To coincide with the release of director Ryoo Seung-wan’s new film HUMINT, he recently published a book titled Conditions of Fun with interview specialist Ji Seung-ho. Since his shocking debut with Die Bad, Ryoo has consistently delivered groundbreaking works, evolving from a Chungmuro indie darling to a major powerhouse of Korean cinema. As the book's title suggests, his films advance step by step within the boundaries of Korean reality while maintaining a sharp focus on public appeal.
HUMINT was conceived shortly after The Berlin File. While the geopolitical situation between North and South Korea remains largely unchanged, public perception and scrutiny toward the National Intelligence Service (NIS) have shifted significantly. This film dramatizes a scenario Ryoo Seung-wan imagined: What if North Korea was involved in the drug trade and illicit business across its borders? What if the South Korean NIS launched a secret operation in response? HUMINT is the high-stakes confrontation that unfolds from these questions.
Intense Foreign Currency Earning, Fierce Gunfights
The story begins in a Southeast Asian country. NIS Black Ops agent Manager Jo (Jo In-sung) makes contact with a woman at a brothel. Kim Su-rim, a North Korean woman, was trafficked there after attempting to earn foreign currency for her regime. While Jo is on a mission to uncover North Korea’s role in this, the NIS is more focused on dismantling the entire drug trade rather than individual human rights. When the unprotected 'HUMINT' Su-rim dies, a despairing but determined Jo heads to Vladivostok, where he confronts the true face of evil.
In Vladivostok, a sophisticated intelligence war erupts. South Korean agents lie in wait for evidence of international human trafficking, while North Korea dispatches Team Leader Park Gun (Park Jeong-min) from the Ministry of State Security to investigate the secret cross-border incidents. These 'Secret and Great' operations collide at 'Arirang,' a North Korean restaurant in Vladivostok, where Chae Seon-hwa (Shin Se-kyung) works.
After a brief but explosive action sequence in Southeast Asia, Director Ryoo immediately shifts the stage to the frozen soil of Vladivostok. Moving past Jo’s dangerous mission, the film explores the "Daedong River Romance" between Park Gun and Chae Seon-hwa. The tension between the hotel and the North Korean consulate is driven entirely by the sly Consul General Hwang Chi-seong (Park Hae-jun). In Hwang’s demeanor, one can see the incarnations of Pyo Jong-seong and Dong Myung-soo from The Berlin File. He appears not as a diplomatic official, but as a man clutching "another throat of North Korea." While Ryoo’s focus on the romance might have left Hwang’s darkness slightly under-explored, Park Hae-jun’s performance adds immense weight to the character.
Tragic Bravado and Blurred Lines
The narrative calls to mind the 2016 mass defection of 13 employees from the North Korean 'Ryugyong Restaurant' in Ningbo, China. While details remain murky, it is said that HUMINT agents from the Defense Intelligence Command led the defection with NIS cooperation.
The film is an action piece with a touch of melodrama. Party loyalty outweighs romance, and Vladivostok is too cold to revive an old flame. As the "Hong Kong Action Kid," Ryoo Seung-wan does not hide the tragic bravado of that era's cinema. The most memorable scene is undoubtedly the three-way standoff—reminiscent of a scene from Bullet in the Head rather than The Killer. Traditionally, inter-Korean cinematic confrontations involve North and South aiming directly at each other. However, in this film, the gazes and gun barrels cross in a state of sheer desperation.
Director Ryoo Seung-wan does not speak of where those gun barrels eventually point. In the end, nothing changes for the living or the dead. There are only those who have vanished and those who remain to watch. By Jae-hwan Park, Seoul (2026)
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| [HUMINT] Inside CGV Yongsan I-PARK MALL, Seoul (Feb 2026) |