He studied fine arts in Paris in 1990-1992. In 1993 he won the award for best screenplay from the Educational Institute of Screenwriting with A Painter and A Criminal Condemned to Death. After two more screenplay awards, he made his directorial debut with _Ag-o (1996)_. Then he went on to direct Yasaeng dongmul bohoguyeog (1997), Paran daemun (1998) ("Birdcage Inn"), _Seom (1999)_ ("The Isle", selected in competition at Venice 2000) and the highly experimental Shilje sanghwang (2000) ("Real Fiction"), shot in just 200 minutes. In 1999, Suchwiin bulmyeong (2001) was selected by the Pusan Film Festival's Pusan Promotion Plan (PPP) for development.