Known for Directing
Shin Sang-ok (born Shin Tae-seo; October 11, 1926 – April 11, 2006) was a South Korean filmmaker with more than 100 producer and 70 director credits to his name. His best-known films were made in the 1950s and 60s, many of them collaborations with his wife Choi Eun-hee, when he was known as "The Prince of South Korean Cinema". In 1978, Shin and Choi were kidnapped by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il for the purpose of producing critically acclaimed films. The two remained in captivity for 8 years until 1986, when they escaped and sought asylum in the United States. Shin continued to produce and direct films in America, now under the pseudonym "Simon Sheen", before eventually returning to South Korea for his final years. He received posthumously the Gold Crown Cultural Medal, the country's top honor for an artist.
Born
October 18, 1926
Died
April 11, 2006 (age 79)
Birthplace
Chongjin, Korea
Filmography
134 films


Winter Story
2023 · 1h 24m
country: Unknown
The movie depicts the sorrows of growing old – a man suffering from dementia finds himself losing parts of his dignity day by day. In the end, it is the power of family's love that embraces that quiet walk into the night.


The Country I Saw, Part 3
2009 · 1h 23m
country: North Korea
Having already added to the tensions between North Korea and Japan, a university professor finds that her views are considered even more dangerous now. Things quickly take a turn for the worse when missiles are launched from North Korea directly over Japanese air space.


3 Ninjas Knuckle Up
1995 · 1h 25m
country: United States
Rocky, Colt and TumTum must battle an evil wealthy toxic waste dumper in order to save a local Indian tribe and their friend Joe. The 3 Ninjas must help find Joe's father and find a secret disk that contains evidence that could stop the toxic landfill that is destroying the Indian community. However the town is owned by the rich man and he controls the police and even the mayor. They must fight a motorcycle gang and renegade cowboys in this non-stop ninja adventure.


Vanished
1994 · 1h 55m
country: South Korea
Former Minister of National Security, Park Jin-wook, is kidnapped from the US by South Korean agents because he was about to reveal secrets concerning the rise of the military dictatorship of the 1980's.


Mayumi: Virgin Terrorist
1990 · 1h 50m
country: South Korea
Two North Korean terrorists posing as Japanese tourists under the names of Shin Icho and Ma Yumi, blow up a Korean Airline flight enroute to Baghdad. When investigators catch up with the two in Bahrain, they take suicide pills but Ma Yumi is revived and forced to stand trial for her crimes.
My Happiness
My Happiness
1987 · 1h 46m
country: South Korea
A mother in modern-day Pyongyang reminisces to her daughter about how she got some medals, and the movie flashbacks to tell her story.


The Country I Saw
1987 · 1h 31m
country: North Korea
While serving as a journalist in World War 2 for the Imperial Army of Japan, "Takahashi Minoru" (Pak Ki Ju) sees first-hand the impact on Koreans who have had their national identity forcibly taken from them by the Japanese occupation of their country. It's at this time that he adopts a mantra of viewing an incident before writing a newspaper editorial on it. Several years later he once again visits Korea as a war correspondent during the Korean War and takes home with him several more memories that have a great effect upon him as well. Years later he becomes a respected writer and while giving a speech on the Juche system has his perspective challenged by a young man in the auditorium. Having never seen North Korea he realizes that in order to meet his own high standard of journalism he must travel there and see for himself whether his opinion is valid or not.


Pulgasari
1986 · 1h 35m
country: North Korea
In feudal Korea, a group of starving villagers grow weary of the orders handed down to them by their controlling king and set out to use a deadly monster under their control to push his armies back.


Salt
1985 · 1h 36m
country: North Korea
Set in Gando in the 1930s, a family hides a wealthy Chinese-Korean merchant while the father is killed in a fight between the Japanese police and Chinese bandits. The wife believes the communists are the cause of her husband's death.


The Tale of Shim Cheong
1985 · 1h 40m
country: North Korea
Musical film based on the traditional story of the same name.


