Actors Jang Hyeok, left, and Ha Jeong-woo star in a scene from Korea's first legal thriller, "The Client". The film opens in theaters Sept. 29. / Courtesy of Showbox/Mediaplex By Lee  Hyo-won A man is suspected of killing his wife. The cadaver is however missing and solid evidence is impossible to procure. A powerful prosecutor and notoriously competent attorney engage in a fierce battle of wits to determine whether the man is guilty or innocent, with nothing but their own sense of conviction and validation. "The Client", the country's first legal thriller, is propelled mostly by heavy legal terminology-ridden dialogue inside a glossy, wood-paneled courtroom. Unlike most variations in the genre it rules out the possibility of multiple suspects and focuses on the 50-50 chance of a man's culpability#. There are many things at stake as the dramatic tension could be compromised by the wordy script and a predictable ending. The film's thrill factor all depends on how far it...More

From left, actors Jang Hyeok, Park Hee-soon and Ha Jeong-woo appear at a promotional event for the film "The Client" in Seoul, Tuesday. / Yonhap

By Lee  Hyo-won

Local cinema has seen a host of dramas set in court, but actor Ha Jeong-woo and the other makers of "The Client" are confident that their film offers something new as the country's first legal thriller.

The upcoming film is expected to tell a Korean-style story that stands apart from its American counterparts....More

by KOFIC staff

The Korean Film Council (KOFIC), the Korea Movie and Video Industry Association (KMVIA) and the Korean Film Producers Association led 108 companies and organizations in a Declaration for the Normalization for Online Film Distribution on July 27.

The declaration called for online service providers to stop the illegal circulation of films. It also demanded they stop indirect technical protection of piracy and the omission of legal sales figures. It strongly demanded they adhere to guidelines for the normalization of online copyright protection. Lastly, the declaration warned online service providers that the film industry would, in collaboration, henceforth take strict and rigorous action if they did not...More

'There should be a wider variety of stories about North and South Korea if we want a better future for both. And there shouldn't be a limit on subject matter'.

Director Jang Hoon is back with his third film, an epic about the Korean War called "The Front Line" that has already earned rave reviews. [JoongAng Ilbo]

With his low-budget directorial debut, "Rough Cut" (2008), filmmaker Jang Hoon engraved his name in the minds of moviegoers and critics alike. His second project, "Secret Reunion" (2010), which deals with the friendship between a North Korean spy and a South Korean counterspy, drew 5.5 million and proved he was immune to the sophomore slump.

Now, the 36-year-old filmmaker has returned with the blockbuster war movie "The Front Line". The film, which was released on Wednesday at theaters nationwide, was daunting for Jang in many ways, not least because he was concerned about the potential for distorting the history of the war. His second challenge was raising the 10.1 billion won ($9.5 million) budget, which was nearly double the cost of his first film...More

The 1980s retro drama "Sunny - 2010" drew more than 7 million viewers as of Tuesday, according to the film's distributor Showbox/Mediaplex, since opening in theaters 11 weeks ago on May 4.

The movie, directed by Kang Hyeong-cheol, is the 12th local franchise to attract such numbers since "May 18" drew in 7.3 million viewers in 2007...More