# No. 3 (넘버 3)
**No. 3** (넘버 3) is a 1997 South Korean gangster black comedy directed and written by Song Neung-han (송능한) in his feature directorial debut, starring [Han Suk-kyu](https://www.edgepedia.org/han-suk-kyu), Choi Min-sik, Lee Mi-yeon, and [Song Kang-ho](https://www.edgepedia.org/song-kang-ho). It was released in South Korea on August 2, 1997, produced by [Free Cinema](https://www.edgepedia.org/free-cinema) and distributed by Cinema Service.[1](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/video/7462) • [2](https://www.cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=511)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | August 2, 1997, South Korea; produced by Free Cinema, distributed by Cinema Service[2](https://www.cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=511) |
| Director | Song Neung-han, his directorial debut after a screenwriting career that included *Taebaek Mountains*[3](https://www.timeout.com/movies/no-3) |
| Lead cast | Han Suk-kyu (Tae-ju), Choi Min-sik (prosecutor Ma Dong-pal), Lee Mi-yeon (Hyun-ji), Song Kang-ho (Jo-pil), Park Sang-myun (Jae-chul)[1](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/video/7462) |
| Genre | Black comedy, crime, action; rated for adults only (청소년 관람불가)[1](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/video/7462) |
| Awards | Blue Dragon Awards 1997: Best New Director and Best Screenplay (Song Neung-han), Best Supporting Actor (Song Kang-ho); Daejong Film Awards 1997: Best New Actor; Paeksang Arts Awards 1998: Best Screenplay[4](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970022) |
| Admissions | 297,617 per Cine21; the Namu wiki entry records 307,617 as the final Seoul figure[2](https://www.cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=511) • [5](https://www.namu.moe/w/%EB%84%98%EB%B2%84%203) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Tae-ju (Han Suk-kyu) is a member of the Do-gang crime family. After shielding the boss, Kang Do-sik (Ahn Suk-hwan), during an internal coup, he is rewarded with the position of No. 3 in the organization, which puts him in a rivalry with the simple-minded and violent No. 2, Jae-chul (Park Sang-myun), nicknamed "Ashtray" for his weapon of choice.[1](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/video/7462) Tae-ju, however, wants to be No. 1, and he studies foreign languages to prepare the organization for internationalization.[2](https://www.cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=511)
His ambitions are complicated from several directions. He takes over the organization's most important job, managing a hotel, but the infamous prosecutor Ma Dong-pal ([Choi Min-sik](https://www.edgepedia.org/choi-min-sik)) becomes an obstacle, and his attempts to win the prosecutor over fail.[4](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970022) His wife Hyun-ji (Lee Mi-yeon), a former hostess who dreams of an elegant life, takes poetry lessons from a third-rate poet named Rimbaud (Park Kwang-jung) and begins an affair with him; the boss's wife Ji-na (Bang Eun-hee) later schemes to end the relationship.[1](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/video/7462) Meanwhile Jo-pil (Song Kang-ho), who five years earlier failed to kill the Do-gang boss, trains three henchmen in the mountains and forms the Bulsa Family to take revenge.[1](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/video/7462)
The story culminates at a room salon (Korean hostess bar for private entertaining) where the Do-gang and a Japanese organization meet. A dispute over the Dokdo issue splits the two groups, and when Jae-chul's carelessly thrown ashtray strikes the Japanese boss, war breaks out between them. The prosecutor Ma, believed dead, storms into the chaos; it emerges that Tae-ju, who wanted to live like a proper human being, had conspired with him. In a 2001 coda, Hyun-ji visits the imprisoned Tae-ju with their son, and the two plan to emigrate together after his release.[1](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/video/7462)
## Production and background
Song Neung-han began his career as a screenwriter for film and television drama, with credits including *Taebaek Mountains*, and *No. 3* was his first film as director.[3](https://www.timeout.com/movies/no-3) • [6](https://miff.com.au/festival-archive/films/21678/no-3) Time Out reports that he based the story on his encounters with a real-life gang boss.[3](https://www.timeout.com/movies/no-3) The film was shot by Park Seung-bae, edited by Park Gok-ji, with music by Cho Dong-ik.[2](https://www.cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=511)
