In late August the Indian film Kill (2023) went on release in Korea, which has garnered attention for its action sequences. Directed by Nikhil Nagesh Bhat, it premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2023 where it was the runner-up in the People’s Choice Award for Midnight Madness. It has since become an instant hit with genre fans across the world.

Akin to Korea’s own Train to Busan (2016), it takes a simple premise and dials up the action to full throttle as it tells a story of an army commando (Lakshya) who boards a New-Delhi-bound train with his colleague to derail an arranged marriage between the commando’s long-term girlfriend and another man. In so doing they come up against a gang of thieves who are terrorizing innocent passengers.

Korean action choreographer Se-young Oh was involved in the film collaborating with Indian action director Pravez Shaikh. The pair were credited for the film’s audacious action set-pieces by critics and programmers. Oh has an impressive list of credits to his name spanning more than two decades including Dream of a Warrior (2001), Blades of Blood (2009), War of the Arrows (2011) and Snowpiercer (2013). This week, therefore, we will profile some of the titles he has been involved in as we explore his career.

We will also examine some of the work of his peer Yoo Sang-seob who as a leading action choreographer in the Korean film industry has worked on films such as The Chaser (2008), Assassination (2015) and Hostage: Missing Celebrity (2021).

Se-yeong Oh

Beginning his career in the early 2000s as the Korean film industry was in the midst of transforming into a vibrant national cinema, Se-young Oh worked as a member of the action and stunt team for Park Hee-jun’s science action film Dream of a Warrior. He took on similar roles on features including Four Toes (2002), Emergency Measure 19 (2002), Addicted (2002), Sword in the Moon (2003) and My Wife Is a Gangster 2 (2003) - he was involved in ten projects between 2001 and 2003.

In 2004, Oh moved up the chain of command and became Action Director on Lee Han-yul’s comedy Magic Police Galgali and Okdongja (2004) and was working in the same capacity on Lee Joon-ik’s box office smash hit The King and the Clown (2005). He then continued working on dozens of films in various roles relating to his specialty of action choreography and as a stuntman as visual set pieces in Korean films were becoming more ambitious, especially in the 2010s.

In 2011, Oh won his first major award winning the technical award at the 32^nd Blue Dragon Awards for his fight choreography on Kim Han-min’s period action film War of the Arrows (2011). The gripping feature is reliant on its combat sequences between an archer played by Park Hae-il and the commander of the Qing Army (Ryu Seung-ryong) as the Korean man attempts to save his younger sister.

Superbly staged throughout, which gives the film a consistent tempo, the film was a box office success drawing in over 7 million viewers. Critically too, it was well received winning five Blue Dragon Awards out of 11 nominations.

In 2013, he worked on Bong Joon Ho’s first English-language project Snowpiercer (2013) as part of the team responsible for the film’s stunts, which take place within the confinements of a train circling the globe after Earth enters an ice-age. The film was a game-changer for the industry having been shot in overseas in Czechia using an international cast led by Chris Evans and Tilda Swinton with most of the dialogue in English.

Later that year, Won Shin-yun’s action spy feature The Suspect (2013) was released during the Christmas season, which also required extensive stunt work with Oh again involved in staging the challenging set-pieces. Reminiscent of the early Jason Bourne films with its story and visuals, the film centers on a North Korean spy (Gong Yoo) who defects to the South in search of his family’s killer and is later framed for the murder of the chairman of a conglomerate.

Se-yeong Oh 

In terms of scale, while A Hard Day (2013) directed by Kim Seong-hun - a project Oh worked on as stunt co-ordinator - might appear more modest in size, it was nevertheless innovative with its staging. This is illustrated in the film’s thrilling climax as the protagonist (Lee Sun-kyun) and antagonist (Cho Jin-woong) come head-to-head as a corrupt lieutenant seeks to bring down a detective (Lee Sun-kyun) who is going to come clean exposing his superior’s crimes.

Echoing his work on The Suspect, Oh was also involved in Kim Sung-hoon’s Confidential Assignment (2016) that was similarly an action film demanding numerous stunts and set-pieces. Featuring Hyun Bin as a North Korean operative teaming up with South Korean detectives to locate and bring down nefarious fugitive played by Kim Joo-hyuk, it sold more than 7.8 million tickets upon its release ahead of the lunar new year in 2017. It also spurned a sequel in 2022.