Love, Love, My Love
1985 · 2h 43m
country: North Korea
The plot is based on the Korean folk tale, The Tale of Chunhyang. Chunhyang falls in love with the upper-class Ri Mong-ryong, but they must marry in secret. Mong-ryong is sent away to become a government official. While he is away, Chunhyang is imprisoned by a corrupt governor. Mong-ryong returns just in time to save her from execution and the two can publicly proclaim their love.


Runaway
1984 · 1h 45m
country: North Korea
Song Ryul returns to the countryside to see his ill father. After his cousin conspires with the Japanese occupiers to sell their crop, Song Ryul is forced to emigrate to Kando (Jiandao) in Manchuria. His family faces numerous adversities there and after a row with a local pharmacist, he is imprisoned. The prison is raided by Kim Il-sung and his guerrillas, who free the inmates, who take revenge on the Japanese by blowing up a railway.


An Emissary of No Return
1984 · 2h 12m
country: North Korea
An Emissary of No Return retells the story of a real historical event in 1907 known as the Hague Secret Emissary Affair. Korea had been colonized by Japan. In order to protest to the international community, the Korean emperor king Gojong sent three secret emissaries to the talks of the Hague Convention of 1907, to get the great powers to overturn the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905.


Woman Prisoner No. 407 II
1976 · 1h 40m
country: South Korea
Japan conquers China just before WW2 starts. Chinese women are captured and placed in concentration camps, where they are tortured and humiliated. Some try to escape incurring enormous risks, and death if they fail.


Woman Prisoner No. 407
1976 · 1h 34m
country: South Korea
Kang-hie recalls from her cell how she was used by Japanese detectives to track down and destroy the Korean Independence fighters. She manages to escape from prison during a break and proceeds to hunt down her former lover who was a Japanese agent.
I Love Mama
I Love Mama
1975 · 1h 52m
country: South Korea
1975 Korean film


Blood and Rose
1975
country: South Korea
Blood and Rose is a Hong Kong Action movie starring Yuen Biao


The Ghost Lovers
1973 · 1h 30m
country: South Korea
A woman reaches out from the beyond to marry the man she loves. It isn't until later that he begins to suspect that his new wife is actually dead.


Farewell
1973 · 1h 32m
country: South Korea


The Three-Day Reign
1973 · 2h 12m
country: South Korea
During the last days of the Yi dynasty, conflict arises between the China-leaning conservatives, and the Western-learning and Japan-leaning reformers over how to rule Korea in the future. The reformer Kim Okgyun helps persuade the king to announce Korea's independence, breaking with China. When a conservative agent informs China, Chinese troops enter Korea and end the reign of independence after three days.


Filial Daughter Simcheong
1972 · 2h
country: South Korea
A 1972 film directed by Shin Sang-ok and starring Yoon Jung-hee. For this film, Yoon Jeong hee won the Best Actress Award at the 10th Blue Dragon Film Awards in 1973.


Lady of the Court
1972 · 1h 49m
country: South Korea
When King Myeong-jong dies, his son takes the throne and the old king's concubines are expelled. One of the concubines becomes pregnant. Believing that only she knows the true father, she claims the unborn child is the former kings and has a claim to the throne. The enemies of the new king, ignoring facts, decide to support her claim and threaten to start a civil war.


The Last Flight to Pyongyang
1972 · 2h 10m
country: Unknown
Major Jo Jin-hyang is assigned to training the air force cadets for dangerous bombing runs to Pyeongyang. His sister, a communication officer, falls in love with one of the cadets despite Jin-hyang's warnings that her lover may not survive even his first mission.


War and Human Being
1971
country: Unknown
During the Japanese colonial period, Jinho, a Korean student, marries Sakiko, the daughter of Japanese army colonel Fukube. When it is revealed that Jinho is Korean, Fukube assigns Jinho to a unit in North Manchuria. In response, Jinho escapes from his unit and hides in the mountains with Sakiko.


