Jung Haneul was a North Korean soldier on the frontlines with South Korea when he decided to escape, making a high-stakes journey across the inter-Korean border in search of freedom and a better life.

Now more than a decade later, he is making his directorial debut with the short film “Two Soldiers,” a work that draws on his experiences in the DPRK military to shed light on the contrasting lives and perspectives of soldiers in the country he was forced to flee.

“Two Soldiers” revolves around the experiences of two childhood friends, Kwang-hyuk and Jin-Chul, during their military service,