KMovie Based On True Story

Based on the "Salt Farm Slaves" incident that shocked the world in 2014.

Read more about it here:
Slavery on salt farms in Sinan County
S. Korean court says government must pay salt farm slaves

Inspired by true event, the suicide of actress Jang Ja Yeon in 2009.

Based on the real-life events of the Second Battle of Yeonpyeong.

Based on the 2000 "Iksan murder case" where a teenage boy was falsely accused of the murder of a taxi driver and spent 10 years in prison.

Based on the real events of Roh Moo Hyun, who was South Korea's ninth president, who later became an activist. The events took place in Busan, 1978.

Inspired by real-life convicted serial killer and self-confessed cannibal, Yoo Young Chul. It was shot on location around Mangwon-dong in the Mapo District, Seoul.

When two friends are suspected of murder, it could turn into a “he said, she said” situation which is what happened in The Case of Itaewon Homicide. In the actual murder which was called the Itaewon Burger King Murder, Arthur Patterson and Edward Lee were accused of fatally stabbing Hongik college student Jo Jung Pil in 1997.

- Kajo Mag -

Based on the real-life first South Korean jury trial that took place back in 2018.

During the trial of a man charged with killing his mother in December 2008, the first jury found him not guilty (real case). The rate of not guilty verdicts has been three times higher in trials with juries than without. At the present, the National Assembly is discussing an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Law that requires the judges to follow the jury's verdict.

Based on the true story of German reporter Jürgen Hinzpeter and Korean taxi driver Kim Sa Bok. Jürgen Hinzpeter covered the Gwangju Uprising, which took place from May 18-27, 1980 in Gwangju, South Korea. It not only re-ignited interest in the Gwangju Uprising, but also helped surface the real-life taxi driver’s identity (which previously nobody knew).

- AsianWiki & Cinema Escapist -

Based on real events from the regime of Yeonsan-gun aka Prince Yeonsan, the 10th king of Korea's Joseon Dynasty.

Based on the real story of Crown Prince Sado and King Yeongjo of the Joseon dynasty.

Based on real events, the movie takes place in Korea from the 1950s to the 1980s.

Based on the real-life events of the Battle of Inchon, although it presents a fictionalized version of the historical CIA/US military intelligence operation "Trudy Jackson", conducted before the actual landing operation.

- Wikipedia -

Inspired by the important national events – the IMF crisis, the authoritarian brutality in the ‘80s, the 1980 Gwangju Democratization Movement, and more.

Inspired by real events, but the story itself is fictional.

"A pipeline is an underground network for transporting gasoline. South Korea's pipeline system is about 1,200km long. Crude oil from overseas is refined at various refineries, and is transported to major cities via pipeline every week. There are those who drill into it to syphon oil and make money. They're known as 'moles'."

Based on a true story of a basketball team in a high school in Busan.  

Inspired by real events about student movements, take place in Busan in 1974.

After 1945, the student movements were mainly concerned with righting alleged wrongs in the Korean government. Students rose for instance against the South Korea's government of Syngman Rhee after the allegedly rigged elections in March 1960. 1980 marked a turning point in the South Korean student movement.

- Wikipedia -

Based on the life of legendary wrestler Rikidozan (November 14, 1924 - December 15, 1963). Born as Kim Shin Rak in South Hamgyong, Korea, Shin Rak immigrated to Japan at the age of 17, changed his name to Mitsuhiro Momota and became a sumo wrestler. But upon finding out that only native-born Japanese could become Yokozuna, or grand champion, he left Japan’s national sport to become a professional wrestler. Thus he became the godfather of pro wrestling in Japan, and under his guidance, pro wrestling would become the most popular sport in Japan.

- AsianWiki -

Adapted from the 2007 stage play Haemoo, which in turn was based on the true story of 25 Korean-Chinese illegal immigrants who suffocated to death in the storage tank of the fishing vessel Taechangho; their bodies were dumped by the ship's crew into the sea southwest of Yeosu on October 7, 2001.

- Wikipedia -

Based on the "Blue Whale Challenge" that took place in Russia. It's estimated that this game caused 130 suicide victims in Russia. The creator of the game, Phillip Budeikin, was arrested and was sentenced to 3 years in prison.

Inspired by actual events and based on a true story that revolves around the serious social issue of child abuse.

Based on a true story about one of the summer camps that took place in 1986. In the 1980s, the South Korean government ran a series of summer camps. The idea was for ethnically Korean students who were growing up in foreign lands to become more aware of  their Korean heritage (language, culture etc). 

Based loosely on director/writer Kim Tae Yong's experiences.

Based on the novel by Gong Ji Young and inspired by actual events at Gwangju Inhwa School for the hearing-impaired where students were sexually assaulted by the school staff over a period of 5 years in the early 2000s. 

Based on the true story of Unit 684, a unit created in April 1968 to retaliate against North Korea following the North’s attempt to assassinate President Park Chung Hee in Seoul on January 21, 1968. The men recruited for the special unit were outcasts, ex-convicts and prisoners on death row, chosen by the South Korean government to extract vengeance by murdering the North Korean leader, Kim Il Sung. The main incentive for the thirty one ex-criminals was to wipe their criminals records clean and start a brand new life as promised by the government. On August 23, 1971 twenty three men headed to the presidential office of Cheong Wae Dae to revolt against their own president, Park Chung Hee. The government declared a state of emergency as the armed men seized buses and rampaged their way through police blockades, killing a police officer and an innocent young bystander.

