Director Ryoo Seung-wan of hit-film “Veteran” said his next film on Hashima Island (Gunkanjima, or Battleship Island) will begin shooting from next summer.

Hashima is an outlying island abandoned by Japan off the coast of Nagasaki, where countless Koreans were drafted as forced labor during World War II to provide life-threatening services.

Director Ryoo Seung-wan (left) and Hwang Jung-min (CJ Entertainment)

“This film will show the draftees escaping from the island,” Ryoo said.

Early reports have noted that “Veteran” lead actor Hwang Jung-min will once again collaborate with Ryoo for this flick.

To be titled “Gunhamdo” in Korean, the film will follow a group of American OSS agents and Korean independence fighters on a mission to evacuate a key Korean figure from the dangerous island.

Ryoo said that after “Gunhamdo” he will proceed to work on the sequels of “Berlin” and “Veteran.”

MBC’s variety program “Infinite Challenge” recently had its participants visit the island to meet with the surviving Koreans still living there, drawing attention to the harsh history and its victims.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)

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