Movies Similar to Why I Left Both Koreas

Beyond Utopia(2023)

A courageous pastor uses his underground network to rescue and aid North Korean families as they risk their lives to embrace freedom.

7.7

The Rainy Season(2020)

A documentary about joys, sorrows, ups, and downs experienced by the civil society activist, Lee Eun Taek.

5.0

Mrs. B., a North Korean Woman(2017)

Portrait of Mrs. B., a tough charismatic North Korean woman who smuggles between North Korea, China and South Korea. With the money she gets, she plans to reunite with her two North Korean sons after years of separation.

6.1

North Korea: All the Dictator's Men(2018)

North Korea has nuclear weapons. How did it manage to get them quietly? Donald Trump is under the impression that as US president he could convince Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, to disarm his nuclear weapons and make peace with South Korea. But how was it possible that one of the poorest countries in the world could acquire the knowledge to produce nuclear-tipped rockets?

7.1

Propaganda(2013)

An anti-western propaganda film about the influences of American visual and consumption culture on the rest of the world, as told from a North Korean perspective.

8.1

I Am Sun Mu(2015)

Operating under a pseudonym which means 'no boundaries' - North Korean defector Sun Mu creates political pop art based on his life, homeland, and hope for a future united Korea. His hidden identity is nearly compromised when a massive historical exhibit in Beijing is shuttered by Chinese and North Korean authorities.

6.6

Shadow Flowers(2021)

Ryun-hee Kim, a North Korean housewife, was forced to come to South Korea and became its citizen against her will. As her seven years of struggle to go back to her family in North Korea continues, the political absurdity hinders her journey back to her loved ones. The life of her family in the North goes on in emptiness, and she fears that she might become someone, like a shadow, who exists only in the fading memory of her family.

0.0

A Mother Youngsoon(2022)

Youngsoon defected from North Korea in 2007. Her husband killed himself and her eldest son is in North Korea. She does her best for her little son who came with her. But he thinks that his mother only loved his big brother in the North and resents her for having brought him to South Korea only to be stigamatised as North Korean defector. Youngsoon, who was born as the daughter of a South Korean prisoner of war detained in North Korea, was always poor and her only hope was her eldest son with exceptional talents. To her, her little son is more work than hope.

0.0

The Defector: Escape from North Korea(2012)

Dragon smuggles North Korean defectors across borders for a living, and his latest undercover trip with Sook-Ja and Yong-hee takes an unexpected turn when they are left stranded in China. This is just the start of an extraordinary 5,000 km journey.

6.2

Ryeohaeng(2019)

A group of women climbs a summer mountain situated in South Korea. They are refugees who have settled into South Korean society after fleeing from North Korea. For them, climbing the mountains has been an unavoidable journey for survival - a matter of life and death.

0.0

My Name Is Loh Kiwan(2024)

After defecting from North Korea, Loh Kiwan struggles to obtain refugee status in Belgium, where he encounters a dejected woman who has lost all hope.

7.4

Crossing(2008)

Yong-soo is an ex-soccer player who lives in a small coal-mine village in North Korea with his wife and young son, Joon. Although living in extreme poverty like many other families in North Korea, the family is happy just to be with each other. Then one day, Yong-soo's pregnant wife becomes critically ill. Let alone medicine, Yong-soo can't even find food for her in North Korea. So he decides to secretly cross the border to China hoping to find the medicine for his wife.

7.1

In Our Prime(2022)

Ji-woo, an outcast at a prestigious private school, meets Hak-sung, the school janitor who is actually a mathematical genius who defected from North Korea.

8.0

One Summer Night(2016)

Caught in forbidden love, Yong Joon defects from North Korea, leaving Jae Sung behind. Years later, a reunion forces him to choose between past and present.

6.8

3670(2025)

Despite the close bonds among fellow defectors, Cheol-jun—a young North Korean defector—felt isolated while hiding his gay identity. Finally, he takes his first step into South Korea's vibrant gay community and forms close ties after meeting Yeong-jun at a casual gathering. Yet, a trivial misunderstanding shatters these fragile bonds.

0.0

Dooman River(2010)

Chang-ho, 12, becomes friends with a North-Korean immigrant about the same age who just crossed the Dooman river, border between North-Korea and China. His mute sister and his wise grandfather accompany him through a series of misfortunes.

6.1

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Abyss

The story of Lee Tae-shik, a former anti-terrorist unit who worked as a secret agent for the National Intelligence Service, struggling to find his wife Ri Seon-hee, a North Korean defector who went missing on their first anniversary of marriage.

0.0

Dreamer(2020)

The North Korean defector, who has just settled in the South, is confused by his brother who was separated from the defection process. Ji-hyeok, a Chinese restaurant deliveryman who is having a hard time finding a job due to his criminal record, wants to leave Korea as soon as possible. To raise money for his defector brother, Ji-hyeok, who is involved in a dangerous drug-transport errand, suggests intercepting billions of won of methamphetamine.

5.0

Poongsan(2011)

Poongsan has the unenviable - and death-defying - job of delivering messages across the North and South Korean border to separated families. When South Korean government agents ask him to smuggle in In-ok, the lover of a high-ranking North Korean defector, into the South, the damsel and rescuer fall in love instead.

6.2

A Tour Guide(2023)

Making use of her Chinese that she had picked up while living in China, Han-young obtains her tour guide-interpreter's license and starts working as a guide in Korea. She gets used to her new surroundings and gains good results at work. However, she is forced to face challenges and changes as she loses touch with her brother In-hyuk, and the number of Chinese tourists decreases due to political tension between Korean and China.

5.7