Lee Chang-dong

Yes, Burning is loosely adapted from Haruki Murakami's short story Barn Burning, which originally appeared in Murakami's 1992 collection The Elephant Vanishes. Lee Chang-dong significantly expanded the narrative, adding the character of Haemi and infusing the story with class conflict themes that are not present in Murakami's original.

Lee Chang-dong was an established novelist and university literature professor in South Korea before transitioning to film. He published several acclaimed novels in the 1980s and did not direct his first feature, Green Fish, until 1997, when he was already in his forties.

Yes, Lee Chang-dong served as South Korea's Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism from 2003 to 2004 under President Roh Moo-hyun. He stepped down from the position after about a year to return to filmmaking, subsequently directing Secret Sunshine in 2007.

Lee Chang-dong has directed six feature films: Green Fish (1997), Peppermint Candy (2000), Oasis (2002), Secret Sunshine (2007), Poetry (2010), and Burning (2018). His filmography is notably small but highly acclaimed, with Oasis winning the Special Director's Award at Venice and Burning being the first Korean film shortlisted for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.