External links
- The Korea Times interview May 9, 2006
 | This article about a Korean actor is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Bae Eun-sik is a resident of Incheon, South Korea who has acted as North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in movies, television shows, and commercials.
Bae's career began in 2000 when he won a Kim look-alike contest in Seoul. "When inter-Korean relations flourished after the 2000 summit, I was swamped with proposals to appear in movies, ads, television talk shows and media interviews. But when the ties frayed, I was forgotten and had a hard life," said Bae in The Korea Times .
A fellow Kim impersonator, Kim Young-sik, called himself a "rising star" in contrast to the "falling star" of Bae. "I am a real celebrity. I've just heard there is another man who claims he resembles Kim Jong-il the most, but I don't think so." said Bae, in a reference to Kim Young-sik. Bae takes his job seriously, adjusting his appearance to match that of the chairman. "When I recently saw a newspaper picture of the leader, who apparently has lost a considerable amount of hair and whose face looked rather pale, I felt sorry for him. If he loses his weight, I also have to go on a diet."
| | This article about a Korean actor is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Kim Jong-il was a North Korean politician who served as the second Supreme Leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Kim Il-sung, the first Supreme Leader, until his own death in 2011, when he was succeeded by his son, Kim Jong-un.
Kim Jong-nam was the eldest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. From roughly 1994 to 2001, he was considered the heir apparent to his father. He was thought to have fallen out of favour after embarrassing the regime in 2001 with a failed attempt to visit Tokyo Disneyland with a false passport, although Kim Jong-nam himself said his loss of favour had been due to advocating reform.
Choi Min-sik is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his critically acclaimed roles in Oldboy (2003), I Saw the Devil (2010), and The Admiral: Roaring Currents (2014). He also starred alongside Scarlett Johansson in the 2014 film Lucy.
Kim Young-sik is a Seoul engraver of Oriental seals who impersonates North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. Ever since his sister-in-law teased the businessman's sagging form as a likeness to the chairman, Kim Young-sik has portrayed Kim Jong-il at every opportunity, in movies, television shows, commercials, and for personal appearances. "When someone tells me I don't resemble Kim Jong-il in certain respects, I'm unhappy," said Kim in The Korea Times. Unlike his more cosmetically enhanced competitor Bae Eun-sik, "I am a natural," Kim told the Los Angeles Times. "I didn't have to perm my hair. I didn't need plastic surgery. Even my family name, Kim, didn't have to be changed. Sometimes I feel like I am Kim Jong-il." Kim, whose stated goal is to have the leader say, "Little Brother, come and see me," affirms, "I wouldn't want Kim Jong-il to be offended by anything I do. I don't want to portray him as an evil person."
My Son is a 2007 South Korean film written and directed by Jang Jin, starring Cha Seung-won and Ryu Deok-hwan. For his performance, Cha won Best Actor at the 15th Chunsa Film Art Awards in 2007.
Kenji Fujimoto is the pen name of a Japanese chef who was the personal sushi chef of former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il from 1988 to 2001. Fujimoto published a memoir in 2003 entitled I was Kim Jong-il's Cook, detailing many of his experiences with Kim Jong-il. The veracity of his claims have been doubted by skeptics. However, Fujimoto correctly predicted that Kim Jong-un would be appointed as his father's successor as Supreme Leader instead of Kim Jong-nam, which was contrary to the prevailing consensus of experts on North Korean politics. Fujimoto's prediction proved true in December 2011.
Closer to Heaven is a 2009 South Korean film written and directed by Park Jin-pyo, starring Ha Ji-won and Kim Myung-min.
Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time is a 2012 South Korean gangster film directed by Yoon Jong-bin starring Choi Min-sik and Ha Jung-woo. The film is set in the 1980s and ’90s in Busan when corruption and crime was so rampant that the government declared war on it in 1990.
The death of Kim Jong-il was reported by North Korean state television news on 19 December 2011. The presenter Ri Chun-hee announced that he had died on 17 December at 8:30 am of a massive heart attack while travelling by train to an area outside Pyongyang. Reportedly, he had received medical treatment for cardiac and cerebrovascular diseases. During the trip though, he was said to have had an "advanced acute myocardial infarction, complicated with a serious heart shock".
