The Spy Gone North
The movie we will feature today is about a South Korean spy who infiltrated the north to prevent the country from developing a Nuclear program. This movie is the South Korean thriller action film released in 2018 titled “THE SPY GONE NORTH” directed by Yoon Jong-bin starring Hwang Jung-min (Park Seok-yeong/Black Venus), Lee Sung-min (Ri Myeong-woon) and Cho Jin-woong (Choi Hak-seong).
After the second world war there was a ceasefire agreement on the Korean peninsula but the tension between the two countries has not yer ended and continues to send espiers to each others. In 1992 Major Park Seol-yeong was approached by NIS or National Security to spy on North Korea to prevent the North from developing nuclear weapons.
Seok-yeong who is called “BLACK VENUS” agrees and erases his good military image to deceive a spy from North Korea, His next mission is to bring the professor who knows about the North’s nuclear program. He befriended on of his followers so they catch him and bring Kim Jang-hyeok to Sount Korea.
Because of this, the NIS found out that North Korea has developed a nuclear weapon that scares them and the only people who know it are those close to the North Korean leader Kimg Jong-Il beacuse of this the NIS Director Choi Hak-seong assigns Black Venus to infiltrate the high ranks of North Korea to find out what they are doing. He needs to win over the North’s external economic director in Beijing because he is the only person who can get close to Kim Jong-Il who is not a member of the military.
In March 1995, Seok-yeong went to Beijing as a businessman with the goal of entering North Korea. He spent several months there to get close to Kiyohara the only person in contact with North Korea’s external economic council in Beijing.
Soon the North Korean council began to take an interest in Seok-yeong and placed a spy in the hotel he was staying in to make sure he was a real businessman. After they got the North’s attention the NIS acted to crack down on the businessman from North Korea who was counterfeiting the product because of this the Chinese police arrested the businessman and paid a large sum of money.
The external economic council of North Korea in Beijing received a call from Pyongyang to immediately fix the problem that could damage their reputation but they did not have enough to pay the corresponding damages so they looked for borrowers. Seok-yeong later received a call from the director of the North Korean external council Ri Myeong-woon to meet him at a place where they would talk as a precautionary measure for theri safety.
When he arrived at the place,the guards groped him but Ri Myeong-woon waved it off as they considered him a guest. After that the two talked about something important to help with their problems. The North knows Seok-yeong’s past as a South military they will only negotiate if he can provide sensitive information to South Korea because he was a former soldier and they don’t immediately believe him because of this the NIS Director gave the North’s request and gave a gift to gain their trust in order for Seon-yeong to enter North Korea through their business agreement.
Seok-yeong meets again with the North to bring the money they are asking for their problem and the requested information. He was introduced to Lieutenant Jeong Moo-taek the person in charge of North Korea’s security. The director left them there to talk but he lacked the information he brought because what he wanted was South Korea’s military.
Seok-yeong understood that he left the military a long time ago and all he wanted to do was business but they convinced him to become their spy against the South in exchange for paying a lot for every piece of information. Seok-yeong did not agree pretending that his only goal was business he took back the money he was carrying and left the North official but the Director called him to talk again which means they took his bait.
Seok-yeong goes with the gift he left outside Jeong Moo-taek is still tight on him but they don’t see anything suspicious when they offer him a drink he refused it because he has changed and insists that he doesn’t drink anymore but really the Lieutenant not trusted him, Seok-yeong didn’t panic so the Director took it away.
Seok-yeong also went out first to pretend to breath out but the truth is that he left a recorder in the bathroom for use but when he went out to get the left gift the Lieutenant got suspicious again because of how long it took so they groped him but they didn’t find anything suspicious.
The director also arrived who was furious with what the Lieutenant did. He sent him out with his staff when they also saw the gift he brought they immediately greeted him as a warm welcome to him and they started to talk regarding their future business that will benefit North Korea.
Ri Myeong-woon saw how Beijing has changed in 2 years. He also wished that their country would develop. So they will give exclusive business rights if they like the business he wants. The Director also sells Seok-yeong an antique but he finds out that it is a fake but they think that Seok-yeong tried what he was going to do,
The NIS Director plans to shoot commercial Ad in North that they intend to enter as a business because many companies want it and he can easily move once there, What they see that can be done is Han Chang-joo a former advertising executive who is now independent because he has long wanted to shoot ads in North Korea.
In order ti get closer Seok-yeong pretends to be a new neighbor to carry out their plan. When the two met often, Seok-yeong’s relationship with the North became known until he offered to do business with an advertising company that would shoot pictures in North Korea.
Meanwhile the current election in South Korea and the NIS has a biased political party. Choi Hak-Seong is tasked with defaming the name of a rival running for president. Seok-yeong met with Ri Myeong-woon again for their proposal that will surely earn them a lot of money but Jeong Moo-taek seems to be against his business.
