Kwak Yeon-soo is a digital editor at The Korea Times creating, editing and curating digital content for the newspaper’s website, mobile app and social media. She previously covered a diverse array of cultural, political and business topics.
Kang Soo-youn's final movie, 'Jung_E,' to debut on Netflix in January
A scene from the film "Jung_E" / Courtesy of Netflix
By Kwak Yeon-soo
By Kwak Yeon-soo
“Jung_E,” a dystopian sci-fi film featuring Kang Soo-youn in her final film appearance, will debut on Netflix on Jan. 20. Kang died of a cerebral hemorrhage in May while “Jung_E” was in post-production and eight months before the film's release. She was 55.
Set in the post-apocalyptic 22nd century, “Jung_E” follows the story of a researcher at Kranoid Lab who clones the brain of an elite soldier called Jung_E to create a combat AI warrior in an attempt to end a civil war. It is helmed by director Yeon Sang-ho, well known for his previous works such as “Train to Busan” (2016), “Peninsula” (2020) and “Hellbound” (2021).
Kang played Seo-hyun, the team leader of Kranoid Lab for brain cloning. Her character is responsible for testing Jung_E's cloned brain and the warrior's combat capabilities.
Kim Hyun-joo takes on the role of Jung_E, an elite soldier of the allied forces who becomes the subject of brain-clone testing. This is her second time working closely with the director following the dystopian thriller series, “Hellbound.” Recently, Kim was confirmed to star in Netflix's upcoming suspense series, “The Bequeathed,” also directed by Yeon.
Ryu Kyung-soo, whose credits include “Itaewon Class” (2020), “Hellbound” and “Glitch” (2022), stars as Sang-hun, the research center director who is determined to succeed in cloning Jung_E's brain in order to bring the allied forces to victory.