Pure Pumpkin Flower is South Korean television series starring Lee Chung-ah, Bae Jong-ok, Jin Tae-hyun and Jang Hyun-sung. It aired on SBS on Mondays to Fridays at 19:20 from November 15, 2010 to May 13, 2011 for 124 episodes.
Goodbye Solo is a 2006 South Korean television series starring Chun Jung-myung, Yoon So-yi, Kim Min-hee, Bae Jong-ok, Lee Jae-ryong, Kim Nam-gil, and Na Moon-hee. It aired on KBS2 from March 1 to April 20, 2006 on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55 for 16 episodes.
The Kim family, referred to as the Mount Paektu bloodline in the ideological discourse of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), is a three-generation lineage of North Korean leadership descending from the country's first leader, Kim Il-sung. In 1948, Kim Il-sung came to rule the North after the end of Japanese rule in 1945 split the region. He began the Korean War in 1950 in a failed attempt to reunify the Korean Peninsula. By the 1980s, Kim Il-sung had developed a cult of personality closely tied to the North Korean state philosophy of Juche. Kim Il-sung's cult of personality was passed on to his son and successor Kim Jong-il following his death in 1994, and then to his grandson Kim Jong-un following Kim Jong-il's death in 2011.
I Am a Dad, also known as I Am Father, is a 2011 South Korean action drama film co-directed by Jeon Man-bae and Lee Se-yeong, and written by Yoon Hyeon-ho. It stars Kim Seung-woo as a corrupt cop who frames innocent people. But when his daughter gets injured because of his work and needs a heart transplant, he discovers that the heart would come from the wife of a magician he framed for murder.
My Dictator is a 2014 South Korean film directed and co-written by Lee Hae-jun, starring Sol Kyung-gu and Park Hae-il.
The abduction of Shin Sang-ok and Choi Eun-hee occurred in North Korea between 1978 and 1986. Shin Sang-ok was a famous South Korean film director married to actress Choi Eun-hee. Together, they established Shin Film and made many films through the 1960s which garnered recognition for South Korea at various film festivals. In 1978, Choi was abducted in Hong Kong and taken to North Korea to the country's future supreme leader Kim Jong-il. The abduction of Shin followed six months later.
The Chase is a 2017 South Korean crime thriller film about a landowner who teams up with a former detective to chase after the suspect of a 30-year-old unsolved case. The film was directed by Kim Hong-seon and stars Baek Yoon-sik and Sung Dong-il.
The Fiery Priest is a 2019 South Korean television series starring Kim Nam-gil, Kim Sung-kyun, Lee Hanee, Go Joon and Keum Sae-rok. It was the first drama to air on SBS's Fridays and Saturdays, airing from February 15 to April 20, 2019.
When the Camellia Blooms is a 2019 South Korean television series starring Gong Hyo-jin, Kang Ha-neul, Kim Ji-seok, Son Dam-bi, Kim Kang-hoon. It aired on KBS2's Wednesdays and Thursdays at 22:00 (KST) time slot from September 18 to November 21, 2019. Each episode was released on Netflix in South Korea and most Asia-Pacific and English speaking countries after their television broadcast.
Undercover is a 2021 South Korean television series directed by Song Hyeon-wook and starring Ji Jin-hee, Kim Hyun-joo, Jung Man-sik and Han Go-eun. The series following the story of Han Jeong-hyeon, an agent at the National Intelligence Service and a Human Rights lawyer, Choi Yeon-soo, is a remake of 2016 BBC television drama series of the same name. It premiered on JTBC on April 23, 2021 and aired on Friday and Saturday at 23:00 (KST) till June 12. The series is also available on streaming media TVING in South Korea. Kim Hyun-joo and Ji Jin-hee previously starred together in Miss Kim's Million Dollar Quest (2004) and I Have a Lover (2015).
The Devil Judge is a South Korean television series starring Ji Sung, Kim Min-jung, Park Jin-young and Park Gyu-young. It aired on tvN from July 3 to August 22, 2021 for 16 episodes. A webtoon adaptation is also in the works.