The Spy Gone North
The Spy Gone North
A 2018 espionage drama inspired by agent Black Venus and the 1997 North Wind allegations.
OVERALL TRUTH BASIS · Fact-based dramatization
Based on the actual operations of Park Chae-seo, a North Korea-focused intelligence operative codenamed Heukgeumseong, and the allegations of North Wind operations around the 1997 presidential election. Names such as Park Seok-young and some meetings and conversations were reconstructed for the film.
Heukgeumseong Operation Targeting North Korea
An intelligence operation targeting North Korea carried out by Park Chae-seo, an operative of the Agency for National Security Planning, who traveled between China and North Korea under the codename Heukgeumseong.
1997 Presidential Election North Wind Allegations
A group of political events involving allegations that the North Korea issue was to be used in the 1997 presidential election, and which later came to light through investigations.
FACT / FICTION
Verification 5
Fact / Fiction verification
5 records<The Spy Gone North> is a 2018 work directed by Yoon Jong-bin.
On screen · Verified record
- On screen
- —
- Verified record
- Information about the work and related reporting confirm that it is a 2018 work and identify its director.
View 2 sources
- <공작> 북핵에 대한 불안은 어떻게 정치에 이용되었나씨네21 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
- 공작 - 기증된 영화유산한국영상자료원 · Specialist database · Grade BOpen source →
The work's central true-story and historical background is the Heukgeumseong operation targeting North Korea and the 1997 North Wind allegations.
On screen · Verified record
- On screen
- Based on the actual operations of Park Chae-seo, a North Korea-focused intelligence operative codenamed Heukgeumseong, and the allegations of North Wind operations around the 1997 presidential election. Names such as Park Seok-young and some meetings and conversations were reconstructed for the film.
- Verified record
- Based on the actual operations of Park Chae-seo, a North Korea-focused intelligence operative codenamed Heukgeumseong, and the allegations of North Wind operations around the 1997 presidential election. Names such as Park Seok-young and some meetings and conversations were reconstructed for the film.
View 2 sources
- <공작> 북핵에 대한 불안은 어떻게 정치에 이용되었나씨네21 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
- 공작 - 기증된 영화유산한국영상자료원 · Specialist database · Grade BOpen source →
Not every line of dialogue, compression of time, or detail in the film's unfolding events can be equated one-to-one with the historical record.
On screen · Verified record
- On screen
- Events are compressed and arranged through feature-film or documentary editing.
- Verified record
- Verifiable real events and people must be distinguished from the work's narrative construction.
View 2 sources
- <공작> 북핵에 대한 불안은 어떻게 정치에 이용되었나씨네21 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
- 공작 - 기증된 영화유산한국영상자료원 · Specialist database · Grade BOpen source →
The film's story of the North Korea-focused operative ‘Heukgeumseong’ takes the activities of the actual operative Park Chae-seo as its central model.
On screen · Verified record
- On screen
- Park Seok-young, played by Hwang Jung-min, is a character reconstructed around the North Korea-focused operative Heukgeumseong.
- Verified record
- Park Chae-seo was reported to be a North Korea-focused operative with the Agency for National Security Planning who worked under the codename Heukgeumseong and approached high-ranking North Korean figures from 1993 onward while posing as a businessman involved in North Korea-related business.
View 2 sources
- 흑금성 "97년 대선때 안기부, 북풍공작 대가로 1억달러 북에 제의" 주장TBS · Major news · Grade AOpen source →
- 암호명 ‘흑금성’의 첩보전, 영화 ‘공작’의 실제 모델을 만나다!TBS · Other · Grade AOpen source →
Park Chae-seo testified that, ahead of the 1997 presidential election, the Agency for National Security Planning asked North Korea to create military tensions and offered $100 million in return.
On screen · Verified record
- On screen
- The film dramatizes a North Wind operation ahead of the election and a situation in which financial compensation is offered to the North Korean side.
- Verified record
- This is confirmed by Park Chae-seo's own public testimony, but it should not be treated as material that independently establishes the amount and every detail of the specific request.
View 2 sources
- 흑금성 "97년 대선때 안기부, 북풍공작 대가로 1억달러 북에 제의" 주장TBS · Major news · Grade AOpen source →
- 암호명 ‘흑금성’의 첩보전, 영화 ‘공작’의 실제 모델을 만나다!TBS · Other · Grade AOpen source →
CHARACTER ↔ PERSON
Characters and real people
리명운
Fictional character박석영
Fictionalized real personBased on a real personPark Chae-seo →
정무택
Fictional character최학성
Fictional characterSources used
- <공작> 북핵에 대한 불안은 어떻게 정치에 이용되었나씨네21 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
- 공작 - 기증된 영화유산한국영상자료원 · Specialist database · Grade BOpen source →
- 흑금성 "97년 대선때 안기부, 북풍공작 대가로 1억달러 북에 제의" 주장TBS · Major news · Grade AOpen source →
- 암호명 ‘흑금성’의 첩보전, 영화 ‘공작’의 실제 모델을 만나다!TBS · Other · Grade AOpen source →