The Man Standing Next () is a 2020 South Korean political drama film directed by Woo Min-ho. Based on an original novel of the same title, the film stars Lee Byung-hun, Lee Sung-min, Kwak Do-won, and Lee Hee-joon as the high-ranking officials of the Korean government and the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) during the presidency of Park Chung Hee 40 days before his assassination in 1979.
The film premiered in South Korea on 22 January 2020, where it topped the box office until 4 February 2020. It was released in the United States on 24 January 2020. It was selected as the South Korean entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards, but it was not nominated. The film was released in Japan on 22 January 2021, under the name KCIA.
Synopsis
In the 1970s, Korea is under the absolute control of President Park who controls the KCIA, the organization with an edge over any branch of government. The director of the KCIA, Kim Gyu-pyeong, is nearly the second-in-command, but faces rivalry from the president's security chief. In the midst of a reign of fear, a former KCIA director, Park Yong-gak, who knows all about the government's obscure and illegal operations, goes into exile, and testifies in front of the U.S. Congress, opening the floodgates to the investigation of Koreagate. As tension escalates, stifling political maneuvers by those desiring power collide explosively.
Plot
Park Yong-gak, a former KCIA director, testifies against the South Korean President, Park, in a United States Senate Committee investigation. With the threat of Park publishing his manuscript on the regime, President Park of South Korea sends Kim Gyu-pyeong, the current KCIA Director to stop Park Yong-gak from publishing his manuscript. Kim goes to Washington, where the two meet and Kim demands the manuscript from Park. Park Yong-gak hands it over but implies the president's corruption by suggesting that President Park is being financially backed by offshore Swiss accounts.
With his mission accomplished, Kim returns to South Korea and consequently, faces conflict with Kwak Sang-cheo, President Park's bodyguard. A wiretapping plot on the president is discovered and Kim becomes suspicious of a professor who is present at the search in the President's office. Through interrogation, Kim finds out that a KCIA agent has acted without orders from him. He sends an agent, Ham Dae-yong, to Paris to further investigate the situation.
In Paris, through means of wiretapping, Ham discovers that the KCIA agent was not acting on his own, but rather under orders from Kwak. Through this, it is discovered that Kwak has ordered the assassination of ex-Director Park, who will be visiting Paris. It is during this time that President Park gives Director Kim the freedom to do what he wishes with the ex-Director. Kim, not to be outdone by Kwak, resolves to have Park Yong-gak killed.
In Paris, two different teams both with the aim of assassinating ex-Director Park prepare to kill him. Kwak's team seeks to lure Park into his room, while Kim's team seeks to kidnap him and then kill him. With the help of Park Yong-gak's aide, Deborah Shim, who is used as bait, Director Kim's team is able to nab ex-Director Park first, driving him out of Paris. However, Park is able to momentarily escape to a nearby town but is tracked down by Ham, who promptly kills him and disposes of his body.
Park is displeased with Kim's handling, however, noting that Kim didn't solve the problem of apparently stolen finances that were procured by Park Yong-gak. Kim's friendship with President Park deteriorates further as a result and Park begins distrusting Kim. Kim, who is deeply torn by the killing, as the ex-Director was his friend, begins to break down under stress.
Sometime after the killing of ex-Director Park, President Park and his administration are faced with a new issue in the form of pro-democracy protests in Busan and Masan, as well as fears that these protests could spread to Seoul. Kwak takes a hardline stance, advising harsh and swift military intervention, and declaration of martial law. Kim suggests a more levelhanded approach and urges Park to avoid declaring martial law. Park, favoring Kwak, proceeds with a declaration of martial law.
Following this, Kim is told that Park is holding a banquet but has not invited him, but rather Kwak. Kim goes anyway to eavesdrop on Park and Kwak and learns that Park is considering replacing Kim. Yet again, Park gives a subordinate clearance to do what they wish, the subordinate this time being Kwak.