Born in 1971, Kang Yunsung was a fan of actor Yoon Sukhwa on TV when he was a teenager, and that’s how he first considered entering the film industry. Even though he ultimately decided to major in physics in order to follow in the footsteps of his father, it was the activities of the film club of his university that would hold his interest. Watching Quentin Tarentino’s <Reservoir Dogs> (1992) while on a leave from his military service dispelled any remaining doubt. ...More

Born in 1971, Kang Yunsung was a fan of actor Yoon Sukhwa on TV when he was a teenager, and that’s how he first considered entering the film industry. Even though he ultimately decided to major in physics in order to follow in the footsteps of his father, it was the activities of the film club of his university that would hold his interest. Watching Quentin Tarentino’s <Reservoir Dogs> (1992) while on a leave from his military service dispelled any remaining doubt. His mind was set on becoming a film director himself, and so he first gave it a try in 1996 with a short named <Charlie Brown>, shot on 16mm film, made while taking a video editing workshop. As soon as he completed his bachelor’s degree, Kang crossed the Pacific to study at the Academy Art University, in San Francisco. As part of his filmmaking courses, he made in 1998 the short movie <Negative Image>, which was later selected for the Indie Forum and the Busan International Short Film Festival. He established there his own film production company, 4enter Films, and was well into the preproduction work for his debut feature with a complete script, but the main investor had to withdraw from the project at the last moment when its CEO was charged with corruption. When a Korean studio expressed interest in one of Kang Yunsung’s screenplays, he took the difficult decision to fly back to Korea even if he had yet to graduate and spent the next year working on that project. Misfortune stroke again, though, when he was informed that the studio went bankrupt. His chance to work on a film finally came when the producer of <Please Teach Me English> (2003) brought him on board as an assistant director, his good command in English proving a great asset for a romcom that is all about Korean people struggling with the English language. After that, he provided some help in the production side of <Hearty Paws> in 2005 and shot in 2007 a documentary on the retirement concert of Korean rock legend Shin Junghyun, while feature film projects of his own continued to be cancelled one after the other. In order to supplement the meagre income he was earning with his screenplays and treatments, he would produce promotional videos for schools, restaurants and small businesses, as well as music videos. One day, a friend introduced him to an actor who also used to live in the U.S. and was at the time debuting in Korea, who turned out to be no other than Don Lee. As they became very close, Ma suggested that they work together on a cop film that takes after the Korean cult film <Two Cops> (1993). Kang liked the idea and eventually brought it to life in 2017 in <THE OUTLAWS>, finally breaking the curse that has been plaguing him for 17 years. The movie was a hit both commercially and critically, allowing him to be named Best New Director by both the Korean Association of Film Critics and the Directors Guild of Korea, on top of a Best New Director trophy from the Baeksang Arts Awards. The film spawned two sequels, for which directing duties were transferred to Lee Sangyong, who was first assistant director on the first film, since Kang was busy working on another project, the action drama <Long Live the King> (2019). In 2022, he took on a new challenge by directing the Choi Minsik-led Disney+ original series <Casino>.Less