Sinking the domestic box office record set by Titanic,Shiri is a prime example of the commercial trends dominating Korean cinema today. Kang Je-Gyu＇s ‘New Alternative Plan’blends together action and melodrama,planting Hollywood＇s spectacle-centered style and Korean subjective consciousness in one place. After completing her rigorous training,female North Korean agent Lee Bang-Hee is sent to kill a group of high profile scientists.As OP agent Yu Joong-Won investigates these murders,a weapon dealer is killed before his eyes and North Korean agents seize a high-powered liquid explosive.Upon further investigation,Yu discovers his fiancee is none other than Lee Bang-hee herself.The explosives are planted at a soccer stadium holding thousands of people and the tragic lover must aim to kill each other as the representatives of a divided Korea. Shiri does not present the North-South relationship from an ＂us vs.the enemy＂perspective. Rather,the actions of NK agents are shown as justified,containing within them the depth of humanity. Their call for unification isn＇t merely a fight for supreme ideology, but a fight for survival.Thus their demise represents the tragedy of a divided nation,rather than a victory at the enemies＇s expense. Kang＇s commercially charged ＇alternative plan＇succeeds because of this; shiri exists not as an artistic alternative but as a struggle for the survival of Korean cinema.