Na Hong-jin

His subsequent film, The Yellow Sea (2010), was presented in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. The Wailing (2016) further contributed to Na's critical and commercial standing, earning accolades that included the Best Director award at the 37th Blue Dragon Film Awards and recognition at the Bucheon International Film Festival.

Na Hong-jin graduated from Hanyang University ERICA Campus Department of Crafts studying industrial arts and, at first, started in the advertisement industry, until he decided to pursue his dream as a film maker. He then enrolled in Korea National University of Arts.

Na began making short films before he would go on to make his large feature films. Na's debut short film was titled 5 Minutes (2003). It was until his second short film, A Perfect Red Snapper Dish (2005), that Na started to gain recognition. Na won best film in The Extreme Nightmare section at the Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival. He would then go on to make his third short film, Sweat (2007) that would win the best short film director prize at the Grand Bell Awards and jury prize at the Bucheon International Film Festival awards.

Na teamed up with Thai director Banjong Pisanthanakun, most known for the films Shutter (2004) and Alone (2007). Na acted as the producer and screenwriter for Pisanthanakun's The Medium, a supernatural horror mockumentary. The film premiered at the 25th Bucheon international fantastic film festival on 11 July 2021. When writing the story, Na explained in an interview that The Medium was initially a sequel to The Wailing with Hwang Jung-min's shaman character. However, this rendition did not come to light. As quoted by Na himself, "The Medium has no relation to The Wailing." In 2025, Na served as the president of the Competition jury at the 30th Busan International Film Festival.

Na claimed to have written many scripts during the COVID-19 pandemic. In an interview, Na summed up his working flow as, "Whenever I finish a film, I don't want to go anywhere near another one." These words have proved true by his slow release of films. Despite being in the film industry for over fifteen years, he only has three feature films to his name. In March 2023, it was announced that his next project, Hope, will be released in 2024.