South Korea’s National Intelligence Service appointed actor Hyun Bin as an honorary counterintelligence agent, citing his role in the 2023 film The Point Men.
The NIS said the appointment aims to raise public awareness of expanded espionage laws following a partial revision of the country’s Criminal Act, which broadened the scope of espionage crimes from acts involving an “enemy state” to leaking state secrets to “foreign countries or equivalent organizations.”
Vast Entertainment confirmed that Hyun Bin will participate in activities promoting counterintelligence in cooperation with the NIS.
“The Point Men” is based on the 2007 South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan and its subsequent rescue mission, with Hyun Bin playing NIS agent Park Dae-sik alongside Hwang Jung-min and Kang Ki-young.
Hyun Bin also portrays an NIS agent in the political thriller Made in Korea and previously starred as army captain Ri Jeong-hyeok in the television series Crash Landing on You. His co-star in that series, Son Ye-jin, became his wife in 2022, and the couple had a son later that year.