Na Hong-jin
Born	1974 (age 51–52) Seoul,South Korea
Education	Korea National University of Arts Master degree
Occupations	Film director,screenwriter
Years active	2003 to present
Korean name
Hangul	나홍진
Hanja	羅泓軫
RR	Na Hongjin
MR	Na Hongjin

Na Hong-jin (Korean: 나홍진, born 1974) is a South Koreanfilm director,producer andscreenwriter. His filmography is characterized by the incorporation of violent thriller and horror elements.^[1] Na's emergence in the film industry began with his feature film debut,The Chaser (2008), which achieved both critical and commercial success, ranking as the third-highest-grossing film in South Korea for its release year. His subsequent film,The Yellow Sea (2010), was presented in theUn Certain Regard section at the2011 Cannes Film Festival.The Wailing (2016) further contributed to Na's critical and commercial standing, earning accolades that included the Best Director award at the37th Blue Dragon Film Awards and recognition at the Bucheon International Film Festival.

Na Hong-jin graduated fromHanyang University ERICA Campus Department of Crafts studyingindustrial arts and, at first, started in the advertisement industry, until he decided to pursue his dream as a film maker. He then enrolled inKorea National University of Arts.^[2]

Na began making short films before he would go on to make his large feature films. Na's debut short film was titled5 Minutes (2003). It was until his second short film that Na started to gain recognition with the release of his short filmA Perfect Red Snapper Dish (2005). Na won best film in The Extreme Nightmare section at theMise-en-scène Short Film Festival. He would then go on to make his third short film,Sweat (2007) that would win the best short film director prize at theGrand Bell Awards and jury prize at theBucheon International Film Festival awards.

Na's debut feature film was titledThe Chaser (2008), which was met with critical acclaim as well as commercial success.The Chaser became one of the most watched films in Korea, peaking at the third highest grossing film of 2008.^[3] The film was also screened at the Cannes Film Festival where reviewers hailed it as an “instant classic” in Korean thrillers. The film took home many awards such as the 16th Chunsa Film Art Awards for Best Director and Best Screenplay.^[2]

The Yellow Sea was released and entailed a more ambitious vision from Na.The Yellow Sea became the first Korean film to ever have a Hollywood studio collaboration, with the20th Century Fox studio. Na's second film achieved positive reviews but “lacking” compared toThe Chaser.^[4] The film was screened under theUn Certain Regard section at the2011 Cannes Film Festival and received positive critical reviews onMetacritic.^[5][6]

Na's critically acclaimed third feature film,The Wailing. The film encompasses a deep weave of many themes such as religion, perception, comedy, and horror.^[7]The Wailing succeeded commercially and critically, again winning Na many film wards such as Best Director at the 37th Blue Dragon Film Awards, Best of Bucheon award at theBucheon international fantastic film festival, the top film of the year of the 36thKorean Association of Film Critics Awards, and many more. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and was shortly released onto streaming services.^[8][9]

Na teamed up with Thai directorBanjong Pisanthanakun, most known for the filmsShutter (2004) andAlone (2007). Na acted as the producer and screenwriter for Pisanthanakun'sThe Medium, asupernaturalhorrormockumentary. The film premiered at the 25thBucheon international fantastic film festival on 11 July 2021.^[7] When writing the story, Na explained in an interview thatThe Medium was initially a sequel toThe Wailing with Hwang Jung-min'sshaman character. However, this rendition did not come to light. As quoted by Na himself, “The Medium has no relation toThe Wailing.”^[10]

In 2025, Na served as the president of the Competition jury at the30th Busan International Film Festival.^[11]

Na claimed to have written many scripts during theCOVID-19 pandemic. In an interview, Na summed up his working flow as, “Whenever I finish a film, I don't want to go anywhere near another one.” These words have proved true by his slow release of films. Despite being in the film industry for over fifteen years, he only has three feature films to his name.^[10] In March 2023, it was announced that his next project,Hope, will be released in 2024.^[12][13]

• Na Hong-jin atHanCinema
• Na Hong-jin at theKorean Movie Database
• Na Hong-jin atIMDb

• Best Director for Grand Bell Awards winners
• 1974 births
• Living people
• South Korean film directors
• South Korean screenwriters
• Mass media people from Seoul
• Best Director Asian Film Award winners

• CS1 Korean-language sources (ko)
• CS1 Thai-language sources (th)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles containing Korean-language text
• Articles with hCards
• HanCinema person ID same as Wikidata