Song Joong-ki on why Netflix’s My Name Is Loh Kiwan, about a North Korean defector, is ‘a healing movie’ and why starring in it ‘felt like fate’
- Song Joong-ki will return to Netflix alongside Choi Sung-eun in a movie adaptation of a novel about a North Korean defector struggling to survive in Belgium
- The Korean actor talks about why the movie offers hope despite its premise, why he took the role after turning it down, and acting in the North Korean dialect
By Lee Gyu-lee
Actor Song Joong-ki is returning to Netflix with the new original movie My Name Is Loh Kiwan, in which he will portray the titular character. This comes three years after his appearance in the platform’s sci-fi blockbuster Space Sweepers.
The melodrama, adapted from Cho Hae-jin’s novel I Met Loh Kiwan (2011), centres on a North Korean defector named Loh Ki-wan (Song), who arrives penniless in Belgium, seeking to obtain refugee status. As Loh struggles to survive in the foreign land, he meets a woman named Mari (Choi Sung-eun), who has lost all hope.
Despite their initial bitter encounter, the two characters gradually grow closer, bringing unexpected changes to each other’s desolate lives.
“My Name Is Loh Kiwan depicts the life of Ki-wan, who embarks on a journey to Belgium with the last glimmer of hope in his life when he feels completely cut off. The film captures his arduous journey as he struggles to survive in Belgium at any cost,” Song says.
