A daring matchmaking experiment is unfolding in South Korea — one that seeks to bridge not only hearts but decades of ideological separation.
Love Beyond Borders
In the provocative new documentary North South Man Woman, premiering June 20 at Sheffield DocFest 2025, entrepreneur Yujin Han attempts something unprecedented: pairing North Korean refugee women with South Korean men. Co-directed by Norwegian filmmaker Morten Traavik and Korean cultural mediator Sun Kim, the film offers an emotional, often humorous, and deeply human lens into a divided nation’s search for connection.
Produced by Remont Films (Norway) in collaboration with VFS Films (Latvia) and Mirror & Story (South Korea), this five-year project blends rare archival footage and unfiltered personal stories into a powerful narrative about love in the shadow of one of the world’s most entrenched geopolitical borders.
Matchmaker with a Mission
At the heart of the film is Yujin Han, described as a “sharp, charismatic entrepreneur” who founded LoveStorya, a matchmaking agency with a unique mission: to create romantic opportunities for North Korean defector women in the South. Her own inter-Korean marriage is both a public image and a personal trial, as the documentary reveals.
According to directors Traavik and Kim, Han is more than a matchmaker — she’s a cultural bridge, navigating the emotional and social landmines of prejudice, trauma, and ideology. And behind her success lies vulnerability, as her own relationship begins to strain under the same pressures she helps others confront.
When Ideology Meets Intimacy
One featured couple, Jaewu Jeong and Hyoju Han, embody the film’s emotional depth and unexpected turns. Jaewu, a South Korean man, describes his first impression of Hyoju with poetic awe:
See More :-
“She was like a fairy who spoke our language.”
Hyoju, however, had a more reserved reaction:
“To be honest, Jaewu fell a bit short of my expectations,” she admits, candidly. But his acts of sincere care, such as driving hours just to bring her medicine, gradually won her over.
Their evolving relationship illustrates a central tension of the film: love tested by history, prejudice, and cultural unfamiliarity.
A New Narrative on North Korean Refugees
Director Sun Kim was drawn to this untold side of the North Korean experience.
“We hear so much about the trauma of escape, but what happens next? Can love — real, lasting love — exist between people shaped by such different systems?”
Co-director Morten Traavik, known for his controversial collaborations with North Korean artists and officials, calls the project a “microcosm of the Korean Peninsula”, where romance mirrors diplomacy, distrust, and rare hope.
“It’s storytelling at the fault line of the personal and political,” he notes.
Festival Launch and Global Prospects
North South Man Woman will screen again on June 22 at Sheffield DocFest, the UK’s premier non-fiction film festival. Dogwoof is handling global distribution, and early buzz suggests the documentary could spark international conversations on migration, identity, and reconciliation.
