In Korea, the criterion for "big hit movie" is 10 million viewers. The first 10 million hit films in Korea is <Silmido>. Director Woo-suk Kang made it in his cinema production service company. The story was based on a real event that an Korean army, secretly cultivated by the Korean government in 1968. The movie was set up in a large set on the island of Silmido in the Incheon area, which was the actual stage of the event, and recorded the furthest outdoor location in Korean film history. It was to draw the stage of the actual event more vividly.

Kang has been deeply involved in the Korean POP genre since his debut in 1988. He is known for directing masterpieces like "Happiness is not in order of grades" (1989), "Two Cops" series (1993~1998), and "Public enemy series" (2002~2013).

His interest in location grew in recent years. In the footsteps of a geographer Kim Jeong-ho, who was a pioneer in the Joseon dynasty, Kang opened the opening ceremony of the movie "The map against the world" (2016), a must-see place for spring, summer, fall and winter in Korea.

Q: You have been in the Korean film industry for 30 years and has been called various modifiers. If you choose the expression that best describes yourself.

A: Who makes the opening for Korean movies? I have been talking about the social functions of movies since other directors did not dissolve social issues in movies. It would be funny to see in a movie, but it could make viewers think about the severe college admission test and the corruption of public officials in Korean society. The influence of such an attempt seems to remain a little in directors who are 10 years and 20 years younger.

Q: For the movie <Silmido>, you went to an unprecedented expanse from Incheon to Gangwon, Busan, Buan, Paju, Jeju island, and even to overseas. What was the occasion?

A: In 1971, soldiers who dragged a bus in the middle of Seoul city and self-destructed themselves after the gunfight against the military who trained them. It was a shocking and memorable case. <Silmido> is based on their true story. If the background of the incident could not have been filmed properly, the audience would not have been so enthusiastic. In fact, the sites where it happened have already been modernized decades later, so I have searched for places to reproduce that age. In particular, at the time of the shooting, half of the island was owned by a private school, and the other half were in business. I searched more than 300 islands in Korea, but it was impossible to find the island that has a secretive atmosphere where it is difficult to escape, but it is difficult to escape. The scene of self-destruction in Seoul was shot in Buyeo, Jeollanam-do where a lot of 70's appearance architectures were kept.

Q: In “The map against the world," (2016), you traced 106,240km across the country from the southernmost part of the country of Marado island to Baekdu Mountain for 9 months, is that correct?

A: Actually, I did not realize before filming the movie that my country was so beautiful. When I walked through the whole country, Korean nature is really delicate and beautiful. The harmony of mountains and water is spectacular. It is also a great advantage to be able to capture the colorful scenery of the distinctive four seasons, like a winter snow scene. I thought that it would not make sense to treat it with computer graphics (CG) as much as the actual locations that follow the accomplishment of Kim Jung Ho who made the 'Daedongwajido (Grand map of Korea)', which most accurately depicted the Korean Peninsula, I can not help but clear the steel tower or the electric cable with CG, but I made the principle that I do not make scenery artificially with it. "

Q: Where is the most memorable place (that you filmed)?

A: In Korea, people often refer to the East Sea with its magnificent scenery, but I believe the western sea (the Yellow Sea) is the real beautiful place. It has a magnificent sunset that is hard to find in any other parts of the world. Also, if you go up the Han River from the Seoul away from busy skyscrapers, you will meet the scenery of the Bukhangang river will unfold its beauty. We waited for the river to freeze and filmed in December. The old paddle on an old traditional boat, which had been floated in advance, was frozen with the river, and it was just beautiful.

Q: It would have been difficult to aim and capture the climax of the season’s beauty.

A: The most demanding seasonal changes is flowers. It certainly was not easy to take a picture of a field that has flowers enough to cover one mountain. Some flowers would bloom, and then some shatter the next day. I waited until the end of spring to capture the azaleas in Hwangmae Mountain in the “The map against the world," (2016) and took the shot. Since the first day of the flowering, the production team stayed in the local area. They reported to me, 50% of the flowers were bloomed, and 70% of the flowers were bloomed, like that everyday. So I went to dawn on the day when the blossom was most blossomed and took the scene. I have visited some locations three times, from preliminary exploration to shooting. I drove more than 5 to 6 hours to shoot for 30 minutes.

Q: In the thriller “Moss (2010)”, you have been exploring various locations such as building a whole village in Muju county, Jeolla Province. What is the secret to find a good location in Korea?

A: It's hard to find a perfect place when you simply go around without plans, but anything is possible when you meet a talented art director, and/or a director of photography. Artistic directors like Il-Hyun Park, who art directed “The map against the world," (2016), knows closely where to take pictures since he traveled literally everywhere in Korea. Staffs in Korea in general work hard and provide top class results. You can rely on them when you get to shoot a film in Korea.

Major shooting locations of <The Map Against the World, 2016>

The scenery of Hwangmae Mountain in Gyeongsangbuk-do, which is full of azaleas, was photographed after waiting until May when the azaleas were full. It excluded the color correction as much as possible and contained natural colors of spring that would have encountered during the Joseon Dynasty.

When Kim Jung Ho, who walked the road, turned his head, met the East Sea sunrise spread out in grandeur. It was filmed at Yangyang, on a beach called Dongsanpo, in Gangwon Province. The beach is small in size, shallow in depth and features a clean white sandy shore. The camera was set up at 2 AM to capture the cobalt sky just before the dawn.

This sunset of Yeosu in Jeolla province. The production team reviewed all the scenic beauty points of the whole country and picked it.

Autumn scenery of Songnisan National park. This is a popular tourist area, so the shoot took early in the morning, as soon as the sun came up.

A scene of walking on the frozen Bukhangang river. The shot was taken with a lightweight MOVI cam because of the ice was not thick enough to bare the weight. The crews had to wear climbing ropes around their waist so there’s any danger, they could be pulled out immediately.