{"id":566,"date":"2026-04-28T04:51:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T04:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/2026\/04\/28\/netflix-sets-korean-political-thriller-the-generals-from-narco-saints-director-yoon-jong-bin\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T04:51:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T04:51:00","slug":"netflix-sets-korean-political-thriller-the-generals-from-narco-saints-director-yoon-jong-bin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/2026\/04\/28\/netflix-sets-korean-political-thriller-the-generals-from-narco-saints-director-yoon-jong-bin\/","title":{"rendered":"Netflix Sets Korean Political Thriller \u2018The Generals\u2019 From \u2018Narco-Saints\u2019 Director Yoon Jong-bin"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p> \t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/netflix\/\" id=\"auto-tag_netflix_1\" data-tag=\"netflix\">Netflix<\/a> is doubling down on Korea\u2019s appetite for political period thrillers. The streamer revealed Monday that it has begun production on <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/the-generals\/\" id=\"auto-tag_the-generals_1\" data-tag=\"the-generals\">The Generals<\/a> <\/em>(working title), a new film from acclaimed director Yoon Jong-bin chronicling the rise of South Korean dictator-turned-president Roh Tae-woo, the longtime second-in-command to military strongman Chun Doo-hwan.<\/p>\n<p> \tThe project marks Yoon\u2019s first feature in eight years \u2014 following <em>The Spy Gone North<\/em>, which premiered at Cannes in 2018 \u2014 and his second project at Netflix after <em>Narco-Saints<\/em>, the hit limited series that launched on the streamer in 2022.  \t<\/p>\n<p> \tThe film centers on Roh Tae-woo (Son Suk-ku), a figure who publicly presents himself as an \u201cordinary man\u201d while maneuvering behind the scenes beside dictator Chun Doo-hwan (Ha Jung-woo), who wields absolute authority. Surrounded by allies, rivals, and functionaries with their own agendas, Roh navigates a dense network of relationships in his bid to claim the top seat for himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> \tAmong Korea\u2019s most respected mid-career filmmakers, Yoon is known for taut dissections of how people survive inside rigid hierarchies, from his breakthrough <em>The Unforgiven<\/em> (2005), about Korea\u2019s compulsory military service, to later hits like the Busan mob movie <em>Nameless Gangster<\/em> (2012) and espionage drama <em>The Spy Gone North<\/em> (2018). <em>The Generals<\/em> finds him returning to the theme, \u201conce again exploring the human thirst for power and the mechanisms of survival against a backdrop of political turbulence,\u201d according to Netflix. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p> \tThe film\u2019s cast puts two of Korea\u2019s most in-demand leading men opposite each other for the first time. Son Suk-ku broke through with the Netflix military-drama series <em>D.P. <\/em>(2021) before headlining the streamer\u2019s <em>A Killer Paradox <\/em>(2024) and the recent Disney+ mystery hit <em>Nine Puzzles. <\/em>Ha Jung-woo, meanwhile, is among Korea\u2019s most decorated actors, known for his regular work with Yoon (<em>Nameless<\/em> <em>Gangster<\/em>, <em>Kundo: Age of the Rampant<\/em> and <em>Narco-Saints<\/em>) as well as leading auteurs like Na Hong-jin (<em>Chaser<\/em>, <em>The Yellow Sea<\/em>) and Park Chan-wook (<em>The Handmaiden<\/em>).\u00a0  \t<\/p>\n<p> \tThe supporting ensemble includes Ji Chang-wook (<em>The Sound of Magic<\/em>, <em>The Worst of Evil<\/em>, <em>Revolver<\/em>) playing Heo Hak-seong, a junior officer who becomes a thorn in Roh\u2019s side; Hyun Bong-sik (<em>Narco-Saints<\/em>, <em>A Killer Paradox<\/em>, <em>Aema<\/em>) as Jung Ho-joong, a classmate and friend to both Roh and Chun; and Seo Hyun-woo (<em>Decision to Leave<\/em>, <em>My Name Is Loh Kiwan<\/em>) playing Park Cheol-woong, a prosecutor and Roh\u2019s trusted chief of staff.<\/p>\n<p> \t<em>The Generals<\/em> (WT) is a joint production between Moonlight Film (<em>Karma<\/em>, <em>Narco-Saints<\/em>, <em>The Match<\/em>, <em>Nine Puzzles<\/em>) and Sanai Pictures (<em>Mission: Cross<\/em>, <em>Revolver<\/em>, <em>Hunt<\/em>), and will stream exclusively on Netflix.<\/p>\n<p> \tPolitically charged dramas engaging with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/south-korea\/\" id=\"auto-tag_south-korea_1\" data-tag=\"south-korea\">South Korea<\/a>\u2018s authoritarian past are a staple of the local industry, but the genre has struck an especially strong commercial chord of late. <em>12.12: The Day<\/em>, the Kim Sung-su-directed political drama that turned the December 1979 coup into a riveting ticking-clock thriller, became the top-grossing Korean film of 2023, helping to revive the country\u2019s ailing post-pandemic theatrical business. Woo Min-ho\u2019s <em>Harbin<\/em>, a sweeping period thriller about a 1909 plot to assassinate Japan\u2019s first prime minister and resident-general of Korea, also dominated the Korean box office for a month at the end of 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Netflix is doubling down on Korea\u2019s appetite for political period thrillers. The streamer revealed Monday that it has begun production on The Generals (working title), a new film from acclaimed director Yoon Jong-bin chronicling the rise of South Korean dictator-turned-president Roh Tae-woo, the longtime second-in-command to military strongman Chun Doo-hwan. The project marks Yoon\u2019s first feature in eight years \u2014 following The Spy Gone North, which premiered at Cannes in 2018 \u2014 and his second project at Netflix after Narco-Saints, the hit limited series that launched on the streamer in 2022. The film centers on Roh Tae-woo (Son Suk-ku), a figure who publicly presents himself as an \u201cordinary man\u201d while [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":567,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[115,2,116,27,60,93,243,244],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia","category-hollywood","category-international","category-movie-news","category-movies","category-netflix","category-south-korea","category-the-generals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}