Bong Joon Ho

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Lore & Background

Bong Joon Ho was born on September 14, 1969, in Bongheok-dong, Daegu, South Korea. He has three older siblings. His mother, Park So-young, was a housewife; his father, Bong Sang-gyun, was a graphic designer, industrial designer, professor of art at Yeungnam University, and head of the art department at the National Film Institute. His father retired from Seoul Institute of Technology as a professor of design in 2007 and died in 2017. Bong's maternal grandfather, Park Taewon, was an esteemed author during the Japanese colonial period, best known for his work A Day in the Life of Kubo the Novelist and his defection to North Korea in 1950. His older brother, Bong Joon-soo, is an English professor at Seoul National University; his older sister, Bong Ji-hee, teaches fashion styling at Anyang University. Bong was raised as a Catholic, and his Christian name is Michael. While in elementary school, the family relocated to Seoul, taking up residence in Jamsil-dong by the Han River. He later attended Jamsil High School. In 1988, Bong enrolled in Yonsei University, majoring in sociology. He was an active participant in student demonstrations, frequently subjected to tear gas early in his college years. He served a two-year term in the military in accordance with South Korea's compulsory military service before returning to college in 1992. Bong later co-founded a film club named 'Yellow Door' with students from neighboring universities. As a member of the club, Bong made his first films, including a stop motion short titled Looking for Paradise and 16 mm film short titled Baeksaekin (White Man). He graduated from Yonsei University in 1995.

Reader's Guide

Bong first became known to audiences and gained a cult following with his feature directorial debut, the dark comedy film Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000). He later achieved widespread critical success with his subsequent films: the crime thriller Memories of Murder (2003), the monster film The Host (2006), the science fiction action film Snowpiercer (2013), which served as Bong's English-language debut, and the dark comedy thriller Parasite (2019). The latter three are also among the highest-grossing films in South Korea, with Parasite being the highest-grossing South Korean film in history. All of Bong's films have been South Korean productions, although Snowpiercer, Okja (2017) and Mickey 17 (2025) are Hollywood co-productions with major use of the English language. Two of his films have screened in competition at the Cannes Film Festival—Okja in 2017 and Parasite in 2019; the latter earned the Palme d'Or, which was a first for a South Korean film. Bong won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay, making Parasite the first non-English language film to win Best Picture.

Did You Know?

• Bong's maternal grandfather, Park Taewon, was an esteemed author during the Japanese colonial period who defected to North Korea in 1950.
• While in his third year of high school in 1987, Bong saw what he believed to be a monster crawling up a pillar of the Jamsil Bridge, inspiring his film The Host (2006).
• Bong co-founded a film club named 'Yellow Door' with students from neighboring universities while at Yonsei University.
• Bong's father, Bong Sang-gyun, was a professor of design at Seoul Institute of Technology and died in 2017.
• Parasite (2019) was the first non-English language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.