After the item has been listed in the shop for several months, K2DVD.com has now announced the release date for the Korean Blu-ray Disc release of Chan-wook Park’s Thirst (Bakjwi, 박쥐) coming on June 18th.
As you can see in the picture below, CJ Entertainment will use the same kind of fold-out digipak as in their recent Blu-ray Disc releases, but thanks to Kang-ho Song and Kim Ok-bin’s indecent (at least for Korea) pose, this one will stick out in your shelf.
Although it isn’t mentioned in the item description, the runtime of 144 minutes would mean that this release (unlike the Region B release from Palisades-Tartan running for 133 minutes) will include the longer director’s cut version of the film that was screened during last year’s Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) in October. I just hope K2DVD didn’t add the runtime of the extra features to this figure like they sometimes do…

Pre-order THIRST on Blu-ray Disc from YesAsia.com

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This morning/last night, K2DVD added some new Korean Blu-ray Disc releases to their site. According to these listings, CJ Entertainment will bring us The King and the Clown, Green Fish and Arahan while a still unnamed label will release Chan-wook Park’s Oldboy and Untold Scandal. There are no release dates mentioned, but all discs are supposed to come with English subtitles.

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Looks like the last few copies of CJ Entertainment’s Korean Blu-ray Disc releases of Bong Joon-Ho’s Memories of Murder und Kim Ji-Woon’s The Good, The Bad and the Weird went OOP. YesAsia (and other retailers) are now listing re-releases of both films that come in standard Blu-ray Disc amaray cases instead of those nice digipaks (see here and here) like the previous special editions. But at least the prices remain the same…

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Great news for fans of director Chan-wook Park’s teen angsty-less vampire drama Thirst (Bakjwi, 박쥐).
Today the Asian retailer YesAsia.com added the Korean 3-Disc DVD release (coming March 15, 2010) that will not only include the theatrical cut (that’s already available on DVD and Blu-ray Disc) but also the extended director’s cut with English subtitles. The latter was screened during last year’s Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) in October with about ten minutes of added and extended scenes.
Judging from the product photo, CJ Entertainment’s release should (as always) also put the packaging of the recent International releases to shame, especially since it features the “banned” artwork with Kim Ok-bin’s intact legs. If the already announced Korean Blu-ray Disc release will also include the Director’s cut is currently not known.
Preorder Thirst 3-Disc Special Edition at YesAsia.com

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Wow, talking about good timing. Just when I got my copy of Palisades-Tartan’s UK Blu-ray Disc of Thirst (Region B, see 40 screen shots here), CJ Entertainment announces two new Korean releases. Next to Chan-wook Park’s vampire thriller, the Korean distributor will also release the first Korean disaster film Haeundae on Blu-ray Disc on March 15, 2010 according to K2DVD.com. CJ Entertainment’s BD releases have been region free and technically impressive (see The Good, The Bad, The Weird, Memories of Murder, Mother & Tazza) so far and maybe we will even see the longer cut of Thirst on this release…
[via Blu-ray.com Forum]

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Read on for more package shots, screen captures and specifications…

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After some rumors about even more Korean Blu-ray Disc releases came up in several forums with the announcement of the Memories of Murder Blu-ray Disc, the Korean based retailer K2DVD.com now lists these two mentioned releases.
Bong Joon-Ho’s drama Mother and the 2006 gangster/gambling comedy Tajja (Tazza) – The War of Flower [IMDb] will be released by CJ Entertainment with English subtitles on December 31, 2009. K2DVD lists both releases as Region A, but CJ Entertainments Blu-ray releases have been region free so far. Package-wise, CJ will stick with the proven and tested simple digipak in a sleeve.

[Thanks to Mr. 8537935]

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Memories of Murder – CJ Entertainment

Specifications
Region: ABC
Video: AVC 1080p 23,976fps
Audio: Korean DTS HD MA 7.1
Subtitles: English, Korean
Screenshots

Memories of Murders @ Asian Blu-ray Guide

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Looks like the Korean distributors are sloooowly waking up from their sleep when it comes to release domestic films on Blu-ray Disc on their own instead of letting the International licensees spread the big Korean wave in high definition. While many International films are already available in Korea on Blu-ray Disc, only four domestic films (The Host, Taegukgi (Brotherhood), Welcome to Dongmakgol and The Good, The Bad, The Weird) have been released in Korea for the format. Now CJ Entertainment announced to heighten this sad number by releasing Bong Joon-Ho’s 2003 thriller Memories of Murder on December 10, 2009. According to MadMad.co.kr, the Blu-ray Disc release will include English subtitles, just as expected from a Korean distributor. Package wise, the special edition BD looks a lot like CJ Entertainments technically pretty much perfect The Good, The Bad, The Weird release that only suffers from not including the longer Korean cut. Let’s hope CJ will keep up the good work and stays away from those nasty region codes…[Thanks to
Preorder Memories of Murder Korea Blu-ray Disc from YesAsia.com
Mr. 8537935 for the heads up!]

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Packaging

HD Screenshots

Region: All Disc: BD50 Audio: Korean (DTS HD MA 7.1 (48kHz 24Bit)) Subtitles: English, Korean (Main Feature only) Runtime: ~130 Minutes

The Good, The Bad, The Weird Blu-ray Disc @ Asian Blu-ray Guide

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