[3] Byun is best known for her trilogy documenting the present and past lives of "comfort women" who were abducted and forced into sexual servitude by the Japanese army in World War II.
This first documentary portrays the women leading their weekly protests at the Japanese embassy and fighting to overcome the sense of shame that has been planted within them and reinforced by an uncaring public.
As heart-rending as the accounts of forced prostitution may be, by focusing on their present, Byun filmed details that reveal the humor and personality of these women who survive years after the wreckage of their youth.
[8] Byun was also credited as one of the cinematographers for the documentary Repatriation (Kim Dong-won, 2004), which follows two North Korean political prisoners and their decade-long struggle to return home after their release.
[10] Her most recent film Helpless (2012) is based on the Japanese novel All She Was Worth by Miyuki Miyabe, which pivots around a young woman who suddenly disappears just a few weeks before her wedding, but also talks about contemporary problems such as private loans, bankruptcy and credit rating.
[12] In 2024, Byun made her debut as a television series director through MBC's 14-episode drama Black Out, which is based on the German novel Snow White Must Die [de] by Nele Neuhaus.