Is The Gangster The Cop The Devil Based On True Story !!install!! May 2026

The 2019 South Korean film The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil loosely based on true events

. While the specific "unlikely alliance" depicted is a dramatized cinematic conceit, the movie draws inspiration from real serial killings that occurred in South Korea during the mid-2000s. Origins and Inspiration

The Real Aftermath: Where Are They Now?

The Real Killer (Kang Ho-sung): He was arrested in 2008. In 2010, the Supreme Court of Korea sentenced him to life in prison. He is currently incarcerated in Dongducheon Prison. He has never expressed remorse.
The Real Gangster: After testifying against Kang Ho-sung, the mob boss was later arrested on unrelated extortion charges. He served seven years. Local journalists report he now runs a small samgyeopsal (grilled pork) restaurant in Incheon.
The Real Cop: The detective was promoted quietly but later resigned due to the psychological toll of working with criminals. He became a security consultant.

The Real Alliance: When Cops and Gangsters Cooperate

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.

The mob boss had a network that the police did not: informants, street-level eyes, and a powerful desire for revenge. According to Korean crime reports from the era, the gangster met with a veteran homicide detective at a neutral location (a noraebang—a singing room). The conversation was reportedly terse:

Gangster: "You catch rapists and thieves. I catch traitors to my organization. But this guy attacked me. He’s nobody. He’s not criminal or civilian. He’s a ghost. Let’s share intel."
Detective: "I don’t make deals with scum."
Gangster: "Then you’ll never catch him. My men cover the streets your patrol cars can’t see."

They eventually shook hands. The gangster used his illegal gambling dens and loan offices as intelligence hubs, gathering reports of similar "random traffic attacks." The detective fed this information into the official police database. Within six months, they triangulated Kang Ho-sung’s pattern and arrested him. is the gangster the cop the devil based on true story

The Real "Gangster": A Thug with a Grudge

In August 2004, during his trial, Yoo Young-chul revealed a detail that shocked prosecutors. He explained that in the early stages of his spree, he had attacked a man in a Gangnam nightlife district. That man did not die. In fact, the victim tracked Yoo down, beat him savagely, and threatened to kill him if he ever saw him again.

That victim was Kim Tae-chon (also spelled Kim Tae-chon). At the time, Kim was the leader of a violent underground gang known as the "The Pope Organization" or the "Yangsan-dong Mob."

This is the real-life origin of the film’s premise.

What actually happened: Yoo Young-chul attempted to murder Kim Tae-chon using a crowbar near a karaoke bar. Unfortunately for Yoo, he had picked the wrong target. Kim was not a random civilian; he was a trained fighter and a brutal criminal enforcer. Despite being bludgeoned, Kim fought back. He overpowered the serial killer, disarmed him, and proceeded to beat Yoo unconscious. The 2019 South Korean film The Gangster, the

The police report (and Yoo’s later testimony) states that Kim looked at the bleeding man on the ground, realized the police were coming, and fled the scene. He did not alert the authorities. Why would a gangster call the cops? Instead, Kim mobilized his entire criminal network.

For two weeks, Kim’s gang scoured the underworld of Seoul looking for the man with the crowbar. They eventually found Yoo in a hospital, where he was recovering from the injuries Kim had inflicted. Kim reportedly walked into the hospital room, grabbed Yoo by the throat, and whispered something akin to: "I don't know who you are, but if I see you again, I will kill you."

Background of the Film

Director: Lee Won-tae
Starring: Ma Dong-seok (Don Lee), Kim Mu-yeol, Kim Sung-kyu
Plot: A crime boss (Jang Dong-su) is stabbed by a serial killer and survives. He teams up with a detective to catch the killer—each using their own brutal methods.

The True Story: The Yongsan Serial Killer (2005)

The film’s screenwriters have confirmed in multiple interviews that the inspiration came from a real event that occurred in Yongsan, Seoul, around 2005.

Why Did the Filmmakers Change the 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. The Real Aftermath: Where Are They Now

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?

1. Fictional Narrative

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.

2. The Villain: A Composite of Real Fears

While the protagonists are fictional, the antagonist, known only as "K," represents a specific type of criminal often seen in real life: the serial killer who targets the marginalized.

In the film, K targets people randomly or targets those involved in the underworld, knowing the police often ignore crimes against gangsters.
This draws loose parallels to real-life phenomena where serial killers operate in the "gray areas" of society, though K himself is not based on one specific historical killer.