Kang Hye-jung (filmmaker)
Kang Hye-jung (born 1970) is a South Korean filmmaker and the CEO of Filmmaker R&K, a production company she co-founded in 2005 with director Ryoo Seung-wan. The company has produced many films, including Veterans (2015), The Battleship Island (2017), Escape from Mogadishu (2021), and Smugglers (2023), as well as Exit (2019) and Hostage: Missing Celebrity (2021).
She studied Home Economics Education at Korea University. An active student, she joined a film workshop in 1993 where she met Ryoo Seung-wan. They began dating and married in 1998, and they have three children. Kang started in film production in the mid-1990s, working at Movie Room and Cinema Service and even investing in Ryoo’s early short film Transmutated Head.
In 2005, after leaving her previous job, Kang and Ryoo launched Filmmaker R&K with capital from Arahan. Kang runs the production side as CEO, while Ryoo focuses on directing. The company initially produced Ryoo’s films but later expanded to work with other directors, including joint projects with Film K on titles like The Battleship Island, Exit, and Svaha: The Sixth Finger.
The duo faced challenges, such as the underperformance of Dachimawa Lee (2008), which caused financial strain and led to a relocation. They bounced back with later successes, including The Unjust, The Berlin File, and especially Veteran, which became a major box-office hit. The company continued to grow, taking on new projects and collaborations.
Kang has received recognition for her work, including being named Female Filmmaker of the Year at the Women Filmmakers Association festival in 2019.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 16:04 (CET).