‘Cultural discount’ is a concept used as an index for calculating the possibility of cultural exchange between regions. It is believed to indicate the rate of acceptance of a cultural product from a particular region by others. For example, pansori, a traditional Korean folk performance, has a high rate of cultural discount, which means that it is not easily translated or accepted in non-Korean territories.

One of main features identifying Korean films in 2010 would be the change in ways to deal with the issue of “violence” in movies. It is nothing new that Korean movies have conventionalized and generalized ‘violence’ as a subject matter in movies. The movie series of My Wife Is a Gangster, which was released first in 2001, is the relevant example that violence in movies became popular through comic action genres.

KIM Myung-min is an actor of many colors. Whichever character he plays, he completely becomes one with ‘that’ person. That is why we justly call him ‘the Master’. In every film, he does everything in his power to let go of himself and construct a new self within, which makes him an actor of rare talents.