The Drug King

{{Infobox film

| name = The Drug King

| image = Drug King (film).jpg

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| native_name = {{Infobox Korean film name

| hangul = 마약왕

| hanja = 麻藥王

| rr = Mayakwang}}

| director = Woo Min-ho

| producer = Kim Jin-woo

| writer = Woo Min-ho

| starring = Song Kang-ho
Jo Jung-suk
Bae Doona
Kim Dae-myung
Kim So-jin
Lee Hee-joon
Jo Woo-jin

| music =

| cinematography = Go Nak-seon

| editing =

| studio = Hive Media Corp.

| distributor = Showbox {{small|(South Korea)}}
Netflix {{small|(worldwide)}}

| released = {{film date|2018|12|19}}

| runtime = 139 minutes{{cite web|script-title=ko:마약왕|url=https://www.kmrb.or.kr/data/searchMovieView.do?rcv_no=2107402|website=Korea Media Rating Board|language=ko|access-date=2018-09-04|archive-date=2018-09-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180904225656/https://www.kmrb.or.kr/data/searchMovieView.do?rcv_no=2107402|url-status=dead}}

| country = South Korea

| language = Korean/Japanese

| budget = {{KRW|15 billion}}{{cite web |title=When a good guy goes bad: In "The Drug King," Song Kang-ho plays a smuggler who becomes a kingpin |url=http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=3057166 |website=Korea JoongAng Daily | date=19 December 2018 |accessdate=27 December 2018}}
({{USD|13.4 million}})

| gross = {{USD|14.5 million}}{{cite web |title=The Drug King (2018) |url=http://koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20168773 |website=Korean Film Biz Zone |language=en}}

}}

The Drug King ({{ko-hhrm|마약왕|麻藥王|Mayakwang}}) is a 2018 South Korean crime drama film written and directed by Woo Min-ho.{{cite web|url=http://movie.naver.com/movie/bi/mi/basic.nhn?code=157297|title=마약왕|website=Naver|accessdate=26 October 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://movie.daum.net/moviedb/main?movieId=108037|title=Daum영화 <마약왕>|website=Daum|accessdate=26 October 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://www.cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=50777|title=영화 [마약왕] 상세정보|website=Cine21|accessdate=26 October 2017}} It stars Song Kang-ho as Lee Doo-sam, an ordinary small-time narcotics dealer who becomes an infamous drug lord in Korea during the 1970s. The film also features Jo Jung-suk as a prosecutor from Seoul who is intent on taking Lee down and Bae Doona as a lobbyist who guides Lee into the upper levels of drug dealing. Other cast members include Kim Dae-myung, Kim So-jin, Lee Hee-joon, and Jo Woo-jin.{{cite web|url=http://www.screendaily.com/news/song-kang-ho-crime-drama-drug-king-underway/5118265.article|title=Song Kang-ho crime drama 'Drug King' underway|website=Screendaily|accessdate=26 October 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://asianmoviepulse.com/2017/04/upcoming-song-kang-ho-films/|title=Upcoming Song Kang-ho Films|date=30 April 2017|website=Asian Movie Pulse|accessdate=26 October 2017}} The film was released on December 19, 2018.{{cite web|url=http://www.osen.co.kr/article/G1111025914|title=송강호X조정석X배두나 '마약왕', 12월 개봉확정..압도적 포스터[공식입장]|website=OSEN|accessdate=26 October 2017|language=ko}}{{cite web |title='Drug King' to bring out gritty side of Song Kang-ho |url=http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20181119000639 |website=The Korea Herald |accessdate=10 December 2018 |language=en |date=19 November 2018}}{{cite web |title=Song Kang-Ho channels 'Scarface' in 'The Drug King' Trailer |url=http://cityonfire.com/song-kang-ho-channels-scarface-in-the-drug-king/ |website=cityonfire.com |accessdate=10 December 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2017/film/news/song-kang-ho-bae-doo-na-woon-min-ho-1202587960/|title='Inside Men' Director Woo Wraps Busan-Set Thriller 'Drug King'|first1=Sonia|last1=Kil|date=12 October 2017|website=variety.com}}

Plot

True life story of Lee Doo-sam (Lee Hwang-soon), a drug smuggler building his empire in Busan's crime underworld in the 1970s. Lee was originally a member of the Chilsung faction in Busan from Hwanghae Province. In the early 1970s, he smuggled diamonds and other products, and eventually expanded it to drugs for domestic distribution, and exported it to Japan as well, thus accumulating huge amounts of wealth in the process.{{cite web |title=New film looks at dramatic life of notorious Korean drug kingpin of the 1970s |url=https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20181119006400315 |website=Yonhap News Agency |accessdate=10 December 2018 |language=en |date=19 November 2018}}

