Park is a Korean director and screenwriter. He studied philosophy at the Sogang University and got interested in film early on. He founded a film club at his university, after graduation wrote film reviews and worked briefly as an assistant director on several films. In 1992 he wrote and directed his first feature,
Moon Is the Sun's Dream, and five years later directed the crime comedy
Saminjo (1997). Both went relatively unnoticed until his war drama
Gongdong gyeongbi guyeok JSA (Joint Security Area, 2000) received some attention. Afterwards, he made the “revenge trilogy” and became internationally well-known:
Boksuneun naui geot (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, 2002),
Oldeuboi (Oldboy, 2003) and
Lady Vengeance (Chinjeolhan geumjassi, 2005). Then he directed the successful romantic drama
Ssaibogeujiman gwaenchanha (I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK, 2006), and then the vampire themed film Bakjwi (Thirst, 2009). In 2011, he made the short film
Paranmanjang (Night Fishing, 2011), shot entirely with iPhone4. He is currently preparing his first film in English, produced by the Stoker production house.