The President of South Korea races against time to prove the seal on documents from long dead King Gojong is fake by charging outspoken historian Choi Min-jae, and a descendant of the royal bloodline Kim Yu-shik, to find the long lost seal in order to prove that the Japanese claim to railroads is false, a claim that will stop the reunification of the two Koreas.
Acting
Ahn Sung-ki's presidential meltdowns are deliciously unhinged.
Direction
Kang Woo-suk turns stamp verification into edge-of-seat thriller.
Production
Period flashbacks that actually look expensive, shockingly.
Director
Kang Woo-suk
Cho Jae-hyun
Choi Min-jae
Cha In-pyo
Lee Sang-hyun
Ahn Sung-ki
South Korean President
Moon Sung-keun
Kwon Yong-hwan
Kang Shin-il
Kim Yoo-sik
Kim Sang-joong
South Korean Emperor Gojong
Kang Soo-youn
Empress Min
Baek Il-seob
North Korean National Defense Committee Member
Dokgo Young-jae
Commander of Naval Operations
Choi Il-hwa
Director of National Intelligence
Park Yong-su
South Korean President's Chief of Staff
Lee Han-wi
Evacuation Team Member
Park Gil-su
Evacuation Team Member
Jung Ho-keun
Major General Okamoto
Jo Min-jun
Japanese Killer
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released during Roh Moo-hyun's Sunshine Policy, the film's paranoid Japan-bashing quietly embarrassed officials who'd been pursuing warmer Tokyo relations.
The 'lost seal' MacGuffin references actual disputed 1905 Eulsa Treaty documents, though no historian believes a physical stamp could void annexation.
KR
