INTERVIEW Director, Choi Woo-shik say 'A Killer Paradox' is not vigilante story

Choi Woo-shik plays the character of Lee Tang in Netflix’s new original series “A Killer Paradox." Courtesy of Netflix

What are the chances that an ordinary college student would get involved in murders, especially where the victims are later revealed to be vicious criminals? Does this scenario represent merely a series of coincidental killings or is it a form of justice being served?

“A Killer Paradox" director Lee Chang-hee / Courtesy of Netflix

Netflix’s new original series “A Killer Paradox” explores this complex and debatable ethical conundrum through the story of college student Lee Tang (played by Choi Woo-shik), who finds himself in extraordinary situations.

“I wanted to throw up a question on what it would be like to have a figure like Lee Tang in real life. He is a character who continuously questions whether killing wrongdoers is his special gift or a mere coincidence until the end,” the series’ director Lee Chang-hee said during an interview with The Korea Times at a cafe in Jongno District, Seoul, Wednesday.

Based on the hit webtoon of the same name, the thriller crime series follows the story of Lee Tang, who accidentally kills a man who attacks him, only to later discover that the dead man was a serial killer. One killing leads to another and he realizes he has a sense that enables him to detect criminals, and finds a new purpose in life with the help of hacker Noh Bin (played by Kim Yo-han).

While caught in an endless cat-and-mouse chase with shrewd detective Jang Nan-gam (Son Suk-ku), the rookie killer goes on to murder heinous criminal after heinous criminal until everything becomes complicated with the appearance of Song Chon (played by Lee Hee-joon), a former detective who is himself far from innocent.

The eight-part series, which hit the streaming site on Feb. 9, soon climbed to second place on Netflix’s top 10 streaming chart for non-English TV series.

The director, whose previous work includes the 2019 thriller series “Watch Strangers from Hell,” clarified that he didn’t want to portray Lee Tang as a vigilante.

“I had no intention of creating a dark hero. I simply thought it could offer an entertaining thrill with the fictional aspect, kind of feeling satisfaction vicariously,” he said.

A scene from the series "A Killer Paradox" / Courtesy of Netflix

Choi also disagreed with those who see Lee Tang as a vigilante, referring to him rather as "a college kid on the edge."

“Many people say the series is of the dark hero genre but I kind of disagree with that. I felt it is about Lee’s process of compromising … Lee felt he was pushed to the edge and moved forward in a self-destructive state. So I put weight on how a normal college student would feel after killing somebody and what face he would make,” the actor said, adding that he paid great attention to making the character realistic.

“I don’t think Lee came to the point where he told himself ‘I can just kill this person,’ even during his murders. I portrayed him as someone who gave up on life … In depicting the color Lee had in the original work, I tried to make him down-to-earth and not dramatic. Following his emotions was very important.”

The series features contrasting bright and dark tones — visually and sorytelling-wise — to breathe life into the unorthodox webtoon.

The director, who prides himself on capturing reality in his works, shared that it was difficult to adopt the uniquely fictional depictions.

“As a director, I think my biggest strength is reality. So I brought the webtoon elements to the ground (in the adaptation) but it came out awkward. I grappled with how viewers would perceive the clashes of contrasting elements like realistic vs. unrealistic characters and observing vs. imaginative scenes,” he said.

“It was interesting how the contradictory characters collide in the original works. From a directorial standpoint, I saw it as the opportunity to break free from conventional formats and grammar, giving me a new creative challenge.”

"A Killer Paradox" ranked second on Netflix’s top 10 streaming chart for non-English TV series on the week of its release. Courtesy of Netflix

Despite the series’ popularity with its stylish cinematographic techniques and the actors’ compelling performances, it has not been without controversy. The series faced a backlash when an accusation was raised that one of its villainous characters resembles Rep. Lee Jae-myung, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).

The accusation alleges that the series’ character of the chairman, who runs an illegal business, committing multiple crimes along the way, bears strong visual similarities to the politician and features Easter egg-like details about him, particularly the character's prisoner number and him eating sushi in prison, which appears to reference the real-life chairman and his wife's involvement in a land development scandal and the use of a government credit card to purchase personal items.

The director denied the allegation saying all of the details were just coincidental, as the series aims to entertain and provoke thought, rather than serve as a platform for political commentary.

“I’m just bewildered. It’s absolutely not true. If I were to reflect my political views in my work, I wouldn’t have done it in that petty way. And I think injecting my political opinions secretly into a work that is not a political genre is inappropriate and unfair. I see it as an incident that happened because a lot of people have watched it over the weekend,” he said, emphasizing that it started from one online user.

“The accusation started from a post made two days after the release. But if I had intentionally hinted at a specific politician, wouldn't it have arisen immediately after the release? I just want to emphasize that I don't have enough of a strong interest in politics for my work to contain a hidden political agenda.”