Seoul Identity (2025)

Feature Film | Thriller, Spy, Drama | 1h 40min

Storyline

In 1993 Seoul, Jake Cooper leads a double life: beloved English teacher by day, CIA operative by night. When his cover is blown during a violent confrontation at his language school, Jake discovers a terrifying truth—he's been working for the wrong side all along.

Recruited by a man he believed to be CIA, Jake spent two years running missions he thought served his country. But the intelligence he gathered went north. The packages he delivered exposed South Korean agents. Three are already dead.

With his identity shattered and both sides hunting him, Jake must decide who he really is—and who he wants to become. His only ally is Sung-ho, an old friend with a dangerous past, who believes the man beneath all the masks is still worth saving.

A twisting spy thriller about loyalty, deception, and the terrifying question: what happens when everything you believed about yourself turns out to be a lie?

Plot Summary

Jake Cooper, a 23-year-old American teaching English in Seoul, secretly works as a CIA operative—or so he believes. When thugs threaten his language school, Jake's combat training is exposed, catching the attention of the mysterious Mr. Kim.

As Jake investigates discrepancies in his missions, he uncovers evidence that his "CIA handler" doesn't exist. The drops, the coded messages, the intelligence he gathered—all routed through a North Korean network run by Kim. Jake isn't a double agent who got caught. He was never on America's side to begin with.

Hunted by Kim's operatives and questioning everything he thought he knew, Jake turns to Sung-ho, a Korean friend whose sister Jake once saved. Together they navigate Seoul's underworld, gathering proof of Kim's operation while staying one step ahead of the kill teams.

In a final confrontation, Jake must choose: disappear into a new life, or walk into the US Embassy and face the consequences of missions he never meant to complete. He chooses truth—the first real choice he's ever made.

Cast

| Character | Description | |-----------|-------------| | Jake Cooper | American, 23. English teacher and unwitting North Korean asset. Charming, capable, and utterly betrayed by his own life. | | Sung-ho | Korean, 40s. Jake's loyal friend with a checkered past. Pragmatic, protective, dark sense of humor. | | Mr. Kim | Korean, 50s. The man who recruited Jake. Cold, calculating, serves the highest bidder—currently Pyongyang. | | Mr. Han | Korean, 50s. Mysterious informant who first reveals the truth. Serves only the truth itself. | | Agent Park | Korean, 30s. Pursuer who delivers Jake's devastating revelation. | | Mrs. Park | Korean, 50s. Jake's devoted student at the language school. | | Mr. Choi | Korean, 60s. Director of the language school. |

Crew

| Role | Name | |------|------| | Written by | Scott Graham | | Based on | Original screenplay | | Production | J. Scott Graham |

Technical Specs

| Specification | Details | |---------------|---------| | Runtime | ~110 minutes | | Pages | ~110 (93 scenes) | | Aspect Ratio | 2.39:1 (Scope) | | Color | Color | | Language | English, Korean (한국어) | | Setting | Seoul (서울), South Korea, 1993 |

Soundtrack

Original score featuring cinematic K-pop fusion—blending Korean traditional instruments with modern electronic production.

| # | Track | Duration | |---|-------|----------| | 1 | Shadow Hunter | 2:57 | | 2 | Shadows of Seoul | 1:46 | | 3 | Shadow Lies | 3:13 | | 4 | Chasing Fate | 1:50 | | 5 | Double Agent | 2:10 | | 6 | Neon Alley (Pt. 2) | 1:19 | | 7 | Shadows of Seoul (Pt. 2) | 3:22 | | 8 | Truth Unveiled | 2:08 | | 9 | Chasing Fate (Pt. 2) | 1:49 | | 10 | Seoul Identity (Title Track) | 3:22 | | 11 | Seoul Identity Main Theme | 2:00 | | 12 | Truth Unveiled (Pt. 2) | 1:21 |

Total Runtime: ~27 minutes

Music created with Suno AI

Language & Dialogue

This screenplay uses bilingual formatting for Korean dialogue, presenting both Hangul and English translation for authenticity and production readiness.

Format Example

SUNG-HO
(in Korean; subtitled)
야! 이 미친 자식아.
*Ya! You crazy bastard.*

Why Bilingual?

Accuracy: Romanization varies (성호 vs Sung-ho/Seong-ho); Hangul is exact
Production: Korean-speaking actors have authentic dialogue
Cultural respect: Honors the Korean language and setting
Casting: Native speakers can evaluate dialogue quality

Key Korean Terms

| Korean | Romanization | Meaning | |--------|--------------|---------| | 형 | hyung | Older brother (informal, male to male) | | 아이고 | aigoo | Exclamation (surprise, frustration) | | 정 | jeong | Deep emotional bond | | 소주 | soju | Korean distilled liquor |

Genres

Spy Thriller
Drama
Political Thriller
Identity Crisis

Themes

Identity: Who are we when everything we believe about ourselves is false?
Loyalty: The difference between blind obedience and chosen allegiance
Deception: Layers of lies in the intelligence world
Redemption: Can we become someone new after being used as a weapon?
Friendship: The bonds that survive betrayal

Tagline

"The most dangerous lie is the one you tell yourself."

Keywords

Cold War Seoul 1993 CIA North Korea double agent false identity spy thriller betrayal language teacher cover blown KCIA intelligence friendship redemption

Did You Know?

Trivia

The story is set in 1993, during a period of heightened tension on the Korean peninsula
Jake's teaching scenes were written to establish genuine warmth before the spy world intrudes
The "Songbird" code name carries ironic weight—a songbird sings, but Jake's voice was never his own
Sung-ho's character was inspired by the Korean concept of jeong—deep emotional bonds that transcend circumstance

Goofs

Please report any continuity errors

Quotes

Mr. Han: "The right question is not 'who am I working for.' The right question is 'who do I want to be?'"

Jake: "You gave me a conscience so I'd seem human. But conscience is conscience. It doesn't come with an off switch."

Mr. Kim: "So you're choosing a cell over a life." Jake: "I'm choosing to find out."

Jake (to Mr. Kim): "You made a man who wanted to do the right thing. And now he is. That's your legacy."

Sung-ho: "Go. Be who you want to be."

Jake (V.O.): "For the first time in two years - maybe my whole life - I know exactly who I am."

Connections

References

Classic spy thrillers: Three Days of the Condor, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Identity crisis narratives: The Bourne Identity, A Most Wanted Man
Korean cinema influence: Joint Security Area, The Berlin File

Box Office

In Development

Awards

Not yet released

User Reviews

Coming soon

Contributing

This project uses a lightweight SAFe-style workflow for both human collaborators and AI agents.

Branch Types

| Type | Use Case | |------|----------| | scene/{slug} | Single scene work | | revision/{type} | Full-script passes | | character/{name} | Character-focused work | | structure/{change} | Reorganization | | fix/{issue} | Targeted fixes |

Quick Start

# Create a working branch
git checkout -b scene/your-scene-name

# Make changes, then commit
git commit -m "scene(act1): add your scene description"

# Create PR when ready

See docs/WORKFLOW.md for complete workflow documentation.

Copyright

This README follows IMDb formatting conventions for feature film presentation.

Seoul Identity

Install / Use

README