A Ghost Story of Joseon Dynasty
1970 · 1h 21m
country: South Korea
Prince Yeonsan-gun attempts to sexually harass Yahwa, the wife of Yun Pil-u who was beheaded after being branded as a traitor. Yahwa commits a suicide following her husband but, before she dies, has already asked her cat to make revenge. Since that time, the bodies of the court ladies and the patrol guards are found every morning and ghosts of Pil-u and Yahwa regularly appear along with the mewing sound of the cat. Kim Chung-won, head of the guardsmen and also a former friend of Pil-u, borrows the supernatural power of a senior Buddhist priest and succeeds in getting rid of the ghosts for the peace of the nation.


The Evening Bell
1970
country: South Korea
The son of a mute couple succeeds in getting a good job, but is dismayed when he learns that he may have gotten the job, not based on his business skill, but on his ability to speak sign language. This rumor comes about because the boss has a deaf daughter whom he wants to marry off as soon as possible.


The Eunuch 2
1969
country: South Korea
After Queen Shin is dethroned, a power struggle erupts among King Jung-jong's concubines who hope to take the queen's place. Song Min-dol, a eunuch who despises the way the court treats him, introduces his sister to the king in the hopes that she can claim the throne. However, he is unaware that by doing so, he has signed her death warrent and unintentionally causes the deaths of everyone he cares about


Women of Yi-Dynasty
1969 · 1h 36m
country: South Korea
Four short stories examing the lives of women in the last 18th and 19th century Story 1: 'Wives Should Be Submissive'--A father tries to marry his daughter into a wealthy family. Story 2: 'A Daughter-In-Law Is No Better Than A Stranger'--A woman thinks that her daughter-in-law has turned her son against her so she tries to kill the younger woman. Story 3: '7 Grounds For Divorce'--A wife begins an affair with her servant because of her husband's impotency Story 4: 'Prohibit Sex In Court'--A concubine's life is at risk when it is revealed that her infant child is not the king's.


A Thousand Year-Old Fox
1969 · 1h 29m
country: South Korea
Once upon a time, under the reign of the three kingdoms, there was a woman who tempts a Buddhist priest named Cho. She is a one-thousand-year-old fox who intends to reincarnate as a human being. Not knowing this, Cho lives with the fox. But in the end, they get separated harboring sadness of unfulfilled love in this world.
The Snake Woman
The Snake Woman
1969 · 1h 40m
country: South Korea
An aged snake turns to a beautiful woman after the devil's order, and tempts a young Buddhist monk. The two marries, and gives birth to a son. The snake tries to kill her husband to obey the devil's order, but she can't because of the love she built with the man. The devil turns the snake into a stone. But with the help of a Buddha, she turns back to a human, living happily after with the monk.


A Man And a Gisaeng
1969 · 1h 26m
country: South Korea
A young man who was fired from his job for being unmanly decides to dress as a woman and work as a gisaeng. He gets proposals from several of his male clients including his former boss, Heo. He earns enough money to clear his gisaeng life and opens his own business with his friend Jeong-hui. Meanwhile his sister tells him that she is getting married. Later he finds out that her future brother in-law is the son of Heo. He doesn't know how to react. But Heo takes the man back to his company.


The Eunuch
1968 · 1h 33m
country: South Korea
A nobleman sends his daughter to the king as a concubine in order to gain personal power and favors from the monarch. Her lover follows her into the palace disguised as a eunuch. They continue to meet in secret until discovered and sentenced to death.


The Homeless Wanderer
1968 · 1h 37m
country: South Korea
A Manchurian Action movie modeled on George Stevens' "Shane."


Prince Daewon
1968 · 2h
country: South Korea
When King Cheol-jang dies, the throne passes to his son King Ko-jang but, because he is considered to be too inexperienced, his ambitious uncle rules as regent. The rightful king's wife, the politically brilliant Queen Min, refuses to accept this situation and brings about the uncle's exile in order to secure the throne.


