Cool tension closing in on "V.I.P" director Park Hoon-jung

A man in a suit looking out the window, haggard from the previous night's drinking and at that moment, another man is doing work in the office, exhausted; this is what director Park Hoon-jung of the new movie "V.I.P" thought of while he was in the process of making the movie. The dilemma of people who have to move against their will as a serrated wheel of the system, is what Park paid attention to for a long time. The Korean National Intelligence and police, the North Korean Intelligence and the American CIA get involved over a man who is a suspect in "V.I.P" and it expands on the relationship between politics and dilemma.

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- What brought you the opportunity to create a film that illuminates the conflicts and conflicts of state power agencies?

Park Hoon-jung: I wanted to talk about interests and politics between power institutions and the dilemma that came from it. There have been cases in the past where state agencies haven't been able to clean up the mess they made but it's not the individuals that are bad, they just don't have a choice in that situation and they fall into dilemma.

- What would be one of those 'past events'?

The motive of the movie would be the Susie Kim case in 1987 where a Korean woman in Hong Kong was murdered by her husband but the National Security Planning Department cornered her as a North Korean agent. This was buried for about 10 years until the truth came out. When past cases like this are illuminated in present times, the responsibility is on the members of the organization, not just the sources. They don't have direct responsibility, although in the process of resolving the case, they have to make choices and this is what I want to talk about.

- It's interesting that you used a serial killer from Korea as a major crime suspect in North Korea

If someone can't move freely in the Korean society, I needed someone who was non-us. North Korea is something like that. We are so close but we can't disregard America and China. It was only possible because it's the North and South.

- The level of expressions by Kim Gwang-il in "V.I.P" is quite strong. Why did you cast Lee Jong-suk for it?

Because it's the title role. I needed someone who looked like "V.I.P"; someone who looks like he's never had to work a day in his life and someone who looked like he would think everyone is under his feet. Someone with the feeling of the only son of the medieval feudal lord. Lee Jong-suk was the actor with the royal look I wanted. The character is quite risky for an actor so I was hesitant but he was more passionate about it. Gwang-il treats anyone below his father's rank like servants and he doesn't show expression. Lee Jong-suk is a smiley person, but in this movie, he's just cold and expressionless.

- The Korean National Intelligence, the North Korean Security Performance and the American CIA get involved in the movie. Politics among secret agents seems to be an important axis of narrative

If "The Unjust" was about the mayhem between prosecutor to prosecutor and construction mafias, "The New Generation" was about politics between gangsters in ties. This movie spreads a little farther and talks about politics according to the nation's interests. They say three people can talk politics. I think politics is a basic instinct in humans and so it seems that we are constantly interested in this invisible political network.

Synopsis of "V.I.P"

A V.I.P from North Korea is taken as a likely suspect to a series of killings in the South. The suspects name is Kim Gwang-il (Lee Jong-suk). Chae I-do (Kim Myung-min), a policeman who is put on the special investigations team, is sure Kim Gwang-il is the criminal. Meanwhile, National Intelligence Agent Park Jae-hyeok (Jang Dong-gun) need to get his hands on Kim Gwang-il before the police does because he holds the key to the relationship between the United States and public relations. Lee Dae-beom (Park Hee-soon) is a North Korean Security Agent who is on the search for Gwang-il.