Right after a coup takes place, a Northern agent comes down to the South with North Korea’s No. 1. In the meantime, North Korea declares war on South Korea so an agent of the South tries to find his counterpart from the North to prevent a war from starting.

Political thrillers are far from easy to make; they must first show a clear awareness of reality and then predict future situations scientifically on that basis; if these two premises are not met, the film might become just an absurd contest between adults. As the only divided nation in the world, ideological issues function as restrictions in Korea, and good political thrillers are rare, which makes Steel Rain quite miraculous. With precise knowledge of the divisions on the Korean peninsula, the film depicts potential situations arising in East Asia. While director Yang Woo-suk is certainly the brain of the film, actors Jung Woo-sung and Kwak Do-won are the heart. Steel Rain is a film for people who live in this land, people who would die here if a war broke out, unlike those who would leave the country even before a war. The choice the two characters with the same name is reflected their psyche. Steel Rain is as good as the political thrillers of John Frankenheimer. (LEE Yong-cheol)