Park Chan-wook, cast of 2000 film 'Joint Security Area' reunite
In the fall of 2000, as South Korea and North Korea engaged in their first tentative steps toward reconciliation, a film about four soldiers from the South and the North playing cards across the world's most fortified border opened in theaters.
The premise seemed improbable, even dangerous, as the South's National Security Law, more strictly enforced back then, punished any depiction of North Korea in the media in a favorable light.
"Joint Security Area," however, struck a chord so profound that it would alter the trajectory of South Korean cinema, launching a constellation of talent that would define the industry for decades.
This week in a multiplex in Seoul's Yongsan-gu — itself a palimpsest of Korea's modern military history — the film's director Park Chan-wook and cast gathered for production company CJ ENM's Visionary awards ceremony.
The occasion carried a particular poignancy for the auteur. Park, now revered for baroque revenge thrillers like "Oldboy" (2003) and the more crystalline "Decision to Leave" (2022), was then a filmmaker going out on a limb.
"I knew if this one didn't work out, it could very well be my last film," Park recalled.
Such vulnerability might seem unimaginable given the icon of Korean cinema he is today. But after his first two works -- "The Moon Is What the Sun Dreams Of" (1992) and "Trio" (1997) -- were both commercial and critical disappointments, Park was struggling to find his footing.
"As you know, in this business, if a director fails twice, getting a third opportunity is almost unheard of."
"The production team had my back and I got to work with these incredible actors," Park said. "I made a point to listen more, hear the actors' ideas and have open conversations with them. Honestly, the whole thing felt like a miracle."
The story Park chose to tell of forbidden friendships in the Demilitarized Zone, where a shooting incident leads to an investigation by a Swiss Korean officer, is convincing both as historical commentary and a crowd-pleasing whodunit. Its Rashomon-esque nonlinear structure, peeling away layers of narrative to reveal human connection, provided a template for what Korean cinema could become: technically virtuosic, emotionally acute and politically charged.
Locally, it dominated the 2000 box office with nearly 6 million tickets sold, riding the wave of optimism that followed the historic inter-Korean summit that year. For international audiences, it served as a crucial entry point into Korean cinema and the heart-wrenching reality of the divided peninsula, earning a place at the 51st Berlinale.
Lee Byung-hun, who played a South Korean sergeant, had been struggling to transition from television to serious cinema when "Joint Security Area" came along.
"Here we were — a director who had already managed to perfectly flop two films, and me, an actor who had completely tanked three. What a match made in heaven, right?" Lee said. Lee would go on to become one of Korea's most celebrated actors. Recently, he completed shooting for Park's latest film, "No Other Choice."
Song Kang-ho, masterful as the gruff but principled North Korean sergeant, said he initially balked at the script's perfection.
"The script felt too perfect — dense, meticulous and so tightly packed with detail. I'd never seen anything like it, and honestly, it made me a bit skeptical," he said.
"Over the past 30 years, I've had my fair share of ups and downs as an actor. But 'JSA' will always be unforgettable to me, like a season in full bloom."
Perhaps most intriguing in the film is Lee Young-ae as Sophie Jean, whose Swiss Korean heritage makes her both the ideal investigator and an embodiment of a complex history. Despite her occasionally uncertain English, the role launched a collaboration with Park that would culminate in "Lady Vengeance" (2005), where she delivered one of Korean cinema's most indelible portraits of retribution.
"I was in my late 20s when I did this film, and it opened the door for me to take on great projects in my 30s, both in film and TV. For me, this film was a kind of gateway, a truly miraculous one," she said.
Twenty-five years have transformed these once-emerging talents into industry titans. Korean culture, too, has catapulted onto the global stage.
Yet, the Korean Peninsula remains divided.
Recent decisions by both sides to arm their JSA personnel, breaking a 2019 military agreement, stand as a testament to the enduring presence of the film's central conflict.
"The fact that the themes of this film can still resonate so strongly with today's younger generation is, in a way, a sad reality," Park said.
"I hope that by the time we celebrate its 50th anniversary, it'll feel more like a story from the distant past."
