Released in Korea in 1978, Gold Wing 123, or Golden Wing 123, is an animated sci-fi superhero feature from Kim Cheong Ki, who also directed the classic Robot Taekwon V (1976) and created the popular Wuroemae series. Like Robot Taekwon V, Gold Wing 123 draws from Japanese genre themes and character designs to create Korea's very own world-saving transforming superhero, a young man who attains super powers and is tasked to defend earth from the evil plans of a galactic conqueror. Known in the West as Goldwing, Gold Wing 123 is one of Korea's earliest and most classic animated films. The Gold Wing 123 was mastered in HD for Blu-ray release, but some imperfections still exist in the film due to the state of the original archive print.
The film exposes the atrocities of war through the eyes of two children who are stranded in the DMZ after the end of the Korean War. The DMZ, strewn with abandoned tanks, dead bodies, land mines, and unexploded shells, is an exceedingly dangerous place for children. But what most endangers them in the end are not weapons but people.
In the latter years of the Korean Empire, Lee In Hwa, disguises herself as a man so she can join a group of young men determined to overthrow the colonial government. They fight together with young national activists presided by Hwal Min and supported by Daewon-gun, the Prince Regent, against Min Gyeom Ho and his peers. But Min and his team perform a surprise attack on Hwal Min and his peers.