The cast gathered performers who would become leading figures of Korean cinema. Han Suk-kyu was at the height of his popularity in 1997, appearing that year in *Green Fish*, *No. 3*, and *The Contact*; Choi Min-sik and Song Kang-ho appear in early supporting roles that predate their later stardom.[7](https://www.archivecenter.net/kaitArchive/attach/120000/126776/20250312102000420.pdf) • [8](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/no-3/)
## Reception and legacy
The film swept new-talent honors at the 1997 Blue Dragon Awards, where Song Neung-han won Best New Director and Best Screenplay and Song Kang-ho won Best Supporting Actor, and Song Kang-ho also took Best New Actor at the 1997 Daejong Film Awards; the Paeksang Arts Awards gave it Best Screenplay in 1998.[4](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970022) • [9](https://contents.kocw.or.kr/KOCW/document/2014/hanyang/hamchungbeom1/09.pdf)
Commercially it drew roughly 300,000 admissions in Seoul, a solid but not blockbuster result; one retrospective account notes that, judged purely on box office, it counted as a relative disappointment among Han Suk-kyu's films of that period.[2](https://www.cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=511) • [5](https://www.namu.moe/w/%EB%84%98%EB%B2%84%203)
Critical assessments have diverged. Time Out called it "a brilliantly inventive, off-the-wall satire on the gangster mentality," praising its razor-sharp script and spectacular visual style.[3](https://www.timeout.com/movies/no-3) • [6](https://miff.com.au/festival-archive/films/21678/no-3) Reviewers at Eye for Film and Far East Films found it instead long-winded and muddled, with a tone that lurches between broad black comedy and violent thriller, though both noted the interest of seeing Han Suk-kyu, Choi Min-sik, and Song Kang-ho in early roles.[10](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/no-3-film-review-by-james-gracey) • [11](https://fareastfilms.com/review/no-3/)
A 2026 KBS retrospective describes *No. 3* as a forerunner of the gangster comedies that poured out of Korean cinema from the 2000s, such as *My Wife Is a Gangster* and *Kick the Moon*, while arguing that its distinct value lies in using humor to satirize not just gangsters and crime but Korean society as a whole, including power, nationalism, economic anxiety, and corruption.[12](https://v.daum.net/v/20260712120158970) • [8](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/no-3/) The film was programmed in the "Relentless Invention: New Korean Cinema, 1996–2003" series at Film at [Lincoln Center](https://www.edgepedia.org/lincoln-center) in 2019.[8](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/no-3/)
## Notes on versions
Sources disagree on the running time: the Korean Film Archive and Cine21 list 104 minutes, Film at Lincoln Center and blu-ray.com list 108 minutes, and some listings give 109 minutes or 1 hour 49 minutes.[1](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/video/7462) • [8](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/no-3/) • [13](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/database/movie/no3/no3.htm) The film is in Korean, with Japanese also listed among its languages.[14](https://zetawiki.com/wiki/%EB%84%98%EB%B2%84_3)
## References
1. [넘버.3, 영상도서관, 한국영상자료원 (Korean Film Archive)](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/video/7462)
2. [넘버 3 (NO.3) 상세정보, 씨네21](https://www.cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=511)
3. [No. 3 1997, directed by Song Neung-Han, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/no-3)
4. [No. 3 (1997), Korean Film Council (KOFIC)](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970022)
5. [넘버 3, 나무위키](https://www.namu.moe/w/%EB%84%98%EB%B2%84%203)
6. [NO. 3, MIFF Festival Archive](https://miff.com.au/festival-archive/films/21678/no-3)
7. [한국 영상산업 아카이브 자료 (Han Suk-kyu's 1997 films)](https://www.archivecenter.net/kaitArchive/attach/120000/126776/20250312102000420.pdf)
8. [No. 3, Film at Lincoln Center](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/no-3/)
9. [제34회 백상예술대상 / 제18회 청룡영화상 강의 자료, KOCW](https://contents.kocw.or.kr/KOCW/document/2014/hanyang/hamchungbeom1/09.pdf)
10. [No. 3 (1997) Movie Review, Eye for Film](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/no-3-film-review-by-james-gracey)
11. [No. 3 (1997) Review, Far East Films](https://fareastfilms.com/review/no-3/)
12. [우리시대의영화㊷ 세기말 한국 사회를 비춘 웃음 〈넘버 3〉, KBS via Daum](https://v.daum.net/v/20260712120158970)
13. [넘버 3 NO.3 (1997), 한국영화데이터베이스](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/database/movie/no3/no3.htm)
14. [넘버 3, 제타위키](https://zetawiki.com/wiki/%EB%84%98%EB%B2%84_3)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 1990s films › Crime comedies and capers*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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