Violent Prosecutor is a 2016 film directed by Lee Il-hyung, starring Hwang Jung-min as Byun Jae-wook and Gang Dong-won as Han Chi-won.

On the surface, it is a fun crime drama about a prosecutor who is framed for a murder. The banters between Byun Jae-wook (framed prosecutor) and Han Chi-won (handsome young conman) are enduring and provides some comedic moments. Deep down, it is a story of redemption. It’s about a man who learns that position and power does not justify violence.

I’ve watched my fair share of Korean TV shows and movies. Much of their crime dramas and movies revolve around these central themes.

  1. Entities can change the narrative with money and power
  2. Politicians are corrupt
  3. People without power are used by people with power

Let’s take a look at these issues from the movie.

Entities can change the narrative with money and power

Far East Construction has started its development work on a bird sanctuary. People from the environmental activist group are protesting the construction and a line of police are standing guard along the parameter.

The construction company hired gangsters to place men among the protestors and get them to incite violence. When a young “activist” is arrested for an assault on the policeman, the construction company is able to proceed with its work without protesters because the public opinion turned against the activists.

Even if you know nothing about Korea, you probably heard about Former President Park Geun-hye. Koreans spent over four months protesting for Park Geun-hye’s resignation. The protest started in October of 2016 with an estimated crowd around 20,000 people. The protest grew to over 2 million people at one point. By March 2017, Park Geun-hye was removed from power.

While many of the protests don’t make the national or international news, protesting is as part of Korean culture as much as democracy itself. It ranges from one person to millions as we saw in Park Geun-hye’s removal.

People with money and power are able to change the narrative in their favor. As we see in the beginning scenes, Koreans still fight for what they believe in. Just as in the movie, protesters may lose.

But something they win as we saw in the case of Park Geun-hye. That is why they continue to fight.

Politicians are corrupt

In the movie Byun Jae-wook must fight against the corruption even within his ranks. The Chief Prosecutor, Woo Jong-gil convinces Byun to admit to the charges and use a self-defense as his argument. We find out that Won Jong-gil never intended to help Byun Jae-wook become free. He needed a culprit for the crime he committed.

Won Jong-gil also has a slush fund and a list of eleven high profile people who had ‘donated’ to his campaign. Even after his bribery list is made public, he doesn’t suffer much and he maintains a 7% lead over his opponents.

This is an interesting point. Korean citizens expect a certain level of corruption in politics. The level of corruption is what people care about. Since the first President of Korea to Park Geun-hye, every single administration had some type of scandal. It would take an egregious scandal for the Korean people to take to the streets for over four months to remove Park Geun-hye from power.

Here are some examples: Roh Moo-hyun (2003-2008) committed suicide in 2009 after the prosecutors starting a bribery investigation. Lee Myung-bak (2008-2013) is serving a 17-year sentence for bribery and embezzlement. Park Geun-hye is currently serving a 25-year sentence for 16 out 18 corruption charges against her.

It’s no wonder that political corruption remains a topic for many dramas and movies.

People without power are used by people with power

In the movie, we see so many cases where the powerful use the powerless. Lee Jin-seok is an unhealthy man who gets involved with gangsters to pay his bills. Han Chi-won, who is a bright young man, is reduced to conning people.  Both of these men become expendable to the gangster organization.

Won Jong-gil uses his position as the Chief Prosecutor by changing the prosecutor in charge of Lee Jin-seok’s case. He uses his position to influence the warden in the Byun Jae-wook’s prison. He also tries to get Yang Min-woo, a prosecutor who desires fame, to keep him from testifying at Byun Jae-wook’s retrial.

Even Byun Jae-wook uses his position and power to beat suspects in his custody. He makes a name for himself in prison by helping people resolve their cases, which gains him the respect from his fellow inmates. In prison, he creates power out of nothing but his knowledge of the law. Nonetheless, he continues to use people. When Han Chi-won sees his friend in the hospital after a severe beating, he tries to run away. Byun Jae-wook sends him a message that Han Chi-won still owes him for getting him out of prison.

These are all the representation of how people see themselves and their society. In real life, they fight these injustices.

To use Park Geun-hye as a case study, this scandal came about because a reporter was investigation Choi Soon-sil’s role in getting her daughter into Ewha Womans University without proper qualifications.

Why?

Korean takes education very seriously. They do not stand by when someone gets into universities through back channels.

A report that started off as college admission scandal ended with arrests from university professors to NIS directors to Park Geun-hye and people from her administration. Even Lee Jae-yong, a successor to Samsung, received a five-year sentence for bribing Park Geun-hye.

What is the movie saying?

There is one clear message in the movie. Even when faced with insurmountable opponent, justice must prevail. It’s message we expect from movies or other entertainment medium. We cheer for the underdogs whether it is in sports or real life. We watch crime dramas to see the culprits caught. We watch performance movies to see athletes win the coveted trophy. We cheer for the team that hasn’t won a champion (if our team is no longer in the hunt).

This movie goes one step above that. Byun Jae-wook stands in front of the judges and admits that he was guilty. He was guilty of using his position and power. He ignored the human rights of the people he dealt with. This is not an easy admission for people to make when they were jailed for a crime they did not commit. Byun Jae-wook has learned an important lesson while in prison. He was no better than the people who put him there, but he paid for his sins with five years in prison.

In the end, the guilty is arrested and Byun Jae-wook walks free. He doesn’t have anyone waiting for him except for Han Chi-won. This speaks volumes for Byun Jae-wook’s life before prison. As Byun Jae-wook hands the bankbook to Han Chi-won with the passcode, he says to live well.

This is but a beginning for both Byun Jae-wook and Han Chi-won. We expect that they will live as better humans.