General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20264 min read

Count (카운트) (2023 film)

Count (카운트), also released internationally as Countdown, is a 2023 South Korean comedy-drama sports film directed by Kwon Hyeok-jae, loosely based on the real-life boxer Park Si-hun, who won a controversial middleweight gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics¹^•². It was released in South Korea on February 22, 2023, distributed by CJ ENM¹.

Key fact	Detail
Original title	카운트 (Ka-un-teu); also known internationally as Countdown¹^•³
Director / writers	Kwon Hyeok-jae; screenplay by Kim Jin-A and Hong Chang-Pyo⁴
Release	February 22, 2023, South Korea; distributor CJ ENM¹
Running time / rating	108 minutes; rated 12 in South Korea¹
Basis	Real-life story of Park Si-hun, 1988 Seoul Olympic boxing gold medalist²
Box office	398,692 admissions on 946 screens; total gross $2,766,891¹
Production	filmK; co-produced by 26 Company and Film Tong¹^•⁵

Spoilers

Premise

The film is set in 1998 in the southeastern port city of Jinhae. Park Si-heon (Jin Sun-kyu), a former Olympic boxing gold medalist, now works as a high school physical education teacher whose stubborn, eccentric discipline style has earned him the nickname "crazy dog"². At home he deals with a son who wants to see his gold medal and a wife pressing him to move to a new house using his pension payments from the medal².

The turning point comes when Park stumbles across a high school boxing contest in which the talented Yoon-woo (Sung Yoo-bin) loses his bout because of match fixing. Yoon-woo quits boxing and transfers to Park's school, and Park creates a school boxing team to persuade him to return to the ring, training him and other underdog students in his own way²^•⁴. His wife Il-sun (Oh Na-ra) and the school principal (Ko Chang-seok) oppose the decision⁴. Other students join the club, including Hwan-joo (Jang Dong-joo), who takes up boxing to avoid becoming a delinquent, and the timid Bok-an (Kim Min-ho)⁵.

The real story behind the film

The film takes its premise from Park Si-hun's real career. At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Park won the light middleweight boxing final against American fighter Roy Jones Jr. by a 3-2 decision, a result that placed him at the center of widespread controversy and accusations of corruption²^•⁶. The real Park quietly retired from boxing and worked as a physical education teacher in his rural hometown for 13 years before returning to competitive boxing as a coach².

The film does not dramatize the Olympic bout itself; instead it offers a personal perspective on Park's life after retirement, looking back on the controversial win through a fictionalized underdog story with rebellious high school students².

Cast and production

Jin Sun-kyu, known for the hit action comedies The Outlaws (2017) and Extreme Job (2019), plays Park Si-heon. The role was his first lead in a film in 19 years of acting, a milestone that moved him to tears at a press conference after a screening². The part overlaps with his own background: he is a Jinhae native, had dreamed of becoming a physical education teacher, and boxes as a hobby².

The supporting cast includes Sung Yoo-bin as Yoon-woo, Oh Na-ra as Il-sun, Ko Chang-seok as the principal, Jang Dong-joo as Hwan-joo, Ko Kyu-pil, and Kim Min-ho³^•⁵. Filming ran from February 25 to June 24, 2020⁴, and locations included the Jinhae area and Gunsan, where the former Gunsan Elementary School served as a shooting site⁷.

Reception and box office

Count opened on 946 screens and recorded 398,692 total admissions for a gross of $2,766,891¹. It was one of five Korean films CJ ENM invested in and distributed in 2023, a slate in which none crossed its break-even point; trade reporting cited Count's total at about 390,000 admissions⁸.

Critics noted that the film assembles the standard elements of the sports genre, an underdog story, thrilling boxing matches, and characters who grow through crisis, while finding the familiar structure and characters somewhat flat and predictable⁹. The Korea Times described it as a comedy that offers slapstick laughs while also exposing the corrupt side of the boxing world, following the familiar formula of an inspirational coach training an underdog despite setbacks, and doubling as a family story in which the coach tries to prove himself to his family².

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026