CHO YOU-HYUN, KIM HYUN-MOK IN 3670 (2025)

PARK JOON-HO: 3670 (2025) - NYAFF

A Korean queer film that is ultimately positive

3670, whose title refers to a gay meetup phone signal used in Korea, follows a young North Korean defector called Cheol-jun (Cho You-hyun) resettling in Seoul who is also gay and closeted. Cheol-jun is caught between fellow defectors who take him in and the pull of the city’s busy queer nightlife as he studies for college entrance - and works at a convenience store. Yes, he has a lot going on, and belongs to two dangerous minorities. Although 3670 seems a little long, it's very involving and considered a milestone for queer cinema in Korea. One of the most interesting films I saw in the 2026 NYAFF.

There is an intriguing push and pull in the character of Cheol-jun in which of course the actor Cho You-hyun is key. Though Cheol-jun is painfully shy and unsure with South Korean culture and ways, he turns out to be both a top and a hunk and he has a ready smile. Cho You-hyun seems to bloom during the course of the film. Cheol-jun may be a wallflower, but wait till he takes his shirt off and puts on a harness at a leather bar - and starts to dance. The gay scene is convincing here, and it would be surprising if some of the extras filling it out were not actually gay.

For all his painful shyness, Cheol-jun is not a virgin. He has had sex, but he longs for a real relationship and has not found that, plus his fellow young defector pals are becoming suspicious of all the time he seems to be spending elsewhere. Cheol-jun meets another young man, Yeong-jun (Kim Hyun-mok) in a gay dating group, who, like him, is seeking college admission, and who acts as his guide. But soon though Cheol-jun is still painfully shy, he is outstripping Yeong-jun on the gay scene. The powerful central relationship between the two is the heart of the film. Cheol-jun gloms onto Yeong-jun and thinks he loves him, though he is too shy to say so.

Though there is one sex scene early on, when Cheol-jun arranges a phone app date, there is only one hug later, and no shows of physical affection. The triple bow of North Korean ritual, that we see. This film is about relationships, which is what Cheol-jun wants, not just the "cum and go" behavior. Cheol-jun yearns for Yeong-jun, but Yeong-jun says he's being like the duckling that clings to its mother, that is, his only importance is really that he has helped him and he only imagines he loves him.

This relationship is painfully unresolved, which is significantly made worse by Yeong-Jun's poor image of himself. When he hears Cheol-jun describe the extreme bravery of his escape to a church group (whereby religion is discussed), Yeong-Jun is humbled. The film evokes some painful emotions but is ultimately positive. Kim Hyun-mok won Best Actor at Jeonju IFF for his performance as Yeong-jun - surprising to me, because his is the secondary role.

There is a brief sex scene of Cheol-jun with the app-sex boy to start with, and then some good group scenes of Cheol-jun being introduced to first the defector community, then a gay young men's group. In the latter, there is a game with numbers and picking a "love" or partner that goes awry for Cheol-jun, though he is a hit. But while the film has to establish Cheol-jun's various roles, including studies and the convenience store, which is memorably returned to, the key scenes seem to be involving the two young men sorting out their relationship, which is painful but ultimately necessary and positive. And a little comical, since who would imagine that the signal of Cheol-jun's settling into his new life is his finally agreeing to sing karaoke. And handsome and studly though he is, his karaoke singing, used to accompany the closing credits, is horrible.

But as he says in an interview with Korea JongAng Daily, director Park Joon-ho, who started out with several short films about defectors, chose the karaoke song Cheol-jun sings at karaoke to underline how the protagonist makes cautious steps forward that aren't easy, "Meeting people, getting hurt, healing" that are to be "recurring parts of his life." A positive late scene, delightful, really, is Cheol-jun's "coming out" to his two best straight friends. It's like he says "I have to tell you something," and they say "it's okay, we know." The intensity of this film is shown by how when there's a hug, it really matters. There's also a skillful sense of dress and a "Harvard" baseball cap that makes Cheol-jun instantly stylish. Park Joon-ho is savvy about a lot of things, and he's a name to watch for now.

3670, 124 mins. First showed at SFFILM San Francisco Apr. 19, 2025 , local premiere South Korea Sept. 3, 2025. Also shown Oct. 11 Taiwan (Kaohsiung); Nov. 15 QCinema, Philippines; Nov. 16 Warsaw (Five Flavours); Jan. 6, 2026 Palm Springs; and May 30, Blue Mountain (Canada). It opened in Taiwan Apr. 10, 2025. Screened for this review as part of NYAFF at FLC, New York. Showtime:
Saturday July 25,
1:15pm
SVA Theatre

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©Chris Knipp. Blog: http://chrisknipp.blogspot.com/.