The Director sent him away for a while so they could talk alone, Seok-yeong convinced him that the advertisement was just the beginning but it wasn’t him who could decide it but Pyongyang but the Director announced that he would fight his proposal and asked for three days. After that Seok-yeong also gave the antique that he sold for a small amount because it was a fake but he added a lot of medicine that are not in the North which made the Director very happy.
Shortly before the election North Korea initiated a provocation in the South through explosions in the DMZ that alarmed allied countries. Seok-yeong worried that the impending conflict might destroy his agreement with the North because the president brought by the NIS officials won but the truth is that they did the attack to scare the people of the South in favor of democratic party.
In Beijing Seok-yeong received a call from Ri Myeog-woon who was in North Korea inviting him to come to Pyongyang because their leader Kim Jong-Il wanted to see him. Jsust a few days later Seok-yeong went to North Korea felling nervous about what to do.
Jeong Moo-taek picked him up at the airport and took where he would stay for the first time. Seok-yeong has more tests to go through before facing the North Korean leader. He suddenly loses consciousness and begins to interrogate him for his true purpose in going to the North.
After his strength returned, Jeong Moo-Taek put him in the car before Seok-yeong went to the North warning him that the NIS would deny him if his true identity was known. He was taken on board the ship and there the questioning continued but they did not find anything suspicious about him.
Seok-yeong passes the test and arrives at the North Korean leader’s residence filled with soldiers. Ri Myeong-woon was also there waiting for him and brought him inside to face Kim jong-Il before he appeared to them. The Director asked him to do many things that were forbidden to do such as not looking directly at the General.
Soon after Kim Jong-Il came out Seok-yeong felt nervous but this was the opportunity they had been waiting for a long time. The General calmly offered him alcohol but since he did not drink he jsut filled Kim Jong-Il’s glass. After this they went directly to the purpose of negotiations with a large amount of money that North Korea can earn apart from advertising. The North Korean leader readily agreed to a five-year business deal making the negotiations a historic one that paved the way for trade between the two countries.
Their group is now able to roam freely in the North to take pictures but the problem is that the places they can go are only touristy. Seok-yeong’s new mission is to visit North Korea’s nuclear facility. He had to come even 10 kilometers away because a researcher there would give something to his document.
Returning to the North, Seok-yeong convinces the Director to take pictures of Yongbyon but he refuses to agree because the area is forbidden. There is the nuclear facility that Seok-yeong convinced Jeong Moo-taek to be because it holds the country’s security.
He pretended to find the tombs of the former nobles near Yongbyon that he had just discovered would surely earn them a lot of money and he could even promote them which immediately interested him. Later, they went to the village of Yongbyon district but the Lieutenant’s team left them because they had other things to do.
Seok-yeong starts looking in the fake grave Ri Myeong-woon gives him a sign that all his trials are over and he is now a true member of them. After that they immediately started the search while the Director left. He saw how poor the citizens were that the dead bodies were just scattered in a garbage.
The Director’s colleague said something to him about the person he intended to see being a researcher but Ri Myeong-woon turned out to b listening to them in the car. He said he chose to betray because the King family is turning their country into a prison. Seok-yeong warned him that someone was listening to them and pretended he didn’t know what he was saying.
At a party, only the Director came with his family Seok-yeong is surprised not to see his colleagus, so Ri Myeong-woon says that they will not be together again because he does not want to break the first-time harmony of the two Koreas. However, Seok-yeong is undeniably worried that Ri Myeong-woon may already know his true identity. The new election has started in South Korea and the NIS backed candidate is in danger of losing that new government.
They intend to communicate with the North through their Agent Black Venus. Choi Hak-seong secretly meets with Seok-yeong to give him the letter for the North. He was worried that because of this they might become suspicious and break the agreement they had been working on for a long time but according to the Director North Korea may occupy the South if the communist president wins Seok-yeong could do nothing but follow his orders.
Returning to Beijing Seok-yeong gave the order. Soon the legislators from the current party in the South arrived at the hotel where he as staying. Seok-yeong also received an order that South sent him home. So he suspected that he was only being used for the election because here he went to Ri Myeong-woon’s room while he was not there and planted a bug in his fax machine that he almost caught.
He made an excuse when South Korean diligent in the North to met with NIS Director Hak-seong for their plan to mobilize the North’s military to start a riot like a real war. It turned out that Seok-yeong was listening to their conversation in the lower room. Ri Myeong-woon did not agree with the plan to attack the sensitive part because the relationship between the two countries could be damages again but they were ready to pay a huge price.
Jeong Moo-taek agreed to their request even though the Director was against it. Pyongyang also immediately approved the military action that could restore tension. After this Seok-yeong met with his Director to stop what they were planning he was told that they were only doing it for the sake of their people but he did not agree.
