Veteran () is a 2015 South Korean action comedy film written and directed by Ryoo Seung-wan. It drew 13.4 million admissions, making it the 5th all-time highest-grossing film in South Korean cinema history. Veteran also won the Casa Asia Award at the Sitges Film Festival.
A sequel titled I, the Executioner premiered in 2024.
Seo Do-cheol is a merciless police detective, who investigates the suicide of a truck driver named Bae, where he learns from Bae's son that Jo Tae-oh, the sadistic third-generation heir to powerful conglomerate Sinjin Group has assaulted Bae as the latter protested against the conglomerate for back payment. Do-cheol personally begins the investigation, which enrages Tae-oh. Later, Tae-oh uses his influence to make Do-cheol handle another case. He also tries to bribe Do-cheol's wife with the help of his conglomerate's SVP Choi Dae-woong, but she refuses, where Do-cheol threatens Tae-oh after learning this.
Do-cheol takes the help of a reporter to publish the news, but to no avail. Tae-oh hires a logistics contractor named Jeon to finish off Do-cheol and also makes the Internal Affairs to interrogate him, but he is timely saved by his team leader Oh. Do-cheol escapes from a murder attempt by Jeon, where a detective gets stabbed. Using the opportunity, Do-cheol and his team discover evidence and get approval for the investigation against Tae-oh, but Tae-oh's father and the conglomerate chairman Jo make Dae-woong to take the blame. With his team's help, Do-cheol learns that Bae was killed after he tried to seek revenge for assaulting him and it was made to look like a suicide.
After inquiring of Dae-woong, Do-cheol learns that Tae-oh is planning to escape to Singapore. Before leaving, Tae-oh throws a party where he meets his former girlfriend Jeong Da-hye (who is pregnant with his child) and tries to kill her when she abuses him. Do-cheol forms a plan where they plant a false case against Tae-oh for assaulting his girlfriend, and the cops fight with the bodyguards to arrest him. After an intense car chase, Do-cheol and Tae-oh engage in a hand-to-hand combat where despite brutal injuries, Do-cheol manages to arrest Tae-oh, who is later produced for a trial at the Supreme Court along with Dae-woong, and they are sentenced to prison. In the hospital, Do-cheol recovers from his injuries and soon returns back to duty.
Veteran opened in South Korea on August 5, 2015. It grossed () from 2.75 million admissions over its first five days of release. By November 6, it had grossed from 13,411,343 admissions and is currently the 5th all-time highest-grossing film in Korean cinema history.
Ryoo Seung-wan and production company Filmmaker R&K confirmed that they agreed to make a sequel, which was supposed to hit theaters within two to three years of announcement. It was reported that Hwang Jung-min and Oh Dal-su will reprise their roles, and actor Jung Hae-in is also being considered to succeed Yoo Ah-in as the antagonist. It began filming as Veteran 2 in December 2022 with the cast of Hwang Jung-min, Oh Dal-su, Jang Yoon-ju, Oh Dae-hwan, and Kim Si-hoo. Titled I, the Executioner, it premiered as a midnight screening at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.
A Chinese remake of the film was announced in 2016. Originally slated for a 2017 release with Sun Honglei in the starring role, The Big Shot was released in 2019 and starred Wang Qianyuan.
An American remake of the film by Michael Mann is currently in development, and will begin production after the release of his film adaptation of Heat 2.