Mountain
1967 · 1h 31m
country: Unknown
A man dedicated to exploring a mining region in the foothills of Mountain Taebaek goes to Seoul to secure investment. On train for Seoul he meets an owner of a cafe. The lady lends her life savings to the man charmed by the strong-willed man. He returns to the mountains, at last finds the mining vein and succeeds in developing one of Korea's biggest mines.


Traces
1967 · 1h 20m
country: South Korea
A Japanese fine art teacher helps a Korean independence fighter to escape from a threat of being arrested by the Japanese police. The Korean man introduces him a gisaeng (Koran geisha) who learned Korean traditional court dance and he falls in love with her. However she hates Japanese because her parents were killed in the war.


Mounted Bandits
1967
country: Unknown
During the Japanese occupation of Korea, the daughter of a British diplomat is kidnapped by bandits. A Japanese commander offers to free some Korean prisoners of war if the Korean Independence Army rescues the woman.


The Violator
1967 · 1h 31m
country: South Korea
Cinematized version of Lee Kwang-su's novel, which tells the story of the dream Josin had, a Buddhist monk at Naksan temple in the era of the Three Kingdoms. In his dream, Josin lives in anxiety and agonizes over a woman. In the process, he lives his whole life and becomes enlightened.


The Phantom Queen
1967 · 1h 57m
country: South Korea
King Kong-min tried to govern the country wisely but, after the death of his wife, he neglects hs state duties. Most of the important decisions to be made fall to the king's retainer Shin Dong, who is more interested in women than politics and the kingdom soon falls into chaos.


The Goddess of Mercy
1967 · 1h 37m
country: Hong Kong
With her elegant classic persona, Li Li-hua was the ideal performer for period aristocratic and imperial roles. The Goddess Of Mercy is a good example of her strong empathy and noble presence. The youngest daughter of a brutal king, the princess openly disapproves of the floggings and cruel treatment her royal family heaps on the peasants. As a result, the heartless king turns on his own daughter forcing her into exile.


The Story of Bae Local Offcial
1965 · 1h 35m
country: South Korea


Deaf Sam Yong
1964 · 1h 25m
country: South Korea
The film is based on the 1925 short story of the same title by Na Do-hyang and revolves around the story of a deaf farm hand who is in love with a landlord's daughter-in-law.


Red Scarf
1964 · 1h 46m
country: South Korea
South Korean Air Force pilots engage in perilous missions against Communist North Koreans during the Korean War.


Rice
1963 · 2h 5m
country: South Korea
The poor farmers of Muju in Cheonbuk Province cannot get enough water to irrigate their rice. They attempt many times to build a canal to the Geum River, but fail each time. After the military coup of 1962 however, the government gives its full support and helps the villagers succeed


A Reluctant Prince
1963 · 2h 7m
country: South Korea
When King Heon-kong falls ill, a power struggle erupts over who will inherit the throne. Tired of all the infighting, the ministers arrange for a branch of the king's family, which had lost all its wealth and was living on remote Ganghwa Island, to inherit. But the heir to the throne is reluctant to leave his island home.


Love Affair
1963 · 2h 5m
country: Unknown
When two wives realize that their wealthy and otherwise upstanding husbands have mistresses, they invite the 'other women' to stay in their houses for awhile. Realizing that they are breaking up happy families, the girls eventually agree to give up the married men.


Bound by Chastity Rule
1962 · 1h 41m
country: South Korea
The widow of a nobleman bears a son after having an affair with her servant. The servant and the baby are driven from the home by the woman's irate in-laws when the truth is discovered. Even after the child is grown, no contact is allowed between he and his mother who now denies the events of her past.


Tyrant Yeonsan
1962 · 2h 12m
country: South Korea
Prince Yeonsan-gun turns into a tyrant out of grief for his mother's death. He orders beheadings of all the officials who displease him or who advised the previous king to depose the queen. He becomes crueler by the day. But in 10th year of his reign, he is kicked out of the throne and dies a tragic death.


Prince Yeonsan
1961 · 2h 13m
country: South Korea
A historical drama about Prince Yeon-san of Joseon as a prince trying to restore the status of his mother, the deposed and executed Queen Yun.


