Yang 's debut as a filmmaker came relatively late in life in his mid-forties , when he co-wrote and directed courtroom drama '' The Attorney '' , a fictionalized account of former South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun 's early years as a human rights lawyer in 1980s Busan . It was loosely based on the " Burim " case of 1981 , when the Chun Doo-hwan regime arrested without warrants 22 students and teachers who belonged to a book-reading club on charges that they were North Korea sympathizers . Yang said , " I am interested in films that tell stories of people who struggle hard to stick to their beliefs when they come into conflict with outside environments . ... I wanted to grasp the very moment when a man dramatically and radically changed . " At first Yang had difficulty getting funding for a film with real-life historical figures given the sensitive political climate , but those pre-production budgetary woes eased when top actor Song Kang-ho was cast as the protagonist . Released in late 2013 , '' The Attorney '' became an unexpected box office sensation , drawing 11,375,954 admissions as it reminded older viewers of the country 's politically charged past and provided younger viewers with a window into that era . It became the ninth film in Korean cinema history to reach 10 million admissions , and became ( at the time ) the 8th highest grossing Korean film of all time . '' The Attorney '' received multiple awards and nominations domestically , particularly for Song who received rave reviews for his performance . Notably , it won four awards at the 35th Blue Dragon Film Awards , including Best Film , Best Actor for Song , Best Supporting Actress for Kim Young-ae , and Popular Star Award for Yim Si-wan . Yang also won several Best New Director prizes , from the 19th Chunsa Film Art Awards , the 50th Baeksang Arts Awards ( where Song won the Grand Prize and '' The Attorney '' won Best Film ) , the 14th Director 's Cut Awards , the 34th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards , and the 51st Grand Bell Awards ( where Yang also won Best Screenplay )
35th Blue Dragon Film Awards
35th Blue Dragon Film Awards
Yang Woo-suk