Some Korean action movies are built around elaborate fictional conspiracies. Ransomed starts with something much closer to history: the 1986 kidnapping of a South Korean diplomat in Lebanon.
Directed by Kim Seong-hun, the filmmaker behind A Hard Day, Tunnel, and Netflix’s Kingdom, the 2023 film follows diplomat Lee Min-jun (Ha Jung-woo) as he takes on an unofficial mission to rescue a colleague who has been missing for nearly two years. What starts as a diplomatic operation quickly becomes a fight for survival after Min-jun arrives in Lebanon and finds himself relying on Kim Pan-su (Ju Ji-hoon), a Korean taxi driver living there.
But Ransomed doesn’t simply recreate the hostage crisis. It uses the real event as its foundation and builds a fictional action story around it.
A Real Kidnapping Inspired the Story
The film’s starting point was the 1986 abduction of South Korean diplomat Do Chae-sung, who was working at the Korean embassy in Beirut. He was kidnapped at gunpoint in January 1986 and remained missing for roughly 20 months. In October 1987, he was released after efforts to secure his freedom, although some details surrounding the ransom negotiations remain classified.
Ransomed changes the names and circumstances of the people involved, but keeps the basic idea of an unofficial Korean rescue mission.
That distinction matters because the film isn’t trying to present every event on screen as historical fact. Director Kim Seong-hun has described the movie as a combination of factual events, perspective, and fiction. The fictional elements gave him room to turn a diplomatic crisis into a more traditional action-adventure story while still keeping the real kidnapping at its center.
Then It Becomes a Buddy Action Movie
This is where Ransomed takes its biggest creative turn.
Min-jun is a relatively inexperienced diplomat whose motivation isn’t entirely selfless: he hopes a successful rescue mission will help him earn a coveted posting in the United States. After arriving in Lebanon, he ends up escaping in the taxi of Pan-su, a Korean expatriate who has no intention of becoming involved in an international hostage rescue.
Pan-su is fictional, and his presence changes the movie considerably. Instead of following a lone diplomat through a grim rescue operation, Ransomed becomes a mismatched two-man adventure. Min-jun is trying to complete the mission; Pan-su is primarily trying to survive it.
That gives the movie its central source of humor. Their relationship starts with mutual distrust and gradually develops into an unlikely friendship, with Ha Jung-woo and Ju Ji-hoon’s chemistry doing much of the work. The two had already appeared together in Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds and Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days, and director Kim specifically cited their previous collaboration when explaining why he paired them again.
The Action Was Built Around the Setting
Even though the story takes place in Lebanon, most of Ransomed wasn’t actually filmed there.
Around 70% of the movie was shot in Morocco, with the production also filming in South Korea and Italy. Morocco was chosen because its scenery and atmosphere could stand in for Lebanon, while also offering established production infrastructure.
That decision was especially important for the film’s action sequences. The production team prepared extensively for the car chases, including sequences through narrow streets, while the film’s climactic escape involved actors jumping from a building using wires.
The result is a movie that spends a surprising amount of time moving: cars, gunfights, escapes, and improvised plans keep pushing Min-jun and Pan-su further into trouble.
Why Ransomed Works as a Buddy Movie
The interesting thing about Ransomed is that its strongest relationship isn’t between a hero and a villain. It’s between two men who probably wouldn’t have chosen each other under normal circumstances.
Min-jun begins the story seeing the rescue as an opportunity to advance his career. Pan-su wants to protect himself and his livelihood. Neither one is particularly prepared for what happens after they meet, and neither completely trusts the other.
Their priorities gradually change as the mission becomes less about getting something for themselves and more about getting another person home.
That gives the movie a human center beneath all the car chases and shootouts. Reviews of the film frequently singled out the chemistry between Ha Jung-woo and Ju Ji-hoon, with Yonhap also noting that their previous work together helped give the movie its comedic energy.
A Korean Action Movie With More History Behind It
Ransomed ultimately sits somewhere between a historical drama, hostage thriller, and buddy action comedy. It takes a little-known chapter of South Korean diplomatic history and reshapes it into a much more accessible adventure.
The real kidnapping gives the story its foundation. The fictional Pan-su gives it its personality. And the Morocco-shot action sequences give the movie its momentum.
For viewers who like Korean action movies that aren’t confined to the usual settings, Ransomed is an easy one to add to the list.