The Evergreen
1961 · 2h 22m
country: South Korea
Yeong-shin and Dong-hyuk graduate from college with a cause. They plan to bring education and modernization to farmers living in the rural area of their hometown. When they arrive, the pair immediately get to work, Dong-hyuk builds a village hall and starts aiding the farmers while Yeong-shin tries to gather the children to form a school. However, the villagers at first resent and resist the pair. It is not until one child, Ok-bun, takes the initiative and and learns to read under Yeong-shin’s care that the villages trust the pair and allow their children to be taken from the fields and taught reading, writing and math.


Mother and a Guest
1961 · 1h 43m
country: South Korea
Six-year-old Ok Hee is glad when Mr. Han comes to board at her house full of women. She plays messenger for Mr. Han and her widowed mother as they quietly fall in love, but is her support enough to guard their love?


Seong Chun-hyang
1961 · 2h 24m
country: South Korea
Chun-hyang, the only daughter of an old gisaeng named Wolmae, falls in love with Lee Mong-nyong and promises to marry him. But Lee leaves for Seoul with his father who's an aristocrat, and the new governor, Byeon Hakdo, covets Chun-hyang because she is the most beautiful girl in town. When Chun-hyang rejects his order to serve him at night, Governor Byeon sends her to jail. In the mean time, Lee passes the state exam and becomes a special undercover agent of the king. He comes back to where Chun-hyang lives to save her and punishes Governor Byeon.


Madam White Snake
1960 · 1h 40m
country: South Korea
A thousand-year-old snake that has transformed itself into a human, Madame White Snake (Choe Eun-hui), falls in love with a young pharmacist named Heo-Seon. Although they encounter difficulties, they are wed, and their love for each other does not change. However, Beophaeseonsa (a Zen priest) and Gwaneumbosal (the Buddhist goddess of mercy) order Madame White Snake, who had transformed into human without being granted permission to do so, to return back to the world of the gods before July 7. Grieving, she prepares to say goodbye to her beloved husband. But before she can return to the world of the gods in time, she falls into a trap set by Dae-yun (Choe Sam), who is attracted to her. Because of the trap, she is not able to keep the promised deadline, and ends up risking her life to save her husband.


To the Last Day
1960 · 1h 49m
country: South Korea
Captain Kim is grievously wounded in the first days of the war. When the northern troops continue their advance, his wife and small daughters flee south to Taegu, dragging him along in a two-wheel handcart. His wife struggles to keep herself and their surviving daughter alive. Working as a market trader, she meets a kind young man -- who happens to be tall, dark and handsome.


Romance Papa
1960 · 2h 11m
country: South Korea
A middle-aged man is laid off from work but is too proud to tell his family. His children, however, learn of the situation and take jobs of their own to help him save face.


Independence Association and Young Rhee Syngman
1959 · 2h 13m
country: South Korea
The life of Lee Seung-man, a freedom fighter who struggled to liberate Korea from Japanese rule.


A Sister's Garden
1959 · 1h 48m
country: South Korea
Dr. Nam, in his will, requests that his eldest daughter, Jeong-hui(Choe Eun-hui), marry a painter named Dong-su (Nam Gung-won). Jeong-hui is at risk of losing her house due to her father's debt, and a young physician Sun-cheol (Kim Seok-hun) who received his college education with the financial support of Dr. Nam, helps her by selling his own house. Despite his love for her, Sun-cheol cannot express his feelings because he knows of the request in her father's will. When Jeong-hui looks for a job to support her family, Bang, whom Dr. Nam once cured, offers her a position of saloon madam. Meanwhile, her younger sister Myeong-hui (Choe Ji-hui) promises Dong-su her hand in marriage. Jeong-hui, now running the saloon, wishes them happiness. It is only when she gets a proposal from Bang and decides to accept it that Sun-cheol confesses his love for her. Moved by Sun-cheol's true affection for her, Bang gives her up, and Sun-cheol and Jeong-hui exchange vows of marriage.


