The Battleship Island (Korean: ???; Hanja: ???; RR: Gunhamdo) is a 2017 South Korean period action-adventure film starring Hwang Jung-min So Ji-sub Song Joong-ki and Lee Jung-hyun. It is a Japanese occupation-era film about an attempted prison break from a forced labor camp on Hashima Island. Set during Imperial Japan’s occupation of Korea during World War 2 a group of over 400 Koreans endure harsh forced labor on Hashima Island and risk their lives to attempt a daring escape. Filming began June 17 2016 in Cheongju South Korea and finished on December 20 2016. The film reunites Hwang Jung-min with Ryoo Seung-wan who directed the 2015 hit movie Veteran starring Hwang. Production cost about five times more than the average locally produced film due to the massive lifelike sets. While the island provided the inspiration for the plot The Battleship Island was not filmed on location. The sets were built in Chuncheon and were designed to resemble the conditions of Hashima Island's community and mines during the 1940s.