Report: The Truth Behind "The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil"
Executive Summary No, the 2019 South Korean action thriller The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil is not based on a specific true story. While the film feels gritty and realistic, the specific plot points and central alliance between a gangster and a cop are works of fiction written by director Lee Won-tae.
However, the film is grounded in realistic genre tropes and was inspired by the filmmaker's desire to explore moral ambiguity within the South Korean crime world.
In the early 2000s, Seoul’s underground was ruled by organized crime factions. One particular mob boss, whose identity has been protected in official records (though local journalists nicknamed him "Mr. Kim"), was driving home late one night. Like in the film, he was rear-ended by another vehicle at a traffic stop.
Thinking it was a minor fender bender, the gangster got out of his luxury sedan to inspect the damage—and to intimidate the other driver. This was a fatal miscalculation. The driver of the other car was not a terrified citizen; he was a serial killer named Kang Ho-sung. is the gangster the cop the devil based on true story
Director Lee Won-tae had a specific goal. He wasn't making a documentary about Yoo Young-chul; he was making a genre film about the blurry line between law and crime. The true story provided a fantastic hook—a gangster hunting a killer—but it lacked narrative symmetry.
In reality, Kim Tae-chon just beat the guy and let him go. That makes for a funny anecdote, but not a two-hour thriller.
By inventing the "pact" between the gangster and the cop, the film creates a tense moral chess match. The audience is forced to root for a murderer (the mob boss) and a rule-breaker (the cop) against a worse monster (the serial killer). The famous scene where Don Lee handcuffs himself to the detective to force cooperation is pure fiction, but it is the emotional heart of the movie.
Furthermore, the real ending—where the gangster goes back to his life of crime—is unsatisfying. The film’s ending, where the detective arrests the gangster even after they won, asks a powerful question: Does the end justify the means? Report: The Truth Behind "The Gangster, the Cop,
The film’s screenwriters have confirmed in multiple interviews that the inspiration came from a real event that occurred in Yongsan, Seoul, around 2005.
If you’re a fan of gritty Korean cinema, you’ve likely heard the buzz around Lee Won-tae’s 2019 action-packed thriller, The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil (Korean title: Amafokabeng). Starring the legendary Ma Dong-seok (Don Lee) as a crime boss and Kim Moo-yul as a hot-headed detective, the film delivers a brutal, cat-and-mouse game with a twist: the gangster and the cop must team up to catch a serial killer.
But one question lingers after the credits roll: Did this insane story actually happen?
The short answer is no, not exactly. However, the long answer is far more fascinating. While the characters and specific plot are fictional, the film is deeply rooted in the real-world phenomenon of serial killers in the early 2000s—specifically, the reign of Korea’s most infamous predator. The Real Victim: A Gangster with a Target
The film is a fictional screenplay penned by director Lee Won-tae. It presents a hypothetical scenario: What would happen if a ruthless crime boss and an incorrigible detective were forced to work together to catch a serial killer?
While South Korean cinema often draws from real historical events (such as Memories of Murder or The Chaser), this specific story was an original creation. The characters of Jang Dong-soo (the Gangster) and Jung Tae-seok (the Cop) are not based on real individuals.
No, The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil (2019) is not directly based on a true story.
However, it is inspired by real-life events and crime patterns, particularly a notorious series of serial killings in South Korea during the early 2000s.
Kang Ho-sung is one of South Korea’s most notorious—yet lesser-known—serial killers. Between 2005 and 2008, he murdered at least nine people, though some investigators believe the number could be higher. His modus operandi was simple: he would deliberately cause minor traffic accidents, and when the victim got out to argue or exchange insurance information, he would stab them to death with a custom-made knife.
Unlike the cinematic killer in the film (who is a calculated monster), Kang Ho-sung was a disorganized but highly dangerous predator. He didn’t care about the victim’s age, gender, or social status. He killed a student, a housewife, a convenience store worker, and, most relevantly, a gangster.
The film’s screenwriter reportedly read about a real incident where a criminal survived an attack by a serial killer and helped police—but that story was anecdotal and unverified.