[INTERVIEW] 'Money Heist: Korea' writer feels satisfied to expand series' franchise

A scene from "Money Heist: Korea ― Joint Economic Area," a Spanish series' Korean remake created and scripted by Ryu Yong-jae / Courtesy of Netflix

Remake of Spanish series follows group of robbers trying to take over mint of unified Korea

By Lee Gyu-lee

Before Netflix's non-English series, "Squid Game," became a huge international hit, there was the Spanish original, "Money Heist," which became a global sensation through the platform.

Writer Ryu Yong-jae / Courtesy of Netflix

Ryu Yong-jae, the creator and writer for the Spanish series' Korean remake, "Money Heist: Korea ― Joint Economic Area," said he feels excited to kick-start the Spanish series franchise and help introduce it to Asian countries.

The new series, which was released on June 24, topped Netflix's official non-English Top 10 chart during the week of its release.

"The original 'Money Heist' was already popular worldwide, but compared to the popularity, there were still a lot of people who didn't see it … It was not that popular in Asian countries (compared to Europe and North America). So I thought it would be nice if this series could lead people who knew about the famous original series yet have not seen it, and K-drama and K-pop fans, to look up the original after watching our series," Ryu said during an interview with The Korea Times via video chat, July 1.

"I'm thrilled that our series ranked No. 1 (on the chart) globally. But I feel more satisfied that more audiences in Asian countries have enjoyed the series and this led us to help expand and introduce the cinematic universe of the 'Money Heist' franchise."

"Money Heist: Korea ― Joint Economic Area" follows a game of cat and mouse between the criminal mastermind and the negotiator. Courtesy of Netflix

The new crime action blockbuster follows a group of robbers ― played by Jeon Jong-seo, Park Hae-soo, Lee Hyun-woo, Kim Ji-hun, Lee Won-jong, Jang Yoon-ju, Lee Kyu-ho, and Kim Ji-hoon ― attempting to pull off the biggest heist in Korea.

North and South Korea are in the process of unifying, sharing the former border as a Joint Economic Area with a mint that prints the currency of a unified Korea.

Led by a mastermind called "The Professor" (Yoo Ji-tae), the group takes over the mint while holding hostages inside as bargaining chips. As they carry out the heist, they face a showdown with the police, led by negotiator Seon Woo-jin (Kim Yun-jin).

Director Kim Hong-sun, who previously led the action series "Voice" (2017) and "L.U.C.A.: The Beginning" (2021)," led and co-created the series.

Sharing that he had been a huge fan of the original series, the writer said he enjoyed working on the remake, rather than feeling the pressure to succeed in the popularity of the original work.

"Money Heist: Korea ― Joint Economic Area" topped Netflix's official non-English Top 10 chart in the last week of June. Courtesy of Netflix

"It was a pleasant experience as a person who loves the original. In the process, I got to share stories with the original creator and found that Spain's history and social backgrounds share similarities with those of Korea. And he showed great interest in those common grounds," Ryu said.

"And as I shared ideas on how we would like to unfold the story (for the remake), the creator told me that it was interesting. And that process was rather exciting."

The series not only follows the gang's heist and a game of cat and mouse between the professor and the cop, but also involves conflicts between the people from the South and the North among the gang and the hostages.

Ryu said that he wanted to add another layer to the original series.

"When the original was about the conflict between cops and robbers, (the characters) in our series were divided to those from the South and from the North, both among cops and gangs. And we thought the story about trust, betrayal and cooperation would be compelling as the two countries have spent quite a long time distrusting each other," he said.

A scene from the series "Money Heist: Korea ― Joint Economic Area" / Courtesy of Netflix

He noted that while following the message of the original series, he wanted to portray the relationship between the people of the divided Korean Peninsula and what it would be like to unify.

"I felt I could talk about what would happen if the South and the North unify and how we would deal with the conflict … I don't think unification will simply solve everything," he said. "Under such circumstances, there might be people who take advantage of it to make money and people who steal by saying they are reclaiming their properties. There could also be idealistic revolutionists like the professor and those who try to send a strong message toward unification."

Despite adding a subplot of conflict between South and North Koreans, many audiences still cited the remake's lack of originality, following a similar pattern to the professor's strategies in the original series.

The writer hinted that the series' upcoming Part. 2 will have more original stories.

"We also thought that the response would be different if the stories are released (with Part 2). As a creator, dividing it into parts isn't ideal, but it was Netflix's data-backed strategy for more fans to watch the series," he said, adding that the new part will have its own original characters as well. "In Part. 2, the story will be more fast-paced and will head in our own direction."