Good News ~ For This Flight Let’s Pretend to Be North Korea

The “Good News” is a 2025 Korean movie, categorized as a Black Comedy, Satire, and thriller, and is currently streaming on Netflix. A real-life hijacking inspired the film.

• Memorable Quotes: “Do they have black people in North Korea?” AND “Reality is completely relative. All you need is creativity, and for people to join in.”

SUMMARY: A plane is hijacked, and the terrorists want to be flown to North Korea. Would it be OK to pretend to be North Korea and trick them into landing in South Korea?

♦ Let’s Pretend to Be North Korea

“Good News” is set in 1970. A commercial Japanese passenger plane departing Tokyo is hijacked by a group of militants from the Japanese Red Army Faction who demand to be flown to Pyongyang. The leader of the group made their intention clear. He said:

• “I therefore must declare that in order to crush the bourgeois autocrats, who think they own us all, we must engage in armed revolution.”

The group of militants drew their inspiration from a manga hero. But they didn’t do enough research before they hijacked the plane. For one thing, they didn’t know that the South Korean pilots didn’t know how to fly to North Korea. Also, the pilot told them they didn’t have enough fuel to fly to North Korea. If they knew how to read the fuel gauge, they would have known he was lying. They tricked the group into landing in an airport in South Korea, saying they had to refuel. No doubt the pilots were hoping their government would come to the rescue. But that didn’t happen. They did give the pilots a map so they could chart a course to North Korea. The Red Army faction said they’d blow up everybody on the plane if they didn’t.

Government officials did come up with a convoluted plan to try to rescue the passengers. There’s this person called “Nobody” and Park Sang-Hyeon, the director of the KCIA (Korean Central Intelligence Agency), always calls on him for special operations. Mr. Nobody decided to enlist the help of Seo Go-Myung, an Air Force First Lieutenant who wants a medal. Together, they try to deceive the Red Army Faction by making them think the plane landed in North Korea. Park Sang-Hyeon, the director of the KCIA, fully approved the plan.

♦ It’s Hard to Explain the Black Guy

The plan would have worked if one of the terrorists hadn’t had a pair of binoculars. She looked through the airplane window and spotted a black man, eating a hamburger, looking out through a window of a nearby building.

HOW DARE THEY TRY TO TRICK THE RED ARMY FACTION INTO THINKING THEY WERE IN NORTH KOREA!!  Everybody knows there are no black people in North Korea! DUH!

OK! The special operation plan failed miserably, and now they’ve got an even bigger problem on their hands. If that plane enters North Korean airspace, it will be blown out of the sky. They need a foolproof Plan B. What’s it going to be?

Well! What have they got to work with? Reality. Just reality? They have to convince the Red Army faction what’s REAL.

Reality can appear and disappear quickly. Just start a story and get people to join in.

Main Characters:

• Nobody (played by Sul Kyung-Gu,“Hyper Knife”, “Phantom”, “The Whirlwind”, “The Book of Fish”, “Yaksha: Ruthless Operations”, “Cold Eyes”, “Lucid Dream”, “Kingmaker: The Fox of the Election”)
• Seo Go-Myung (played by Hong Kyung, “Troll Factory”, “Weak Hero Class 1”, “Lovers of the Red Sky”, “Revenant”)
• Park Sang-Hyeon (played by Ryoo Seung-Bum, “Moving”, “The Berlin File”)

Where to Watch

Viewership and Rating:

• IMDb: 6.6 out of 10 stars
• My Drama List: 7.8 out of 10 stars

My personal rating is 8.5 out of 10 stars.

“Good News” has been described as a disaster black comedy. It should have been titled “Spinning the News”. But no matter the title, this K-drama was hilarious. Even though it was set in the 1970s, it is totally relevant to today’s world of misinformation, disinformation, subterfuge, and just plain old lies.

The film is inspired by the real-life hijacking of a Japanese passenger plane (Japan Airlines Flight 351, March 1970) and specifically, the actions of the Japanese Red Army Faction.

• Awarded 4/5 stars; describes the film as a “riotously entertaining black comedy about the nature of truth, the power of propaganda and the delicate intricacies of international cooperation.” REF: Marsh, James. “Review | Busan 2025: Good News movie review – hilarious Korean farce based on a real-life hijacking.” South China Morning Post, 19 Sept. 2025

LINKS OF INTEREST:

‘Good News’ Director on Finding Black Comedy in 1970s Hijacking Crisis | Variety

Netflix’s New Korean Thriller With 100% Rotten Tomatoes Score Becomes Instant Streaming Hit | Screen Rant

Good News Review: A Little Too Much Of A Good Thing | But Why Tho?

Good News Netflix Movie Review, Brilliant or Overhyped? | Kdrama Ticks – Fun Kdrama

Netflix introduces black comedy thriller ‘Good News’ with Sul Kyung Gu and Hong Kyung. | allkpop

‘Good news’: Seol Kyung-gu Takes the Lead in Dark Comedy, Inspired by Japan’s 1970 Yodo-go Hijacking. |The Times of India

TRAILER/TEASER:

Netflix K-Content. “Good News.” YouTube, Video, 7 Sept. 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjJuZNiaXWc.

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