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| Actor Hyun Bin in a scene from the film "Confidential Assignment 2: International" / Courtesy of CJ ENM |
By Kwak Yeon-soo
Actor Hyun Bin, who is reprising his role as a North Korean agent in the upcoming movie, "Confidential Assignment 2: International," promised the sequel will be jam-packed with more hard-hitting action ― and humor ― than its predecessor.
"There's more action in this film. Coming back to it felt very natural because I had a great time with my co-stars and the previous film received immensely favorable response from audiences," he said during a press conference for the film, Tuesday.
"Confidential Assignment," which was released in January 2017, racked up 7.81 million ticket sales.
The 39-year-old actor recalled the emotional moment on set when he reunited with Daniel Henney after 17 years. The two starred in the 2005 hit series, "My Lovely Sam-soon."
"It was an absolute pleasure to reunite with Henney. I'm really proud of how far we've come," he said.
Director Lee Seok-hoon, who newly joined the project to helm the second installment, talked about his effort to make the film exceed expectations.
"I realized that the chemistry between the cast members was what made the first film so successful. So I tried not to stray too far away from that, but at the same time, offer something new like adding some more background information about the characters and more intense action scenes."
Starring the same main cast members as the first installment, including Hyun and Yoo Hae-jin, "Confidential Assignment 2" tells a story of trilateral cooperation between the two Koreas and the U.S. to hunt down a North Korean crime ringleader that has entered the South.
The "Crash Landing on You" star plays the role of Lim Cheol-ryung, a North Korean agent who is dispatched to South Korea to track down Jang Myung-joon (Jin Sun-kyu), the leader of a North Korean criminal organization.
"Lim is more accustomed to being in South Korea and is able to express a fuller range of emotions. The once stoic character is more laid back in this film," Hyun said.
Yoo will reprise his role as Kang Jin-tae, the South Korean detective who goes on a cooperative investigation mission to capture Jang. The cast also includes Henney as FBI agent Jack, who joins hands with Lim and Kang to arrest the notorious crime ringleader, and Lim Yoon-a as the sister-in-law of Kang.
"I had no pressure doing comedy. My idea was to bring out Min-young's personal charm. Audiences can look forward to a love triangle plot between Cheol-ryung, Jack and Min-young," Lim said.
"Confidential Assignment 2" will hit local theaters on Sept. 7.
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