Yoon Jong-bin
South Korean film director
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Yoon Jong-bin (Korean: 윤종빈; born December 20, 1979) is a South Korean film director. He is best known for directing the feature films Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time (2012), Kundo: Age of the Rampant (2014), and The Spy Gone North (2018). Yoon also expanded into television, directing the series Narco-Saints (2022) and Nine Puzzles (2025).
Yoon Jong-bin | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 20, 1979 Busan, South Korea |
| Education | Chung-Ang University - Filmmaking |
| Occupations | Film director, screenwriter |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 윤종빈 |
| Hanja | 尹鐘彬 |
| RR | Yun Jongbin |
| MR | Yun Chongbin |
Career
Yoon Jong-bin's Chung-Ang University graduation thesis film was The Unforgiven, which portrayed masculine codes in the Korean military with honesty and sensitivity. And despite its rough edges due to technical limitations and a low budget, the film was a smash hit at the 2005 Busan International Film Festival and won several awards, including the NETPAC. It went on to travel to a number of festivals, winning awards and international critical acclaim.[1][2]
His sophomore effort Beastie Boys (also known as The Moonlight of Seoul) showed another side of men -- male hosts who serve female clients in discreet salons tucked into the affluent fashion districts of southern Seoul.[3][2]
In his third film Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time, Yoon tackled corruption among prosecutors and customs officers and their collusion with the mob in 1980–1990s Busan.[4][5] Unlike his first two films, Yoon's gangster saga was popular at the box office and became one of the biggest domestic hits of 2012.[6][7]
Yoon further explored the themes of injustice and violence in his fourth film Kundo: Age of the Rampant, a tale of 19th-century Joseon bandits who waged war against the nobility and corrupt government officials.[8] When asked where he drew his inspiration from, Yoon answered, "I tapped into movies that I used to love as a child. Rather than making an intellectual film, I wanted to get hearts racing."[9] By not giving the protagonist "hero-like characteristics," Yoon said he wanted to say through the film that "it is not the special or talented people, but very ordinary people who can change the world, especially when gathered en masse."[10]
Yoon has worked with close friend and fellow Chung-Ang University alumnus Ha Jung-woo in all four of his features.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Credited as | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Writer | Producer | ||
| 2004 | Identification of a Man | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2005 | The Unforgiven | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2008 | Beastie Boys | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2012 | Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2014 | Kundo: Age of the Rampant | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2015 | A Violent Prosecutor | No | No | Yes |
| 2018 | The Spy Gone North | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2019 | Money | No | No | Yes |
| 2020 | The Closet | No | No | Yes |
| 2022 | Remember | No | Yes | Yes |
| 2025 | The Match | No | Yes | Yes |
Acting performances
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | The Unforgiven | Heo Ji-hoon | |
| 2008 | Nowhere to Turn | Cameo | |
| 2012 | Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time | Photographer | Cameo |
| 2013 | The Berlin File | South Korean field analyst | Cameo |
| 2016 | A Quiet Dream | Jong-bin |
Television
| Year | Title | Credited as | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Writer | Producer | ||
| 2022 | Narco-Saints | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2025 | Karma | No | No | Yes |
| Nine Puzzles | Yes | No | No | |
Awards and nominations
| Award ceremony | Year | Category | Nominee / Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asian Academy Creative Awards | 2023 | Best Direction – Fiction (National Winners – Korea) | Narco-Saints | Won | [11][12] |
| Baeksang Arts Awards | 2018 | Best Film | The Spy Gone North | Won | [13] |
| Best Director – Film | Nominated | ||||
| Best Screenplay – Film[a] | Nominated | ||||
| Blue Dragon Film Awards | 2018 | Best Film | Nominated | [14] | |
| Best Director | Won | ||||
| Best Screenplay[a] | Nominated | ||||
| Buil Film Awards | 2018 | Best Film | Won | [15][16] | |
| Best Director | Nominated | ||||
| Best Screenplay[a] | Won | ||||
| Director's Cut Awards | 2023 | Best Director in Television | Narco-Saints | Won | [17] |
| Best Screenplay | Won | ||||
| Grand Bell Awards | 2018 | Best Film | The Spy Gone North | Nominated | [18][19] |
| Best Director | Nominated | ||||
| Best Screenplay[a] | Nominated | ||||
| Best Planning | Nominated | ||||
| Korean Association of Film Critics Awards | 2018 | Top 11 Films | Won | [20] | |
| Best Director | Won | ||||
| Korea Culture and Entertainment Awards | 2018 | Best Film | Won | [21] | |
| Best Director | Won | ||||
| Korea Top Star Awards | 2018 | Director Award | Won | [22] | |
| KOFRA Film Awards | 2018 | Best Film | Won | [23] | |
| The Seoul Awards | 2018 | Best Film | Won | [24][25] |
Notes
- with Kwon Sung-hwi
