Kang Ha-Neul Pursues Justice While Imprisoned In K-Drama ‘Insider’

Is it worth suffering injustice to achieve justice? That’s the question asked by Kim Yo-han, a judicial trainee in the Korean drama Insider. His bosses tell him he’s unlikely to rise fast or go far as a prosecutor since he doesn’t come from a privileged background. That is, unless he does something extraordinary like help them with a secret mission. What they want him to do is to go undercover to catch a gang leader. To do that he will have to make friends with gamblers and potentially risk his life.

He does what he’s asked to do and he’s good at it, keeping his cool while losing copious amounts of money in a rigged illegal card game. His mission is aborted by a police raid. Risking his life was a lot for his bosses to ask, but not as much as what he’s asked to do next. Go undercover in prison.

That might be okay if there was a sure way to save him from danger or free him when his mission is done. Unfortunately, with secret missions there are few guarantees. Those sending him to prison are unable to protect him from violent assaults.

Kang delivers a pitch perfect performance as a man who expects the worst and perseveres anyway. It’s a trait the character learned from his late father, who died trying to make a difference. As Yo-han, Kang’s face is a dark study in misery, determination and tensile strength. He’s helped by the mysterious Oh Soo-yeon, played by Lee Yoo-young. When asked if she is a good person or a bad person, she responds that she is merely a businesswoman. It’s hard to define what her business is. But then it’s difficult to tell whether most characters in this drama are truly good or bad.

Not only is this a well-paced, well-crafted revenge/justice drama, but Kang and Lee head a solid cast of skilled actors, including Heo Sung-tae, Jung Woo-in, Kim Sang-ho, Kang Young-seok, Park Sung-geun, and Kang Shin-hyo.

Kang’s last drama was When The Camellia Blooms, where he played a lovestruck policeman. Before that he played a prince in Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo. Lee Yoo-young appeared in the AppleAAPL
TV drama Dr. Brain and played a detective in the KBS2 drama My Fellow Citizens.