Born in 1964, CHO Yong-kyu went on with a degree from the Korean Academy of Film Arts. One of his first works was with none other than BONG Joon-ho, as CHO served as cinematographer for the director’s short <Incoherence> (1994). He stepped into the film industry as an apprentice under cinematographer YOU Young-gil and contributed as such to the critically acclaimed dramas <White Badge> (1992) from CHUNG Ji-young and <A Single Spark> (1995) from PARK Kwang...More

Born in 1964, CHO Yong-kyu went on with a degree from the Korean Academy of Film Arts. One of his first works was with none other than BONG Joon-ho, as CHO served as cinematographer for the director’s short <Incoherence> (1994). He stepped into the film industry as an apprentice under cinematographer YOU Young-gil and contributed as such to the critically acclaimed dramas <White Badge> (1992) from CHUNG Ji-young and <A Single Spark> (1995) from PARK Kwang-su, among others. His first credit as director of photography in a feature film was in JANG Sun-woo’s experimental fake documentary <Timeless, Bottomless> (1997), in which CHO proved his camerawork skills with a 16mm camera. He took part in the cult romcom film <Art Museum By The Zoo> (1998), and then reunited with BONG for his feature debut <Barking Dogs Never Bite> (2000) and worked with RYOO Seung-wan on <Die Bad> (2000). After he received a degree from the Australian Film Television and Radio School, he returned to Korea and filmed <Conduct Zero> (2002) and <The Uninvited> (2003). CHO is also a cinematographer known for his daring used of the bleach bypass technique, as seen in <Crying Fist> (2005). One of his most recognized contribution was for LEE Chang-dong’s Cannes-invited <Secret Sunshine> (2007), for which JEON Do-youn won Best Actress from the festival. RYOO’s tongue-in-cheek 70s-infused spy action <Dachimawa Lee> (2008) was the occasion for CHO to indulge in all kinds of bold mise-en-scene techniques. His more recent films may seem a bit subdued in comparison to his earlier works, but he remains a dependable artist whose style has been instrumental in making <Punch> (2011) a success. His most recent credits include the indie drama <Birthday> inspired by the 2014 Sewol Ferry accident and the police drama <THE DAY I DIED : UNCLOSED CASE> (2020).
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