Shin Sang-ok Net Worth

Background and career

Shin Sang-ok (Korean: 신상옥; Hanja: 申相玉; 1925 or 1926 – April 11, 2006), anglicized as Simon Sheen, was a South Korean filmmaker who directed 74 films in a career spanning over five decades. He is best known in South Korea for his efforts during the 1950s and 1960s, many of them collaborations with his wife Choi Eun-hee. Shin posthumously received the Gold Crown Cultural Medal, the country's top honor for an artist.

In 1978, Shin and Choi were kidnapped by order of Kim Jong Il, who wanted them to improve the North Korean film industry. The couple remained in captivity for 8 years and Shin directed seven films for Kim, including An Emissary of No Return, Runaway (both 1984), Love, Love, My Love, Salt, and Pulgasari (produced in 1985), before they escaped in 1986 and sought asylum in the United States. Shin gained American citizenship in 1989, and continued to produce films in the United States, now under his adopted name Simon S. Sheen. He and Choi eventually returned to South Korea for his final years.