South Korea Synopsis
마약왕
“He who was a criminal and a patriot.”
Busan, South Korea, 1970s. Lee Doo-sam is a small-time smuggler. After helping a drug gang to smuggle meth, he falls into the dark crime world. Quick-witted and full of ambition, he eventually takes over the drug underworld and starts to lead a double life: a good community leader during the day but an infamous drug lord during the night.
Titles With Overlapping Themes
Films and series that share thematic tags with The Drug King. Number on each card indicates how many keywords overlap.
Other Titles From Hive Media Corp
Crime + Adventure in South Korea
27 South Korea titles in our catalog blend the Crime and Adventure genres. Below: the top-rated of them (excluding The Drug King itself).
The 2017–2019 South Korea Window
In the crowded 2017-2019 South Korea release window, The Drug King sits at #233 of 271. The leaderboard below contextualises its neighbours.
#1Intention
★ 9.1 · 2018
#2Youn's Kitchen
★ 8.9 · 2017
#32018 GFRIEND FIRST CONCERT Season of GFRIEND
★ 8.9 · 2018
#4BLACKPINK: Arena Tour 2018 'Special Final in Kyocera Dome Osaka'
★ 8.7 · 2019
#5My Last Love
★ 8.6 · 2017
#6Hyori's Bed and Breakfast
★ 8.6 · 2017
#7Parasite
★ 8.5 · 2019
#8Are You Human?
★ 8.5 · 2018
The 2010s South Korea Landscape
2018 was the decade’s peak output year for South Korea — 93 titles released, including The Drug King. Bars below show how the 2010s stacked up year by year (719 total).
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 92 other South Korea films in 2018.
The 1006th South Korea title from South Korea we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1955).
Our South Korea catalog contains 1,397 titles in total (931 films).
Audience Engagement
120 audience reviews — more than 85% of South Korea films in our index.
Popularity sits at the 73th percentile among South Korea films.
Thematic Fingerprint
Tags on The Drug King, grouped by how common each theme is across the full Asian catalog. Rare tags are more distinctive signals.
- drug trafficking · 5
- jeweller · 1
- busan · 25
- 1970s · 19
- police corruption · 19
- 1980s · 18
- drug dealer · 13
- drug lord · 10
- osaka · 7
- political corruption · 7
- drug abuse · 6
- japan · 454
- based on true story · 98
- south korea · 97
- yakuza · 93
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #1,037 of 1,397 South Korea films indexed here (26th percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is -0.6 points below the South Korea average of 6.9/10.
Among South Korea Crime productions specifically: #164 of 202 (top 81%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | South Korea |
|---|---|
| Original Language | Korean |
| Spoken Languages | Portuguese, English, Korean, Japanese |
| Production Companies | Hive Media Corp, Showbox |
| Runtime | 2h 19m |
| Release Date | December 19, 2018 |
| IMDb | tt6914542 |