cho Myung-ae. Lee makes a cameo appearance in the movie.
Lee Hyo-ri, left, and Cho Myung-ae during a commercial shooting in Shanghai in this 2005 Korea Times file photo.
Regardless of the blurred lines between truth and fiction, the movie reflects the latest political shift that has introduced detente following the inter-Korean summit on April 27. President Moon Jae-in and the North's leader Kim Jong-un are scheduled to have their third summit in Pyongyang, September.
By many standards, it appears inter-Korean relations have come a long way from the days of the “Northern Wind,” and cases like Black Venus, where Pyongyang would be paid to help a certain party in the South's elections.