'Autograph': Jung Sung-il and Park Ji-hyun wrap filming; to bring Migum City arson-murders to screens

'Autograph' follows Seok-gyu, a justice minister nominee whose confirmation prep collides with letters from Korea's last death-row inmate, Sun-hwa, forcing a reopening of a buried case and the truths attached to it. The film braids a contemporary probe with echoes of a 1997 prosecution, reviving the "Migum City" arson-murder case as a test of power, memory, and institutional conscience. Private correspondence becomes the hinge between public authority and personal culpability, creating a moral inquiry that refuses closure.

Casting that sharpens the premise

Jung Sung-il embodies Seok-gyu, a cross-party favourite whose ascent is shadowed by his earlier role as the 1997 prosecutor on Sun-hwa's file, a symmetry that primes the character for confrontation with his own record.

Park Ji-hyun

plays Sun-hwa, once branded an infamous figure and sentenced to death after the "Migum City" arson-murder, promising an unvarnished performance of restrained intensity. The pairing sets up a dialogue of conviction and confession across decades, tightening the story's emotional wire.

Production muscle behind a debut

The project is provided and produced by

Blue Fire Studio

, also mounting 'Even If This Love Disappears Tonight,' alongside Stone V Studio, a label of Big Stone Pictures credited with 'The Admiral: Roaring Currents' and 'Hansan: Rising Dragon.' Director Hong Seong-min makes a feature debut after a Korean Film Council screenwriting win in 2023 for 'Broken City' and selection in the Council's 2025 feature support program for this film. Producers signal a timely work grounded in current realities and anchored by immersive lead turns, aiming for resonance beyond the final frame.

What the project signals now

The dual timeline points to a legal-political thriller built on documents that outlast power: letters as both evidence and indictment. With veteran producers linked to large-scale hits and a newcomer director backed by institutional vetting, the film's package marries commercial assurance to auteur intent. Post-wrap, attention shifts to how the narrative calibrates blame and compassion amid a national conversation on punishment and power.

About the actors

Jung Sung-il: A theatre-trained screen presence with breakthrough visibility via prestige series work, now cast as Seok-gyu, the nominee whose past as Sun-hwa's 1997 prosecutor tests the limits of public credibility. Recent credits include acclaimed television roles that highlight a cool, meticulous register, aligning with the film's composure-under-pressure arc.Park Ji-hyun: Known for quietly forceful turns that blend poise with volatility, she takes on Sun-hwa, a figure defined as much by social labelling as by the case's contested facts. Her screen choices often emphasise psychological gradation, a fit for a character framed by silence, stigma, and the afterlife of a trial.