In his last interview in 2012, he said, “Now, my time has passed. I have no intention of making a film again. The one who wins is the one who does it with a do-or-die attitude. You have to make a film with all your heart and without lies.” This seems to be his lifelong clear mindset and attitude toward film. Perhaps this might had been his will that just arrived too quickly.
- p. 15, Shim Jae Myung, 〈Preface: In Memory of the Late Lee Tae-won〉

〈Bhiksuni〉, which ended up being Taehung Pictures’ “canceled foundingwork,” was originally planned by actress Kim Ji-mee. Director Im Kwontaek was supposed to direct the film; as the production schedule continued to be delayed, however, Im Kwon-taek recommended Lee Tae-won to take over the project. Lee Tae-won took over the project after paying for the pre-production cost. 〈Bhiksuni〉, written by Song Gil-han, was the story of a bhuksuni (Buddhist nun) who converted herself to Buddhism to reach nirvana.
- p. 32, Kim Hyung-seok, 〈A Brief History of Taehung Pictures: A Prestigious Production Company in Chungmuro〉

As such, Taehung Pictures raised necessary funding in the way of old Chungmuro to produce a film. However, Chungmuro’s topography changed rapidly with the influx of large companies and financial capital in the 1990s. In fact, Samsung Entertainment Group once offered Taehung Pictures 10 billion won worth of production budget, but he refused the proposal, thinking “the know-how is with me even if large companies rushed in”
- p. 54, Kim Hyung-seok, 〈A Brief History of Taehung Pictures: A Prestigious Production Company in Chungmuro〉

〈Mulberry〉 has been depreciated just as one of those sexual films, as it became a franchise for 10 years. In fact, the original film was highly praised at the time for its excellent visual aesthetics and narrative structure. It received many awards at major film festivals, including the Best Screenplay at the 24th Daejong Film Awards, the Best Director at the 22nd Baeksang Arts Awards, and the Best Actress and Best Music at the 31st Asia Pacific Film Festival. It was released in Dansungsa in February 1986 and attracted about 137,000 spectators, ranking sixth at the box office that year.
- p. 84, Cho Junhyoung, 〈A Spectacular History of Korean Cinema Drawn by a Filmmaker’s Perseverance〉

In the midst of a commotion, Taehung Pictures distributed a total of 11 films imported by 20th Century Fox throughout the country from 〈Black Widow〉 (dir. Bob Rafelson, 1987), released on February 6, 1988, to 〈Home Alone〉 (dir. Chris Columbus, 1990), released on July 6, 1991. And, after the contract with 20th Century Fox expired, Taehung Pictures distributed the films of Columbia Pictures nationwide through indirect distribution.
- p. 150, Yi Sooyeon, 〈An Adventurer to Make Winning Move at the Chaotic Korean Film Scene〉

Taehung’s 1980s filmography is filled with films related to the aftermath of stranded 〈Bhiksuni〉, i.e., sexual films such as its founding work 〈Between the Knees〉, 〈Eoh Wu-dong〉, and 〈Mulberry〉, and youth films such as 〈Crazy Boy〉, 〈Bittersweet Night〉, and 〈Springtime of Mimi and Cheol-su〉. As known, the 1980s was an era of awakening as well as of hallucination as in Sim San’s recollection saying, “I threw stones against Chun Doo-hwan’s tyranny during the day while I giggled watching cheap erotic movies produced in line with Chun Doo-hwan’s liberalization policy at night.”
- p. 182, Park Jin-hee, 「Another Piece of Puzzles Completing the History of Taehung Pictures〉

“It was during the production of 〈Chihwaseon〉 that there came a very big change in the method of film promotion. At that time, making a good website became a huge issue. For example, just as how to use “metaverse” is an issue these days, the website was important at the time. I put a lot of effort into the website of 〈Chihwaseon〉 and eventually won an award for it. It won the Silver Lion Award in the Film Event Promotion category of the 49th Cannes International Advertising Festival (now the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity). The website was constructed with the concept of using the monitor screen as blank paper and drawing on it, and the homepage made use of the characteristics of Korean painting through the effect of ink spreading on the paper.”
- p. 246, Park Jin-hee, 〈from 〈Between the Knees〉 to 〈Low Life〉〉

It is too simple to explain the relationship between Taehung Pictures and its CEO, Lee Tae-won. Easy to become somewhat fictional. Is Taehung Pictures an allegory of Lee Tae-won? Or Is Lee Tae-won a metonymy of Taehung Pictures? These questions can’t give any explanation. The relation of the two is linked without the medium
- p. 266, JUNG Sung-il, 〈The record of Taehung Pictures, the winter in 2001 or the last classical production mode in Korean film history〉

In the year 2000, when I first worked as a film journalist, a new page was written in the history of Korean cinema. A Korean film, Chunhyang (dir. Im Kwon-taek, 2000), was selected for the competition section of the Cannes International Film Festival for the first time in Korean film history; two years later, Im Kwon-taek, director of Chihwaseon (2002), won the Best Director at the same film festival. In my early days as a reporter, the fact that Korean films were approved and accepted at the best film festivals in the world felt surreal.