Dongsimcho
1959 · 2h 6m
country: South Korea
Lee Suk-hui (Choe Eun-hui) lost her husband to the Korean War eight years ago. She runs a dressmaking shop that has fallen into debt. When Kim Sang-gyu (Kim Jin-gyu), the executive director of a publishing company, helps her pay off debts, she falls in love with him. He, however, is engaged to the daughter of his boss, Ok-ju (Do Geum-bong). His sister (Ju Jeung-nyeo) pushes him to marry the boss's daughter, hoping that will bring him rapid success. Meanwhile, Suk-hui's grown-up daughter Gyeong-hui, wanting her mother to be happy, urges her mother to marry Sang-gyu, but Suk-hui vacillates between social mores and her own happiness. Even though she and Sang-gyu truly love each other, she decides to leave him and heads for her country home after selling her house in Seoul. Hearing the news, he who is ill in bed hurries to Seoul station, but it is too late. All he can do is just to stand on the platform and to watch her train pulling away.


Chun Hui
1959
country: Unknown
A young man is in love with a waitress, but his father opposes their relationship. The father approaches the waitress telling her that if she truly loved his son, she would abandon him. She submits to the father's wish, though she is dying from tuberculosis.


It's Not Her Sin
1959 · 1h 44m
country: South Korea
After the woman who nearly killed her is brought to trial, Eun-hie finds that she must take the stand to give evidence. However, the defense attempts to turn the tables on her by revealing her sordid past and trying to make it seem as if she deserved what happened to her.


A College Woman's Confession
1958 · 2h 2m
country: South Korea
Choi So-young (Choi Eun-hee), a poor female law student is in trouble because her grandmother, who had been sending her tuition money, passes away. With the help of her friend Hee-suk, (Kim Suk-il) who dreams of becoming a writer, So-young fools Choi Rim (Kim Seung-ho), a lawmaker, into believing she is his daughter and moves in his house.


The Flower in Hell
1958 · 1h 28m
country: South Korea
In post-Korean War Seoul, a young man from the countryside discovers that his older brother has become romantically involved in a prostitute and has no intentions of returning home.


The Shadowless Pagoda
1957 · 1h 57m
country: South Korea
On the eighth of April of King Gyoeng-deok's 10th year of the reign of the Unified Silla Period, Guseulagi, a daughter of Yu Jong, joins the king's parade to Bulguksa Temple, where she meets a stonemason named Asadal from Buyeo. Having a crush on him, she visits Sakyamuni Pagoda, a masonic site; only to find that Asadal had broken down from exhaustion. While she takes care of him, her love for him grows. But Asadal misses his wife who is waiting for him in Buyeo. Meanwhile, Geum Seong who has a crush on Guseulagi, asks his father, Geum Ji, to propose on behalf of him. But Yu Jong is so dissatisfied with Geum Ji because he is a treacherous subject, that he turns down the proposal, instead of hurrying up his daughter's marriage with Gyeongsin, a faithful subject. Asanyeo who has been waiting for her husband Asadal in Buyeo goes to Bulguksa Temple after her father-in-law had died.


The Youth
1955 · 1h 29m
country: South Korea
In the latter years of the Korean Empire, Lee In Hwa, disguises herself as a man so she can join a group of young men determined to overthrow the colonial government. They fight together with young national activists presided by Hwal Min and supported by Daewon-gun, the Prince Regent, against Min Gyeom Ho and his peers. But Min and his team perform a surprise attack on Hwal Min and his peers.


Dream
1955 · 1h 13m
country: South Korea
A young Buddhist monk, Jo Sin, is attracted to Tae-su's daughter, Dal-lye. He hopes to marry her, but she becomes Mo-rye Hwa-rang's wife. One day she secretly leaves the temple and runs away with Jo Sin. Hwa-rang finds out about it and is ready to take revenge on him. Jo Sin shouts out loud and realizes that he had just had a dream.