Best South Korean history movies
Get ready to binge. We've found a collection of must-watch history films from South Korea, now streaming on Netflix, HBO, Hulu, Prime Video, and other top services!
Hero (2022)
Hero (2022)
An Jung-geun fights for Korea's independence from the Japanese Empire and sparks a movement. In 1909, he assassinates Itō Hirobumi, the first prime minister of Japan and resident-general of Korea.
The Singer (2020)
The Singer (2020)
In the era of corruption, Hak-gyu sings songs and tells stories on the street with his band. One day, Hak-gyu's wife Gan-nan is kidnapped by gangsters and his daughter Cheong loses her eyesight after the incident. He decides to travel in search of his missing wife and learns that corrupted noblemen are behind the mob.
Northern Limit Line (2015)
Northern Limit Line (2015)
In this true story from 2002, South Korean patrol boats engaged in a deadly battle with North Korean patrol boats who crossed the maritime border known the Northern Limit Line and attacked.
The Battle: Roar to Victory (2019)
The Battle: Roar to Victory (2019)
Over a 4 day period, a fierce battle takes place between Korean independence militias and imperialist Japanese forces in Manchuria, China. The militia includes a master swordsman and an expert marksman.
Harbin (2024)
Harbin (2024)
In 1909, several years after Korea is forced into becoming a Japanese colony, freedom fighters plot the daring assassination of Japan's prime minister during their quest for independence.
The Long Way Home (2015)
The Long Way Home (2015)
Nam-bok, a middle-aged South Korean farmer is conscripted and assigned a mission to deliver a classified military document that may decide the fate of the war. After losing it while under attack from the enemy, he then faces a teenage North Korean soldier named Yeong-gwang who happens to acquire the secret document on his way to the North.
The Throne (2015)
The Throne (2015)
Ancient Korea, July 4, 1762. The Crown Prince Hyojang, posthumously named Sado, son of King Yeongjo of Joseon, is accused of treason. Thus, the king asks him to commit suicide, but his closest vassals prevent it, so the king orders the prince to get inside a wooden rice chest, where he suffers deprivation of food and water.
The Last Comfort Women (2015)
The Last Comfort Women (2015)
This film tells the story of three young women from South Korea, Japan, and China who were ravaged after becoming comfort women in the Japanese army.
Default (2018)
The Fatal Encounter (2014)
The Fatal Encounter (2014)
Late 18th-century Joseon dynasty. The King is beleaguered and surrounded by traitors of the ruling elite. They plan to assassinate and replace him with a puppet. But the King has some aces up his sleeve that may help him defeat them all.
Once Upon a Time in a Battlefield (2003)
Once Upon a Time in a Battlefield (2003)
Set in the 7th century AD during the Korean peninsula's division into three perpetually warring kingdoms, Once Upon A Time In A Battlefield focuses on the Shilla's king Kim Choon-chu efforts to conquer his rivals: Koguryo and Baekche. To achieve this goal, he allies with mainland China's Tang empire, the superpower of the era, and together the two polities plan to attack first the weakest Baekche at its main fortress of Hwangsanbul, guarding the only easy access to the mountainous interior. But the fortress commander General Kye Baek (Park Joong-hoon) will be resisting to the end...This comedy relays on clash between ancient time and modern language combined with irony and distance to the war.
The Royal Tailor (2014)
The Royal Tailor (2014)
Lee Gong-jin, a young tailor, helps the Queen with her dress and both fall in love with each other. However, his success catches the ire of Jo Dol-seok, the royal tailor, who vows retribution.
North Korean Partisan in South Korea (1990)
The Sound of a Flower (2015)
The Sound of a Flower (2015)
During the Joseon Dynasty, lowborn Chae-sun challenges the rule that states only men allowed to sing while navigating devotion to her teacher and the demands of the king's father.
The Book of Fish (2021)
May 18 (2007)
May 18 (2007)
The citizens of Gwangju lead a relatively peaceful life, until one day the military takes over the city, accusing the residents of conspiracy and claiming that they are communist sympathisers preparing a revolution against the current government. Seeing as the soldiers beat defenceless people, mainly students, to death, the citizens are in for retaliation and form a militia.
Lost Flower: Eo Woo-dong (2015)
Lost Flower: Eo Woo-dong (2015)
A triangular relationship between Eo Woo-dong, her husband Lee Dong, and fantasy character Moo-gong, highlights on the first half of the Joseon Dynasty and portrays the contradicted life of the high class people, criticizing the modern day Korean society.
Kingmaker (2022)
Kingmaker (2022)
Seo Chang-dae, an ambitious political campaign strategist who ends up having ideological differences with his present client, receives a lucrative offer that will put his loyalty under the microscope.
Painted Fire (2002)
The President's Barber (2004)
The President's Barber (2004)
A well-meaning but politically naive barber gets pulled into the inner circle of the South Korean dictator Park Chung-Hee, with rather baleful consequences for his hapless family. This sharp political satire covers roughly twenty years in South Korean political history, from the viewpoint of the barber's son.
Anarchist from Colony (2017)
Anarchist from Colony (2017)
Based on the life of the Korean anarchist Park Yeol, the film shows his struggle to counter the massacre of Koreans by the government during the 1923 great Kanto earthquake, focusing on his activities as the leader of the anti-Japanese organization Bulryeongsa and his relationship with Japanese comrade Fumiko Kaneko.
Chronicle of a Blood Merchant (2015)
Chronicle of a Blood Merchant (2015)
Set in a village right after the Korean War, poor but good-hearted Heo Sam-gwan sets out to win the most beautiful girl in the village, Heo Ok-ran, by selling his blood to earn money. Years later, the two are happily married with three children, but their family undergoes a crisis when Sam-gwan's eldest son doesn't resemble him and rumors spread about the boy's paternity.
MAL·MO·E: The Secret Mission (2019)
MAL·MO·E: The Secret Mission (2019)
During the Japanese occupation of Korea, the Japanese Empire seeks to eradicate the Korean language and identity. In retaliation, a small group of Korean patriots try to protect their language by compiling the first Korean language dictionary.
Inchon (1981)
Inchon (1981)
Gen. Douglas MacArthur leads a Korean War campaign, and the war tests a married couple's relationship.
Spirits' Homecoming (2016)
Spirits' Homecoming (2016)
After the Japanese kidnap two Korean teenagers and take them to a comfort station to join other girls who are serving as sex slaves, only one of them survives. Decades later, the elderly woman tries to reunite with her friend's spirit.
Empire of Lust (2015)
Empire of Lust (2015)
In the turbulent Joseon dynasty, army commander Min-jae watches ambitious Prince Yi Bang-won while becoming entwined with Ga-hee, a vengeful gisaeng. Fate collides as power shifts.