'Hana Korea': Danish Director's Decade-Long Journey to Tell a North Korean Defector's Story

Still of 'Hana Korea' (provided by Triple Pictures)

"Hana Korea," the feature narrative debut of Danish documentary filmmaker Frederik Sølberg, opens in South Korean theaters on July 8. The film follows Hye-seon (played by Kim Min-ha), a young North Korean defector navigating an unfamiliar life in Seoul, and is based on interviews with roughly 30 defectors who have resettled in the South. Sharon Choi (Choi Seong-jae) — best known internationally as director Bong Joon-ho's interpreter — co-wrote the screenplay. The film also stars Kim Joo-ryoung and Ahn Seo-hyun. It is co-produced by Sisso Pictures and Sontag Pictures, with Triple Pictures handling distribution.

The story follows Hye-seon, a 21-year-old defector from Yanggang Province, as she pursues her ambition of becoming a nurse. At Hanawon, the government's resettlement support center for North Korean defectors, she is steered toward faster career paths such as baking or nail care, but she insists on pursuing higher education instead. Having already crossed into South Korea without a broker's help, Hye-seon finds that carving out a place for herself in Seoul proves no less difficult than the journey that brought her there.

Sølberg's interest in the subject dates back to 2010, when a visit to Korea for a documentary screening at the Seoul International Environmental Film Festival exposed him to the realities of national division — a theme that stayed with him. After meeting a real-life defector who inspired the story in 2019, he traveled to Korea 12 times over five years, spending one to two months with her on each visit. He originally envisioned the project as a documentary before shifting to narrative fiction to draw audiences more fully into her experience.

Sharon Choi, who joined the project in 2021, played a key role in shaping the screenplay, including the subtle shifts in Hye-seon's speech patterns as she adapts to life in the South. To prepare for the role, Kim Min-ha trained with three dialect coaches and studied documentaries to master the Yanggang Province dialect.

"Hana Korea" previously screened in the Flash Forward section of the 30th Busan International Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award. The real-life defector who inspired the story reportedly attended the festival screening. At a press conference ahead of the theatrical release, Sølberg said he hoped audiences would see defectors "not as extraordinary figures, but as people living ordinary lives alongside us today." He added that the film has already drawn interest abroad, with a Denmark release set for August and a North American release also planned.

By focusing on the process of resettlement rather than the defection itself or life in North Korea, "Hana Korea" distinguishes itself from earlier films on the subject through the artistic distance created by an outsider's perspective. The international collaboration behind the project also points to how Korean social themes can find new dimensions of interpretation through cross-border filmmaking. (105 minutes, rated 12+ in Korea)

Sources

• The Korea Times, "'Hana Korea' spotlights realistic journey of North Korean defector", 2026.06.28

• Yonhap News Agency, "A Defector's Weary Steps Toward a New Life: 'Hana Korea'", 2026.06.28

• Donga Ilbo, "Director Made This Film to Honor a Defector's Courage", 2026.06 (interview)