The Korean series A Killer Paradox, starring Choi Woo-shik, is a hit on Netflix. But what paradox is the story about? And why did the k-drama cause controversy in South Korea?
It is one of the new k-dramas broadcast on Netflix in February 2024, and A Killer Paradox seems to please subscribers. No perky love story in this drama, but a succession of brutal murders. The 8 episodes of this thriller have been available since February 9 on Netflix.
The series is adapted from a webtoon: what story?
Like many k-dramas, A Killer Paradox is adapted from a webtoon — the “comic” format broadcast online in Korea. In this series, as in the webtoon imagined by Nomadi and Kkomabi, we follow an ordinary man, Lee Tang, mired despite himself in a game of cat and mouse with the police. This chase begins when Lee kills a man by mistake… before discovering that the latter was a serial killer. The problem is that he no longer stops there: prey to supernatural hallucinations which reveal to him the worst intentions of certain people, he kills other criminals.
What connection with Parasite ?
The actor playing Lee Tang is far from unknown: Choi Woo-shik. If you are a movie buff, you have already seen it in Parasite. This Korean feature film by Bong Joon Ho was a phenomenon in 2019. Considered a masterpiece, the film won both the Oscar for best film and the Palme d’Or, in addition to a rain of other rewards. Although he is Korean and born in Seoul, Choi Woo-shik is also a Canadian national, where he grew up before returning to Korea to become an actor.
A little controversy in South Korea
In episode 7, a character named Hyung Sung-guk intervenes. In South Korea, the latter’s appearance was enough to create a strange political controversy: he physically resembles Lee Jae-myung, the current leader of the Democratic Party – namely the opposition in the country. Except Hyung’s character is a corrupt entrepreneur. He is in prison for tax evasion, embezzlement and corruption in connection with a land redevelopment project.
However, in 2022, the leader of the Democratic Patri was under the fire of a scandal: while he was governor of Gyeonggi province, his wife allegedly fraudulently used his professional credit card for luxury purchases. Netflix believes that the comparison is unfounded and that no resemblance is intended.
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