General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

The Drug King (마약왕)

The Drug King (마약왕; revised romanization Mayakwang) is a 2018 South Korean crime drama directed by Woo Min-ho, based on the true story of Lee Doo-sam, an infamous drug dealer who rose from petty smuggling in 1970s Busan to become a kingpin exporting methamphetamine to Japan.¹^•² It stars Song Kang-ho as Lee, with Cho Jung-seok as the prosecutor pursuing him and Bae Doo-na as a lobbyist who joins his operation.¹

Key fact	Detail
Original title	마약왕 (Mayakwang), English and literal title The Drug King¹
Director and writers	Woo Min-ho; screenplay by Woo Min-ho and Lee Ji-min¹
Release	December 19, 2018 in South Korea, distributed by Showbox; 139 minutes; rated restricted for minors (청소년관람불가)¹^•³
Basis	True story of Lee Doo-sam, a drug dealer active in Busan in the 1970s²
Lead cast	Song Kang-ho (Lee Doo-sam), Cho Jung-seok (prosecutor Kim In-goo), Bae Doo-na (Kim Jung-a)¹
South Korean admissions	1,864,076³
Critical scores	75% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (8 reviews); 34% Popcornmeter; IMDb 6.2/10⁴^•⁵
Streaming	Available on Netflix since February 21, 2019⁴

Spoilers

Plot

The story is set in Busan in the 1970s. Lee Doo-sam works for a group smuggling high-priced goods such as gold and watches. When the government cracks down, he becomes the scapegoat for his boss and serves prison time. After release he enters the manufacture and distribution of methamphetamine, and at a party he meets Kim Jung-a, a lobbyist with connections to powerful people, who joins his venture.¹

Lee's operation grows enormously profitable, but he grows restless and becomes addicted to methamphetamine himself. Meanwhile prosecutor Kim In-goo, transferred to the Busan Prosecutors' Office, notices Lee while investigating a drug case and targets both Lee and the powerful figures who took bribes from him.¹ Netflix's synopsis frames the arc as a petty smuggler who rises to become king of narcotics exports to Japan while leading a double life as a respected community figure.⁶

The real Lee Doo-sam and the 1970s setting

Woo Min-ho, previously the director of Inside Men (2015), said he first heard of the historical case from the head of the production company and was struck that such a figure could exist under the authoritarian regime of the 1970s.² In interviews he displayed a photograph of the real arrest that inspired the film's final scene: police first approached unarmed, Lee fired a gun, and a 35-member special squad was sent in a second time. Woo said Lee held methamphetamine worth 7 billion won at the time, which he put at more than 100 billion won in today's money.⁷

At a promotional press conference Woo described the film as "a fun movie about the ups and downs of a man who lived as a drug lord under the '70s nationwide slogan of 'Let's become wealthier.'"⁸ The Korean Film Council's synopsis likewise bills it as the rise and fall of a drug lord who stunned the nation in the 1970s.⁹

Production and cast

Shooting began on May 5, 2017 and finished on October 10, 2017, with production in Busan.¹^•¹⁰ The film was produced by Hive Media Corp., with Kim Jin-woo producing.⁴^•¹

Song Kang-ho, one of South Korea's most prominent actors, took the title role; the supporting cast includes Kim So-jin, Kim Dae-myung, Lee Sung-min, Lee Hee-jun, Jo Woo-jin, and Yoon Je-moon.¹ Woo said Jo Woo-jin, whom he had first cast in Inside Men, underwent full-body tattoo makeup for the role, and Kim Dae-myung gained weight at his own suggestion for his character, an addict.⁷ Song later donated the costumes he wore as Lee Doo-sam to the Korean Film Archive's collection campaign; Woo noted the final outfit, underpants and a fur coat, replicated the real Lee's clothing at his arrest, when detectives covered his lower half with a blanket.¹¹

Style

Woo described a deliberate visual progression tied to the character's rise and fall: the film opens bright, with saturated natural color, and loses saturation and color as the story advances, leaving the later scenes dark and lonely. He also said he wanted to show Lee's sense of self dissolving as his fortunes rose, with companions leaving him one by one until he was alone.¹¹

Reception

The film drew a divided response. On Rotten Tomatoes it holds 75% on the Tomatometer from 8 critics but only 34% on the audience Popcornmeter.⁴ Critics repeatedly noted the familiarity of the rise-and-fall structure: one called it "a solid but overly familiar true-life crime drama," and another wrote that it "becomes boring as it goes through the same prefabricated clichés about the rise and fall of a drug lord."⁴ A Review Geek review called it a missed opportunity despite Song's performance, citing a slow-paced plot and a runtime it found overlong.¹² Song's lead performance was nonetheless widely singled out; a Letterboxd review called him "the film's standout."¹³

In South Korea the film sold 1,864,076 admissions, per Cine21.³ Common Sense Media, reviewing the Netflix release, flagged extensive violence, drug use, and constant profanity, and rated it 17+.¹⁴

References

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) › 2015–2019 films › Crime drama and neo-noir films

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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