The Man Standing Next
The Man Standing Next
Kim Gyu-pyeong’s loyalty, sense of betrayal, humiliation, and power struggles build up and lead toward a shooting. Chief of the Security Service Kwak Sang-cheon competes with Kim Gyu-pyeong over power and loyalty. The film dramatizes through specific events the process of eliminating Park Yong-gak, inspired by Kim Hyeong-uk, and the intervention of Kim Gyu-pyeong, inspired by Kim Jae-gyu.
OVERALL TRUTH BASIS · Fact-based dramatization
Reconstructs approximately 40 days leading up to October 26, 1979, based on Kim Choong-sik’s nonfiction reporting. The film is built around actual events and real people, including the October 26 Incident, Kim Hyung-wook’s revelations in the United States, and his disappearance in Paris, but changes the characters’ names and uses imagination in depicting relationships, psychology, dialogue, and the connections between some events.
October 26 Incident
The incident in which Kim Jae-gyu, director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, killed President Park Chung-hee and Presidential Security Service chief Cha Ji-cheol, bringing Park Chung-hee's long rule and the Yushin system to an end.
Kim Hyung-wook’s Disappearance
The disappearance in Paris on October 7, 1979, of Kim Hyung-wook, a former director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency. Various investigations and debates about the circumstances of his subsequent killing followed.
FACT / FICTION
Verification 12
Fact / Fiction verification
12 recordsThe film is based on Kim Choong-sik’s nonfiction reporting book The Man Standing Next.
On screen · Verified record
- On screen
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- Verified record
- The source book is a work of nonfiction reporting on the 18 years of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency and the Park Chung-hee regime.
View 2 sources
- 설 연휴 한국 영화 삼파전…남산의 부장들연합뉴스 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
- 우민호 감독 인터뷰: 10.26 소재가 갖는 선입견한국경제 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
The shooting of President Park Chung-hee by Kim Jae-gyu on October 26, 1979, which is the film’s endpoint, was an actual event.
On screen · Verified record
- On screen
- Kim Gyu-pyeong shoots President Park.
- Verified record
- The October 26 Incident is the film’s direct inspiration.
View 1 sources
- 설 연휴 한국 영화 삼파전…남산의 부장들연합뉴스 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
The film selects and reconstructs approximately 40 days leading up to the October 26 Incident.
On screen · Verified record
- On screen
- —
- Verified record
- The director and production team set the film’s time frame to begin approximately 40 days before the October 26 Incident.
View 2 sources
- 설 연휴 한국 영화 삼파전…남산의 부장들연합뉴스 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
- 우민호 감독이 남산의 부장들에서 10·26 40일 전을 그리는 방식씨네21 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
The film makes clear that it is fiction incorporating imagination, not a documentary that reproduces actual history exactly.
On screen · Verified record
- On screen
- —
- Verified record
- The opening captions and the director’s interviews make clear that it is a reconstruction and a work of fiction.
View 2 sources
- 우민호 감독이 남산의 부장들에서 10·26 40일 전을 그리는 방식씨네21 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
- 우민호 감독 인터뷰: 10.26 소재가 갖는 선입견한국경제 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
Kim Gyu-pyeong is inspired by Kim Jae-gyu.
On screen · Verified record
- On screen
- Lee Byung-hun plays Kim Gyu-pyeong, director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency.
- Verified record
- He is a character whose name and some details were changed from those of the real Kim Jae-gyu.
View 2 sources
- 설 연휴 한국 영화 삼파전…남산의 부장들연합뉴스 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
- 우민호 감독이 남산의 부장들에서 10·26 40일 전을 그리는 방식씨네21 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
Park Yong-gak is inspired by Kim Hyung-wook.
On screen · Verified record
- On screen
- Park Yong-gak, a former director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, exposes the regime in the United States.
- Verified record
- In real life, after seeking asylum in the United States, Kim Hyung-wook exposed the regime’s corruption and appeared at the Fraser hearings.
View 2 sources
- 설 연휴 한국 영화 삼파전…남산의 부장들연합뉴스 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
- 김형욱한국민족문화대백과사전 · Other · Grade BOpen source →
Gwak Sang-cheon is inspired by Cha Ji-cheol.
On screen · Verified record
- On screen
- Gwak Sang-cheon, chief of the Presidential Security Service, competes with Kim Gyu-pyeong over power and loyalty.
- Verified record
- Gwak Sang-cheon is a character based on Cha Ji-cheol, with his name and specific details changed.
View 2 sources
- 설 연휴 한국 영화 삼파전…남산의 부장들연합뉴스 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
- 우민호 감독이 남산의 부장들에서 10·26 40일 전을 그리는 방식씨네21 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
Kim Hyung-wook made revelations about the Park Chung-hee regime before the U.S. Congress in 1977 and disappeared in Paris in October 1979.