Cast

{{cast listing|

Song Kang-ho as Lee Doo-sam, a Korean drug lord from Busan, South Korea and the main protagonist of the film.{{cite web|url=http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/news/news.jsp?pageIndex=3&blbdComCd=601006&seq=4067&mode=VIEW&returnUrl=&searchKeyword=Song+Kang-ho|title=SONG Kang-ho Becomes a DRUG KING|date=24 November 2016|website=Korean Film Biz Zone}}{{cite web|url=https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20181217008400315|title=(Yonhap Interview) 'Drug King' is a throwback to Song Kang-ho's dark side|last=박보람|date=17 December 2018|website=Yonhap News Agency}}
Jo Jung-suk as Kim In-goo, a lawful prosecutor and the main rival of Lee Doo-sam.{{cite web|url=http://koreanfilm.or.kr/jsp/news/news.jsp?blbdComCd=601006&seq=4212&mode=VIEW|title=JO Jung-suk, YOON Je-moon and LEE Sung-min Surround DRUG KING|work=Korean Film Biz Zone|date=March 14, 2017}}
Bae Doona as Kim Jeong-ah, a powerful socialite, lobbyist and Doo-sam's lover.{{cite web|url=http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/jsp/news/news.jsp?pageIndex=1&blbdComCd=601006&seq=4250&mode=VIEW&returnUrl=&searchKeyword=|title=BAE Doo-na Partners with DRUG KING SONG Kang-ho|date=10 April 2017|website=Korean Film Biz Zone}}
Kim Dae-myung as Lee Doo-hwan, Lee Doo-sam's younger cousin and fellow drug trafficker
Kim So-jin as Sung Sook-kyung, a preacher's daughter and Lee Doo-sam's wife.
Lee Hee-joon as Choi Jin-pil, a boat captain, smuggler, and an ally-turned-main rival of Lee Doo-sam drug empire
Jo Woo-jin as Jo Seong-kang, a gangster boss and leader of a powerful Korean mafia
Yoon Je-moon as Kim Soon-pyung, a Zainichi Korean yakuza boss based in Osaka, Japan and an associate of Hideki
Yoo Jae-myung as Chief Kim, a detective who leads an operation against Doo-sam's drug empire
Lee Joong-ok as Yoon Kang-shik
Choi Deok-moon as Director Goo
Song Young-chang as UN Ambassador, a corrupt Korean ambassador of UN who is implied be a gangster.
Kim Hae-gon as Baek Woon-chang
Park Ji-hwan as Wang Moon-ho, a Sino Korean drug trafficker and a member of Doo-sam's drug gang
Lee Bong-ryun as Lee Doo-sook
Choi Gwi-hwa as Chief Ham
Park Kyung-hye as Lee Kyung-ja
Keijiro Matsushima as Hideki, a yakuza gangster from Osaka, Japan.
Na Kwang-Hoon as Seo Soo-Gon, the Zainichi Korean yakuza boss in Kobe, Japan
Tetsu Watanabe as Chairman Jin, a yakuza boss from Tokyo, Japan
Lee Sung-min as Seo Sang-hoon
Kim Hong-fa as Professor Baek, an enigmatic and legendary meth maker.

}}

Production

Principal photography began on May 5, 2017.{{cite web|url=http://www.hancinema.net/song-kang-ho-jo-jeong-seok-and-bae-doona-in-drug-king-105826.html|title=Song Kang-ho, Jo Jeong-seok and Bae Doona in 'Drug King'|website=HanCinema|date=10 May 2017 |accessdate=26 October 2017}} Filming was completed on October 10, 2017.{{cite web|url=http://news.sbs.co.kr/news/endPage.do?news_id=N1004449612|title=송강호 '마약왕', 또 최고 연기 경신할까|date=24 October 2017|website=SBS|accessdate=26 October 2017}}

Awards and nominations

class="wikitable sortable"

!Awards

!Category

!Recipient

!Result

!Ref.

55th Baeksang Arts Awards

Best Supporting Actor

Jo Woo-jin

{{cite web|url=http://news.jtbc.joins.com/html/172/NB11796172.html|script-title=ko:'미쓰백'부터 '버닝'까지…백상 영화부문 후보 공개|publisher=jTBC News|date=April 5, 2019|accessdate=April 5, 2019|language=ko}}