Analysis of Good News: Using Humor to Poke at Everything

The South Korean feature film Good News was directed by Byun Sung-hyun, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Lee Jin-seong. It premiered on Netflix in October 2025. The main cast includes Sul Kyung-gu, Hong Kyung, and Ryu Seung-beum, among others.

The story takes viewers straight to the 1970s, when a Japanese commercial airplane is hijacked by members of the militant group known as the Red Army Faction. What begins as a demand to fly to Pyongyang in North Korea quickly turns into a diplomatic standoff involving Japan, both Koreas, and other international powers.

The plot follows a secret operation led by a man known only as “Nobody,” whose specialty is resolving complex political crises. At his side is Lieutenant Seo Go-myung, an Air Force pilot who is forced to cooperate in order to ensure the passengers’ safety and prevent an international incident.

With this premise, the film could easily have become a dull political drama, but the director wisely chooses to tell the story through satire and a lighter tone, even though the subject matter is serious and the reflection it invites is necessary. Through sharp and biting comedic moments, the film delivers its message with remarkable effectiveness.

Critics have compared the film to classic political satires, praising its ability to blend dramatic tension with humor and showing how comedy can be used to examine government incompetence, institutional vanity, and carefully constructed narratives.

The plot of Good News is based on a real event that took place in 1970, when Japan Air Lines Flight 51 departed from Haneda Airport in Tokyo bound for Fukuoka, only to be hijacked by members of the Red Army Faction of the Japanese Communist League.

This event became known as the Yodogo Hijacking Incident and is considered one of the most improbable stories in postwar aviation history. It combines radical idealism, guerrilla tactics, and Cold War intrigue involving Japan, South Korea, and North Korea.

About 20 minutes after takeoff, a group of nine young militants used katanas to announce the hijacking to 122 passengers and seven crew members.

The hijackers’ goal was to turn the act into a revolutionary statement. At first, they demanded that the plane be flown to Cuba, where they planned to receive military training alongside other communist groups. They soon realized, however, that the Boeing 727 did not have enough fuel for such a long journey. As a result, they changed their demand to a more reachable destination, Pyongyang in North Korea.

During the crisis, the plane landed in Fukuoka to refuel, where Japanese police managed to convince the hijackers to release some of the hostages. The situation grew so complex that air traffic controllers deliberately guided the pilots to land at Gimpo Airport in Seoul, South Korea, disguising it to look like Pyongyang. This risky maneuver ultimately failed after it was discovered by the hijackers themselves.

Shinjiro Yamamura, Japan’s Vice Minister of Transport at the time, voluntarily offered himself as the sole hostage in exchange for the release of the remaining passengers. The hijackers accepted the offer and then proceeded to North Korea. At Mirim Airport in Pyongyang, the group was received by Kim Il-sung’s regime, granted political asylum, and treated as honored guests, bringing the hijacking to an end without any fatalities.

The Red Army Faction later evolved into what became known as the Japanese Red Army. The group was driven by a Marxist-Leninist ideology that believed violence and spectacular actions could trigger revolutions, an idea that time would eventually prove to be unsustainable.

The hijacking exposed weaknesses in aviation security, which was still developing at the time. In addition, the hijackers’ prolonged stay in North Korea, with many remaining there for decades and their families later attempting to negotiate their return to Japan, added another complex political layer to the story.

In an era of political polarization that is often extreme, Byun Sung-hyun, inspired by films such as Parasite, made a deliberate choice to take no sides and to spare no one. This includes pointed observations about South Korea’s own political flaws and vices, where power and vanity are portrayed, ironically, as the true priorities of those in charge.

The film also takes aim at American inaction, highlighting a reluctance to get involved while relying on clichéd speeches about freedom.

Japanese authorities are likewise depicted as irresponsible and incapable of dealing with the hijackers or adequately protecting their passengers. When it comes to North Korea, the criticism is more direct, including the summary execution of an agent who failed to perform his duties properly.

In the end, Good News exposes, without any disguise, the power of manufactured narratives and how events unfold behind closed doors, while the real agents trying to make a difference are ignored by those who are supposed to care for their nation.

Absolutely.

It is a history lesson that makes you think while also making you laugh, filled with unexpected turns and smart, well-crafted humor.

You will be entertained, you will learn, and you will reflect deeply on the subject the film sets out to explore. The best part is that it does all this without taking sides, because at the top, only their interests truly matter.

And what about you? Did you already know the story of the hijacking of Japan Air Lines Flight 51, or were you like me and only discovered it after watching this South Korean production?