- AsianWiki -

Based on when Korea was under Japanese colonial rule (1910-45) and had comfort women. It was theatrically released on March 1, 2017, also known as the Independence Movement Day in South Korea, which commemorates the 1919 March 1st Movement.

Based on Korean musical “Rho Ki Soo,” written by Jang Woo Sung and directed by Kim Tae Hyung. The film has become even more meaningful for having reignited interest for the Geoje city prison camp used in the Korean War 1951, which was not as well-known in the past. The film has also sparked interest for revealing that Werner Bischof’s photo of the prisoners of war dancing with masks on was one of the beginnings of the film “Swing Kids.”

Based on true historical events.

"What one might not expect is a history lesson as The Swordsman begins in Lunar Year 1623 and with the removal of King Gwanghae from his leadership position in Joseon, a part of the Korean dynastic kingdom lasting from approximately 1392 – 1897. Using the history as the basis for the story allows The Swordsman to include a disclaimer proclaiming the narrative as based on true historical fact, though the lengths of this statement is difficult to discern, and requires the story to do a lot of groundwork to set up the necessary pieces for the logline to come to fruition."

- Elements of Madness -

Based on historical event.

This documentary is a re-enactment of the Wonhaeng Eulmyo Jeongri Uigwe (원행을묘정리의궤), royal record of Jeongjo’s 8-day festival held in Suwon. The film truly catches the grandness of the festival with in all its details, with the dramatic life of Jeongjo and his feats as a backdrop.

- RealKoreans.com -

Based on the real battle that would end up going down in history as the Battle of Myeongnyang.

Based on a true story of the 1920 Battle of Bongodong, a confrontation between Korean independence fighters and Japanese forces, which is one of the most glorious moments in Korea’s history.

Based on a real-life 33-day kidnapping case in Busan in 1978. The first kidnapping occurred September 15, 1978 and the second kidnapping occurred April 14, 1979.

Based on a true story of Uhm Bok Dong, a Korean hero, and the winner from the time when Japan held a bicycle race in order to take over Korea during the Japanese Invasion.

Set in the summer of 2005 and based on some actual murders that took place around that time, Lee’s script reassembles the disembodied scraps of this morbid history into a conceit that cleverly blurs the thin blue line between cops and criminals

- IndieWire -

Based on Um Hong Gil's real life, primarily focusing on his mentorship of two other climbers.

Based on nonfiction novel “Namsanui Bujangdeul” by Kim Choong Sik (published from 1990 to 1992 in newspaper The Dong A Ilbo ). The novel covers the true story of KCIA director Kim Hyong-Uk and his disappearance.

Based on a 1990 novel by famed South Korean writer and dissident Hwang Sok Yong, The Old Garden offers an artistic and romantic (but still intense) mediation on the lasting traumas of Korean democratization.

Based on the true story of the “Heuksapa Incident” in 2007. Detectives arrested 32 people who were part of a criminal ring. The group consisted of ethnic Koreans who came from Yanbian, China.

A satiric black comedy movie about the events leading up to the assassination, as well as the aftermath of the event, of Park Chung Hee, the president of South Korea from 1963 to 1979.  

It was said that it was based on the true story of the paradigm Kang Myung Hwa, but it was said that 'the heightened feeling of vulgar decadence that was commonly popular in the past' (Daily News [aka Maeil Sinbo], reported on January 1, 1925) in the past.

Based on a true tale, the story of an ex-con who enters a house without being invited to live with a married couple with intellectual difficulties and a seven-year-old daughter.

It's loosely based on the true story of Park Chae Seo, a former South Korean agent with the code name of "Black Venus” who infiltrated North Korea's nuclear facilities.  

Based on a true story.

Based on a true story of the life of the internationally-acclaimed South Korean tenor, Bae Jae Chul.

This was the century's greatest red scandal that caused a stir in the ROK in 2014. 

Director Kim Sang Kyu takes a strictly depositional approach to the peculiar case of Eun Mi. He collects whatever random video footage was taken at the time relevant to these events, and edits it into a documentary telling the full story. "To Kill Alice" has no frills whatsoever, not even a narrator. The whole documentary is just a snapshot into what the South Korean political environment was like at the time.

Director's statement:
Most information about North Korea is controlled by the government and the media. The government only allows information good for sustaining its regime and security, the media only writes down it without a devotion for truth. In winter of 2014, South Korea was abuzz with outrage over the words of ‘pro-North Korea’, democracy and human rights were severely shaken. This film is about the media who lives in anger and hatred, the anticommunist state who separates non-citizen from citizen, and the people who are not free from it.

- HanCinema & SIDOF.org -

Loosely based on the reign of Gongnim of Goryeo (1330–1374), but it doesn't strictly comply with historical facts.

-Wikipedia-

Based on Korean history from 1979 to 2015 about a woman named Hong Jang Mi (lit. Hong Rose) who wants to be a singer. The movie revolves around Jang Mi and her daughter.