For those unfamiliar with the plot, The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil follows Jang Dong-su (Ma Dong-seok), a powerful crime lord who runs a modest loan-sharking operation. One rainy night, he is deliberately rammed by a car and then stabbed repeatedly by a mysterious, emotionless killer. Miraculously, Jang survives due to his immense physique and willpower.
This is where the "true story" diverges and converges with the film. After the gangster boss survived the attack (he was critically wounded but lived, thanks to his heavy leather jacket and quick emergency response), he was furious. The police, at the time, had no idea that a serial killer was staging car accidents. They assumed these were isolated robberies gone wrong. is the gangster the cop the devil based on true story
The 2019 South Korean action thriller The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil presents a visceral and ingenious premise: a vicious crime boss, after being stabbed by a serial killer, reluctantly teams up with a hot-headed detective to hunt down their shared, monstrous prey. The film’s gritty realism, brutal fight choreography, and emotional rawness compel viewers to ask a common question: is this based on a true story? The answer is nuanced. While the film’s central narrative of a criminal-policeman alliance against a serial killer is a work of fiction, its core—the character of the "Devil"—is terrifyingly rooted in the reality of South Korea’s first known serial killer. For those unfamiliar with the plot, The Gangster,
The film's opening credits explicitly state that it is based on a true tale, though it takes significant creative liberties to heighten the action and cinematic tension. This is where the "true story" diverges and
is based on a true story , though it takes significant creative liberties to heighten the action and drama. The film's core premise—an unlikely alliance between a mob boss and a detective to catch a serial killer—draws inspiration from real criminal events in South Korea during the mid-2000s. 🔍 The Real Inspiration
To understand the film’s roots, you have to look at a real person: . He is one of South Korea’s most notorious serial killers, active between September 2003 and July 2004. Known as the "Raincoat Killer" (due to demanding his victims wear a raincoat during the murders) or the "Happy Day" killer (after a message he carved on a victim), Yoo Young-chul confessed to murdering 20 people—mostly wealthy elderly people and female masseuses.
: In the film, the killer uses minor fender-bender accidents to lure victims out of their cars before stabbing them, a tactic reflective of the random and brutal nature of real-life cases from that era.