Park Heung-sik studied Astronomy and Atmospheric Sciences atYonsei University. After graduating in the 8th class of the prestigious Korean Academy of Film Arts, Park first trained as anassistant director underPark Kwang-su andHur Jin-ho. As seen in his feature directorial debutI Wish I Had a Wife (2001), Park focuses on capturing the delicate flow of emotions that reveal themselves in the ordinary routines of the day. His second film,My Mother, the Mermaid (2004) was an acting showcase forJeon Do-yeon indual roles, making more apparent Park's talent in drawing natural acting from his actors and capturing it within the lyrical frame of his film.[3][4] His third filmBravo, My Life! (2005) was a family drama set against the political upheaval of the late 1970s/early 1980s.[5]
In 2008 Park took on the challenge of directing a 16-episodeTV drama adapted from achick lit novel.[6]My Sweet Seoul depicted the lives of thirty-something modern-day career women.[7][8]
Park was among the four directors who worked onSorry, Thanks, a 2011omnibus film dealing with the profound relationships people establish with their pets. His shortMy Little Sister is about a six-year-old girl's separation from her dog, which she treats as an imaginary sibling. When the girl's mother gets pregnant with her second child, the family decides to put the dog up for adoption, a frequent occurrence in Korea.[9][10]
His 2012 filmChildren of Heaven is set at a middle school where a temporary teacher is called on to take care of troubled students. Funded by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education for raising awareness of the issues teenagers often face, such as school violence, the film avoids being a typical message movie by the sympathetic treatment of its characters.[11][12][13]