Also released in 2017 was Midnight Runners, a project Oh collaborated with director Jason Kim on as stunt coordinator. With its endearing rookie policemen played by Kang Ha-neul and Park Seo-joon who will stop at nothing to locate a young woman who has been kidnapped, it’s hard not to get swept into the film’s story. It was a surprise box office hit in the summer season accruing over 5.6 million admissions despite stiff competition. Chases and clashes abound, it’s visually impressive.

Epic in scale requiring daring stunts and choreography was Kim Kwang-sik’s period action film The Great Battle, a film that Oh is credited as stunt co-ordinator. It stars Zo in-sung as head of the Ansi Fortress who has to defend it against a huge army of the Tang Empire led by Emperor Li Shimin (Park Sung-woong). Set in the year 645, it depicts the siege of Ansi that lasted for eighty-eight days. It resonated with viewers amassing over 5.4 million admissions.

YOO Sang-seob 

Much like Oh Se-young, Yoo Sang-seob began his career in films having been involved in action choreography in the early 2000s with his first credit in this field on Cho Myoung-ha’s erotic thriller Chain (2000).  He was the action stunt co-ordinator on Kwak Kyung-taek’s Friend (2001), the immensely popular action film set in Busan about a group of childhood friends.

His other early credits include the ambitious science fiction films Resurrection of the Little Match Girl (2002) and Natural City (2003). He also was involved in the stunts in Jang Joon-hwan’s cult classic Save the Green Planet (2003) that features an unforgettable opening when Shin Ha-kyun’s character along with his girlfriend kidnap the CEO of a powerful company (Baek Yoon-sik) in a parking lot mixing slapstick comedy and action giving it an abundance of energy of eccentricity, which became emblematic of the era.

His subsequent credits were also significant, he was the lead choreographer on Kang Woo-suk’s Silmido (2003) that became the first Korean film to surpass 10 million admissions. In 2004 he was part of the team responsible for the spectacular stunts in Ryoo Seung-wan’s visually audacious and innovative Arahan (2004).  His credits during the 2000s also include Kim Jee-woon’s A Bittersweet Life (2004), Kang Woo-suk’s Hanbando (2006), Kim Dae-seung’s Traces of Love (2006) and Park Chan-wook’s Thirst (2008).

Yoo made a meaningful impact on Na Hong-jin’s The Chaser (2008) as lead choreographer. The film’s intense and relentless pacing is at least partly attributed to its chase and fight sequences. Starring Kim Yoon-seok as a former detective and now pimp, he attempts to find the prostitutes that have gone missing. He suspects one of his customers played by Ha Jung-woo is responsible.

In the 2010s, Yoo participated in dozens of films including high profile features, which include Choi Dong-hoon’s The Thieves (2012), Yang Woo-suk’s The Attorney (2013) along with Choi Ui-seok and Kim Byeong-seo’s Cold Eyes (2013). In 2015, Yoo collaborated with Choi Dong-hoon again for his colonial era epic Assassination featuring the ensemble cast consisting of Jun Ji-hyun, Lee Jung-jae, Ha Jung-woo, Oh Dal-su and Choi Jin-woong about a team of resistance fighters who attempt to assassinate a senior Japanese officer.

YOO Sang-seob

After working on films such as Na Hong-jin’s The Wailing (2016), Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden (2016) and Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite (2019), he has continued to be very active in the Korean film industry, even during the pandemic that saw fewer productions. He was involved in the stunts and choreography on Pil Kam-sung’s Hostage: Missing Celebrity (2021) about one of Korea’s leading performers Hwang Jung-min who is kidnapped by thugs demanding a ransom. Even though fewer people were watching films in cinemas, it still managed to sell 1.6 million tickets. Smartly staged and paced, it’s a gripping feature.

Yoo was also involved in two films released in 2023: Ryoo Seung-wan’s Smugglers (2023) and Kim Yong-hwa’s The Moon (2023). The latter follows an astronaut stranded in space (Doh Kyung-soo) and the man on earth leading the mission to try and save him (Sol Kyung Gu). With parts of the narrative set in space, it would have been a new challenge for Yoo to master some of the stunts with zero gravity.

Equally ambitious was Choi Dong-hoon’s two-part film Alienoid, which blends science fiction and tropes of the period drama. Starring Ryu Jun-yeol, Kim Woo-bin and Kim Tae-ri, it takes place over three timelines when gates of time open between the late Goryeo period and the present in 2022. Shot back-to-back with Yoo involved in the choreography, the two films titled Alienoid (2022) and Alienoid: Return to the Future were released in July 2022 and January 2024, respectively and generated just under 3 million admissions collectively.

Editted by Shim Eunha

Written by Jason Bechervaise