The long road to escaping North Korea is marked with peril — threats of death and deportation, living as a refugee, finding oneself without a home. In My Name Is Loh Kiwan, a defector is desperate for survival when he meets a former professional athlete who’s lost her will to live. The drama film delves into the pair’s unlikely bond amidst near-impossible challenges. Kim Hee-jin’s feature directorial debut stars Song Joong-ki, Choi Sung-eun, and Cho Han-cheul.
Check it out at the top of this page.
Song Joong-ki as Loh Kiwan in My Name is Loh Kiwan
Thirtysomething Kiwan (Song) defected from North Korea in 2019 with his mother. They make it to China, where defectors are harshly criminalized. When the police come looking for Kiwan, he ends up being brutally separated from his mother. Eventually, Kiwan escapes China and ends up in Brussels — a place wholly unfamiliar to him — where he becomes homeless and struggles to stay warm in the bitter Belgian winter. But his resolve to fulfill his mother’s dying wish, to find a safe place where he can live on his own terms, carries him through. When Marie (Choi), a former national athlete for Belgium, meets Kiwan, she’s as down on her luck as he is. As they battle their demons to overcome immense hardship, Kiwan and Marie forge a more hopeful future together.
Song Joong-ki as Loh Kiwan and Choi Sung-eun as Marie in My Name Is Loh Kiwan
Yes, it’s based on the 2013 novel I Met Loh Kiwan by Cho Haejin.
No, the story is fictional.
The film takes place in Brussels, Belgium.
