Lee Ho-jae-I (이호재)

46th Annual Daejong Film Awards Nominees

- Best Movie: "Take Off", "Mother - 2009", "The Divine Weapon", "Sky and Sea", "Haeundae"

- Best Director : Kim Yong-hwa ("Take Off"), Yoon Je-kyoon ("Haeundae"), Jeon Yoon-soo ("Portrait of a Beauty"), Jeong Gi-hoon ("Ae-ja"), Bong Joon-ho ("Mother - 2009")

- Best Actor : Kim Myeong-min ("Closer to Heaven"), Kim Yoon-seok (Running Turtle), Seol Kyeong-gu ("Haeundae"), Jeong Jae-yeong ("The Divine Weapon"), Ha Jeong-woo ("Take Off")

- Best Actress : Kim Min-seon ("Portrait of a Beauty"), Kim Hye-ja ("Mother - 2009"), Soo-ae ("Sunny"), Jang Nara ("Sky and Sea"), Choi Kang-hee ("Ae-ja")

- Best Supporting Actor : Kim In-kwon ("Haeundae"), Jin Goo ("Mother - 2009"), Jeong Kyeong-ho ("Sunny"), Jang Geun-seok ("The Case of Itaewon Homicide"), Kim Nam-gil ("Modern Boy")

- Best Supporting Actress : Kim Bo-yeon ("...More

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

The box office can be as difficult to predict as the stock market, and South Korean cinema in particularly is suffering amid the global financial crisis. "The Scam", the country's first stock market movie, will undoubtedly prove to be a smart investment. Unlike its scamming characters, newcomer director Lee Ho-jae-I invests the right way, with a solid, "inflation-free" script and the magic chemistry of a talented cast.

The crime drama draws in viewers without becoming too technical, as it is more about the human desire for wealth than financial matters. Losing tens of millions of won in the stock market can be only a click away on the Internet. "Click", and hopeless debtors head to the Han River.

Hallyu star Park Yong-ha (SBS's "On Air") sheds his sleek image to play Hyeon-su, a victim of such a fatal click. After losing everything, he spends five years glued to the computer screen as an unshaven, full-time "a...More

With an economic crisis wreaking havoc across global markets, South Korea's first stock market movie, "The Scam", hopes to stir up the box office. Scheduled to be released February 12, the Showbox/Mediaplex distributed crime thriller is the feature debut of director Lee Ho-jae-I.

The film stars hallyu TV drama star Park Yong-ha as a jobless, self-taught trader who hits it rich. His skills get him implicated in a big stock market scam run by a gangster (played by ...More

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

The economic crisis is chilling the winter weather, but South Korea's first stock market movie "The Scam" is expected to turn the temperature up a notch.

A hotel ballroom was crowded with over 300 reporters in Seoul Tuesday for the appearance of top Korean talent, including hallyu star Park Yong-ha. He plays the role of a jobless, self-taught trader who hits the jackpot. But little did he know he disrupted a big stock market scam led by a gangster trying to reinvent himself as a financial mogul (Park Hee-soon).

"I mostly played suave roles in melodramas, so I was drawn to my disheveled, desperate character. Also, the script was so gripping, despite my zero ...More

After the success of recent Korean films like "Tazza: The High Rollers" ("The War Of Flower"), which centered around intricately executed money scams, there was little doubt that one about working the stock market would soon follow.

"The Scam", the debut film from director Lee Ho-jae-I about an unemployed slacker trying to plunder 600 billion won from the stock market, was announced for a nationwide Feb. 12 release at a press conference yesterday at the Sofitel Ambassador in Seoul. The Showbox release features Hallyu star Park Yong-ha, plus Kim Min-jeong, Park Hee-soon and former musical actor Kim Moo-yeol.

Kim Min-jeong, better known for playing archetypal feminine heroines, here plays an ice-cold business woman. Kim Moo-yeol, known for playing criminals on television and the silver screen, revisits this role, this time playing a reformed gangster trying to run a legit...More