Ma Dong-seok (Don Lee), Kim Mu-yeol, and Kim Sung-kyu
You're referring to the popular Indian web series "The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil"!
The 2019 South Korean film The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil is the gangster the cop the devil based on true story
The primary real-life inspiration for the serial killer in the movie is Yoo Young-chul, one of South Korea's most notorious serial killers. His murder spree occurred between September 2003 and July 2004. Initially, Yoo Young-chul was convicted of 20 murders, though he confessed to having killed up to 26 people. His victims were primarily elderly people, masseuses, and sex workers from affluent areas of Seoul.
While the exact premise of a high-profile mob boss hunting down a serial killer for personal vengeance is heavily Hollywoodized (and currently slated for an American remake directed by James Wan), the cinematic "Devil" is an amalgamation of real-life figures, primarily the infamous South Korean serial killer . Ma Dong-seok (Don Lee), Kim Mu-yeol, and Kim
But one question lingers after the credits roll:
The hit 2019 South Korean action-thriller The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil captures the imagination with a wildly original premise: a ruthless crime boss and a hot-tempered police detective are forced to team up to hunt down a sadistic serial killer. The film opens with a text card claiming it is . Initially, Yoo Young-chul was convicted of 20 murders,
: The film is set in the summer of 2005. This aligns with the era when South Korea was grappling with several high-profile serial murder cases, including those of Yoo Young-chul and Jeong Nam-gyu (the "Rainy Thursday Killer").
The real-life killers who inspired this character were just as ruthless, but they were eventually caught through meticulous forensic police work and public tips—not a joint manhunt with the mafia. Jeong Nam-gyu, for instance, profile-matched a deeply disturbed individual who admitted he killed simply because the act gave him pleasure. 2. The Gangster (The Mob Boss Survival)
In post-IMF crisis Korea, police corruption was rampant, and gangsters wielded real power in local neighborhoods. The movie uses the serial killer as a catalyst to expose an uncomfortable truth: sometimes, the devil you know (the gangster) is more reliable than the devil you don’t (the system).