On screen · Verified record
- On screen
- After Park Yong-gak exposes the regime in the United States, he becomes a target for elimination in Paris.
- Verified record
- Kim Hyung-wook’s revelations in the United States and his disappearance in Paris on October 7, 1979, are confirmed.
View 3 sources
- 김형욱한국민족문화대백과사전 · Other · Grade BOpen source →
- 김형욱 실종사건 주요 일지연합뉴스 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
- 김형욱 및 청와대 도청 보도 관련 미국 항의민주화운동기념사업회 오픈아카이브 · Other · Grade AOpen source →
Kim Hyung-wook’s disappearance in Paris on October 7, 1979, is confirmed, but claims about how he was subsequently killed and who carried it out vary according to investigations and testimony. Therefore, the film’s specific depiction of Park Yong-gak’s elimination and Kim Gyu-pyeong’s involvement is best understood as a dramatic reconstruction of uncertain circumstances, rather than as a reproduction of established historical fact.
On screen · Verified record
- On screen
- The film dramatizes as specific events the elimination of Park Yong-gak, who is inspired by Kim Hyung-wook, and the involvement of Kim Gyu-pyeong, who is inspired by Kim Jae-gyu.
- Verified record
- It is confirmed that Kim Hyung-wook disappeared in Paris on October 7, 1979. During the National Intelligence Service’s investigation into past activities, a specific scenario involving his murder near Paris and a subsequent report to Kim Jae-gyu was presented on the basis of Shin Hyun-jin’s testimony. However, this was based on testimony obtained during the investigation, and the full circumstances of the killing and who carried it out cannot be stated to be established historical fact.
View 2 sources
- 우민호 감독: 사건보다 인간 내면 집중뉴시스 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
- 김형욱 실종사건 주요 일지연합뉴스 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
The film’s portrayal of Kim Gyu-pyeong and Park Yong-gak as same-age friends is a cinematic alteration.
On screen · Verified record
- On screen
- The two are portrayed as longtime friends.
- Verified record
- In real life, Kim Jae-gyu and Kim Hyung-wook were senior and junior at the Korea Military Academy, but the film changes them into same-age friends.
View 1 sources
- 우민호 감독이 남산의 부장들에서 10·26 40일 전을 그리는 방식씨네21 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
The inner motive that led Kim Jae-gyu to kill Park Chung-hee cannot be established as historical fact through a single explanation offered by the film.
On screen · Verified record
- On screen
- Kim Gyu-pyeong’s loyalty, sense of betrayal, humiliation, and rivalry for power build up and lead to the shooting.
- Verified record
- The director said that he had interpreted the characters’ inner lives and emotions cinematically, rather than focusing on the event itself, and historical motives remain disputed.
View 2 sources
- 우민호 감독: 사건보다 인간 내면 집중뉴시스 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
- 우민호 감독 냉정함 유지하려고 애썼죠한국경제 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
Director Woo Min-ho said that he sought to maintain a neutral and clear-eyed approach while dealing with historical facts.
On screen · Verified record
- On screen
- —
- Verified record
- In several interviews, the director explained that he sought to avoid sensationalized portrayals and to show the characters’ inner lives rather than focus on the events.
View 2 sources
- 우민호 감독 인터뷰: 10.26 소재가 갖는 선입견한국경제 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
- 우민호 감독 냉정함 유지하려고 애썼죠한국경제 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
CHARACTER ↔ PERSON
Characters and real people
곽상천
Fictionalized real personBased on a real personCha Ji-cheol →
김규평
Fictionalized real personBased on a real personKim Jae-gyu →
박 대통령
Fictionalized real personBased on a real personPark Chung-hee →
박용각
Fictionalized real personBased on a real personKim Hyung-wook →
전두혁
Fictionalized real personBased on a real personChun Doo-hwan →
Sources used
- 설 연휴 한국 영화 삼파전…남산의 부장들연합뉴스 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
- 우민호 감독 인터뷰: 10.26 소재가 갖는 선입견한국경제 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
- 우민호 감독이 남산의 부장들에서 10·26 40일 전을 그리는 방식씨네21 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
- 김형욱한국민족문화대백과사전 · Other · Grade BOpen source →
- 김형욱 실종사건 주요 일지연합뉴스 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
- 김형욱 및 청와대 도청 보도 관련 미국 항의민주화운동기념사업회 오픈아카이브 · Other · Grade AOpen source →
- 우민호 감독: 사건보다 인간 내면 집중뉴시스 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
- 우민호 감독 냉정함 유지하려고 애썼죠한국경제 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →