Screenwriter, director and producer. In 1981, he graduated in Korean literature from the Kyungpook National University in his home town. He worked as a high school teacher and later became a well known writer. Without prior formal education, he started making films in his forties. He wrote screenplays for the films Geu seome gago shibda (To the Starry Island, 1993) and Jeon tae-il (A Single Spark, 1995), both directed by Kwang-sua Park. Afterwards, he wrote and directed his own film, Chorok mulkogi (Green Fish, 1997). Then he made the drama Bakha satang (Peppermint Candy, 1999), a critique of military dictatorship, that brought him the South Korea's Grand Bell award for the best film in 2000 and the special jury award at the international film festival in Bratislava in that same year. The romantic drama Oasis (2002) was even more successful, winning him the FIPRESCI award and a special directors’ award at the Venice Film Festival in 2002. In 2003, he became the minister of culture and tourism within the newly elected government of South Korea, which caused a pause in his film career. He resigned in 2004 from that position and directed Milyang (Secret Sunshine, 2007), which was awarded at the Asian Film Awards (presented in Hong Kong) for best film and best director in 2008. At the moment, his last film is the drama Poetry (Shi, 2010), which was also awarded for best director and screenplay at the Asian Film Awards in 2011.