After that, Seok-yeong talked to Ri Myeong-woon to convince them because there Ad business is not just about making money but having a relationship between the two Koreas. compatriots who are suffering from hunger, he dreams of developing their country but he will lose hope in the action of their military because here Seok-yeong announced that they still have hope.
He asked them to take another risk together and they talked to the North Korean leader to prevent the impending trouble but Kim Jong-Il did not like what he was saying only those in the South’s position were using it. Seok-yeong has already ventured to answer that the situation may not agree with them in the outcome of the election.
The Ad business may disappear as well as the antique it uses in law enforcement. The General has already brought Jeong Moo-taek in to get his opinion. He said retreating his command would surely despise their proposal and that anyone who would not agree was a traitor to their cause. Seok-yeong reveals to Kim Jong-il that not all state security supports this because of his honestly he insists that the South paid 4 million dollars for their action but they only said 3.6 million dollars that they meant someone is cheating on him.
Ri Myeong-woon expressed gratitude for the decisions made by their leader that he is determined o negotiate with the South but if he does not withdraw his order they will lose everything just because of the amount of 4 million dollars. Kim Jong-Il declared that this was a great shame for their country and ordered. jeong Moo-taek to investigate the traitor who was calling for change.
He also ordered the immediate withdrawal of all their military forces in South Korea, They didn’t see any threat anymore and Hak-seong just received news that Black Venus went to Pyongyang which made him angry. The opposition party later won the presidency to the delight of the people because its goal was to reunify the two Koreas.
Meanwhile in the North, the Director invited Seok-yeong to his home as a thank you Ri Myeong-woon gave him a gift that he had wanted to do for a long time. Seok-yeong wonders if they will meet again but because of their business they will continue to meet and Seok-yeong also agrees to drink to celebrate the unity of the two countries.
In South Korea, the high-ups in the NIS started cleaning up their illegal conspiracies with North because Black Venus knew something. Hak-seong dropped it through pretending to be their business competitor who was South Korean spy. Chang-joo was shocked to found out his true personality that he had no idea about.
The Director went to Seok-yeong to show the news spreader his true identity that they were just being tricked by a spy. Ri Myeong-woon was dismayed by his deception and threatened to kill him of he did not convert to the North. Seok-yeong did not agree born in the same land.
However, the two have come together as Ri Myeong-woon gives him a chance to escape and hands over the ID that no one can stop him from leaving Pyongyang but Seok-yeong worries about what will happen to the Director saying that he is the only one capable of holding their business abroad so he hopes that he will not be killed because of this Seok-yeong successfully got out of North Korea hoping that he ad Ri Myeong-woon will meet again when the day comes.
Since then no one has seen the Director’s staff in Beijing because they were all arrested and the military action that took place in DMZ during the previous administration was investigated and Choi Hak-seong was arrested as being involved in political unrest. In 2005 for the first time a woman from North Korea modeled the product of the South showing that the relationship between the two countries is improving.
However, Seok-yeong wants nothing more than to see his friend again but he is not there. After a while everyone is happy at the historical scene in Korea. Ri Myeong-woon comes out as she is still in charge of North’s business and the two friends meet again showing that they still have their gift to each other one.
This is where our story ends. I hope you like it. Thank you very much.
Main Cast of The Spy Gone North
| Hwang Jung-min Black Venus/Park Seok-yeong |
| Lee Sung-min Ri Myeing-woon |
| Cho Jin-woong Choi Hak-seong |
| Ki Joo-bong Kim Jong-Il |
| ju Ji-hoon Lieutenant Jeong Moo-taek |
| Kim In-woo Kiyohara |
| Park Sung-woong Han Chang-joo |
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
- When was The Spy Gone North released?
- August 2018
- How long is The Spy Gone North?
- 2 hours and 17 minutes
- Who stars in The Spy Gone North?
- Hwang Jung-min (Black Venus/Park Seok-yeong)
- Lee Sung-min (Ri Myeing-woon)
- Cho Jin-woong (Choi Hak-seong)
- Who directed The Spy Gone North?
- Yoon Jong-bin
- Who was the producer of The Spy Gone North?
- Su-Ran Kuk
- Park Myeong-Chan
- Jae-Duk Han
- Roger Huang
- Sang-beom Son
- Who wrote The Spy Gone North?
- Yoon Jong-bin
- Park Myeing-Chan
- Kwon Sung-hui
- Who was the composer of The Spy Gone North?
- Cho Young-wuk
- Who was the cinematographer for The Spy Gone North?
- Chan-min Choi
- Who was the editor of The Spy Gone North?
- Kim Jae-beom
- Kim Sang-beom
- What genre is The Spy Gone North?
- Drama
- thriller
