Song Kang-ho and Park Chan-wook’s first collaboration, Joint Security Area was the highest-grossing film in the history of Korean cinema upon its release in 2000. Set in the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), it begins with an investigation around a puzzling incident that left two North Korean soldiers dead, forecasting an ominous revelation. There is an undeniably poignant and sorrowful sentiment throughout the narrative, reflecting the collective grief of the Korean Peninsula on its division. Song Kang-ho, in his portrayal of a North Korean soldier in dilemma, searches through the dark forest of tangled emotions with graceful subtlety and vulnerability.