Once Upon a Time is a 2008 South Korean film, directed by Jeong Yong-ki and adapted from a screenplay by Cheon Seong-il. The film is a heist comedy film set in 1940s Korea, and stars Park Yong-woo and Lee Bo-young as a con artist and a jazz singer, respectively, who each plot to steal a valuable diamond from the Japanese authorities. Once Upon a Time was the first major investment by SK Telecom's film division, established late 2007, and was released in South Korea on January 30, 2008, under the company's CH Entertainment banner.

Plot

The film is set in Seoul, 1945, during the final days of Japanese rule. Kanemura is a well-connected con artist who makes money by selling ancient Korean artifacts to wealthy Japanese collectors. His eyes are set on Haruko, a beautiful jazz singer in a downtown nightclub; unbeknownst to anyone, Haruko has been moonlighting as "Haedanghwa" ("Rugosa Rose"), a cat burglar who has carried out a succession of high-profile thefts. She is also pursued by Yamada, a colonel in the Japanese military police, who is jealous of Kanemura's affections towards her. The owner of the nightclub and his chef, Hee-bong, secretly work for the Korean independence movement.