ReviewDisney+ K-drama 'Made in Korea': Hyun Bin, Jung Woo-sung in slick period political thriller
Hyun Bin as political operator Baek Ki-tae in a still from "Made in Korea." Courtesy of Disney+
Lead cast: Hyun Bin, Jung Woo-sung
Following their awards juggernaut "Harbin" last year, star Hyun Bin and director Woo Min-ho have teamed up on another historical drama, this time for the small screen, with the Disney+ political thriller "Made in Korea."
Boasting lavish production values and a deep bench of talent — including Jung Woo-sung, who cameoed in "Harbin" — the series explores the murky intersection of the executive and judicial branches of the authoritarian government that cast a shadow over 1970s South Korea.
Hyun plays political operator Baek Ki-tae, who cuts a sharp figure in slick suits and is introduced in Japan as a suave businessman.
In reality, he is an ambitious operative of the KCIA (Korean Central Intelligence Agency), the shadowy organisation enforcing South Korean President Park Chung-hee's will and infamously torturing political dissidents.
The first episode may induce deja vu, as it places Ki-tae on Japan Airlines Flight 351, the commercial airliner hijacked by Japanese communists defecting to North Korea in 1970. These events were recently depicted in the Netflix film "Good News," which was in production around the same time but released earlier.
Ki-tae is smuggling methamphetamine to Fukuoka, part of an ongoing enterprise to bolster the KCIA's slush fund. He confronts the hijackers, physically subduing several while negotiating for the release of hostages.
He continues to manipulate the situation to benefit the agency. Rather than a moral crisis, the hijacking — which occupies most of the opening episode — serves as a showcase for Ki-tae's tactical and physical proficiency and the show's cinematic scale.
Jung Woo-sung as Busan prosecutor Jang Gun-young in a still from "Made in Korea." Courtesy of Disney+
Back in Korea, Ki-tae fully embraces his role as a spy, while the show properly introduces Jung Woo-sung's protagonist Jang Gun-young, a Busan prosecutor whose tenacity and idealism have stalled his climb up the career ladder.
Gun-young's investigation into a married couple murdered by drug-addicted U.S. soldiers leads him towards the KCIA's illicit activities and directly into Ki-tae's crosshairs.
"Made in Korea" — unlike "12.12:The Day," another recent hit starring Jung and set in the same era — is less concerned with historical accuracy than it is with "theatre", cherry-picking or fabricating incidents to spin a tale of clandestine political intrigue.
Earlier this year, the Netflix series "Aema" took a similar approach, fictionalising the production of a real 1980s erotic film, albeit as a deliberately anachronistic and fantastical tale of female empowerment.
"Aema" did not pioneer this form of historical revisionism, seen previously in "The King" (2017) — another Jung vehicle — a decades-spanning saga chronicling corrupt prosecutors aligning themselves with successive presidential administrations.
Director Woo helped establish this blueprint with his sensational political crime thriller "Inside Men" (2015). However, having returned to the well after so many others have dipped into it, he finds the bucket scraping a dry bottom.
"Made in Korea" exists in an exciting historical milieu with theatrically amoral characters, yet at this early stage, its message and the intended audience reaction remain unclear.
Ki-tae acts heroically during the hijacking, yet he is a state-sanctioned drug trafficker who walks comfortably through basement corridors echoing with the screams of torture victims.
Hyun Bin, left, as political operator Baek Ki-tae and Jung Woo-sung as Busan prosecutor Jang Gun-young in a still from "Made in Korea." Courtesy of Disney+
The series invites empathy for him when a hijacker — despite seeking refuge in North Korea — holds a blade to Ki-tae's neck and hurls racially charged insults.
Conversely, the murdered couple are revealed to be drug dealers, yet the show pushes for sympathy regarding their destitute circumstances and the crying baby left beside their bloodied corpses by drug-crazed foreigners.
The stand-off between Ki-tae and Gun-young forms the series' axis, with the stars bringing very different energies to their respective roles. Hyun is cool and detached, with pressed suits and slicked-back hair, while Jung leans perhaps a little too hard into the eccentricities of his maverick prosecutor.
Given Hyun's status as the show's leading star, it is unlikely he will become a full-blown villain. It is reasonable to expect a change of heart or a reframing of motivations as the story progresses — especially with a second season already in the works.
"Made in Korea" marks the third time that Woo has directed a superstar playing a ruthless power player in the 1970s. The question remains whether this will mirror the success of "The Man Standing Next(with Lee Byung-hun)" or the disappointment of the "Drug King(Song Kang-ho)."
Made in Korea is streaming on Disney+.
Read the article at SCMP.