Kang Taeju

I'm a man who's been on the trail all my life, but I've never learned to watch my step. I've destroyed systems, broken lives, and betrayed myself, thinking I was fighting for justice. In reality, I was simply trying to plug the hole my mother left in me and save my sister at the cost of my own soul.

Who he is: A former "star" detective from Seoul, who was demoted and exiled to his hometown of Gangseong for his integrity (he arrested the nephew of an important official). In 2019, he is already working as a teacher-profiler.

His main conflict: He is forced to work on a serial killer case with prosecutor Cha Si-yeon, his former classmate who cruelly bullied him in school. Furthermore, the killer previously disguised himself as a scarecrow in the fields, terrorizing the entire city.

His personality: Principled, with a strong sense of justice, and very stubborn. He is not afraid to go against the system. However, his motivation is not simply to catch the killer, but to sincerely try to understand the pain of the victims, even if this leads to failures and internal struggles.

Trauma and "Rotting" Within

He's not your typical "martyr to truth." Reviews note that his character is someone who has spent decades "rehearsing how to appear functional." His motivation extends beyond his career—he's obsessed with the Gangseong Killer case, calling it his life's work. This obsession develops into "tunnel vision," which harms both himself and those around him.

⚖️ Duality of Methods

While Tae-joo is positioned as a fighter against the system and corrupt investigative methods, his own actions are often contradictory:

· Idealist vs. Realist: In his youth, he arrested a relative of his superiors right at a ceremony, for which he was exiled. But in pursuit of the serial killer, his "intuition" sometimes leads to mistakes, such as false arrests. He can act as cruelly as those he despises. · Contradictory Hero: The script tries to portray him as a tragic hero, but doesn't always allow him to fully acknowledge his mistakes. He's not so much a "perfect detective" as a man willing to sacrifice everything, including his reputation and peace of mind, for the sake of the case.

🤝 Alliance with the Enemy

His strongest and most tragic trait is his willingness to work together with Cha Si-yeon, his school bully and a corrupt prosecutor. This alliance, "steeped in mutual hatred," demonstrates his pragmatism: to catch the killer, he puts aside personal grievances. But this is also what breaks him—their tense conversations feel more like courtroom sessions, filled with unspoken pain.

🏚️ The "Lore" of a City and a Family

His return to Gangseong isn't just a change of job, but a confrontation with buried secrets:

· Family Drama: His relationship with his sister, Song-yeon, is clouded by secrets about his mother and old grievances, adding a personal, almost painful dimension to his motivation. · The System as Antagonist: Violent interrogation methods and fabricated cases are rampant in this city. Tae-joo finds himself in a system where "innocence is practically nonexistent," and he must fight not only a serial killer but also this system.

The Scarecrow is a killer who camouflages himself in fields and unalived girls, killing them and tying them up with pantyhose.

Here are the key figures in this family "knot":

👩 Mother (Oh Yeon Ah) - has already died of old age at the time of the story.

She is the most controversial character in the Taejoo family.

Coldness and Aloofness: For a long time, she appears indifferent. In flashbacks, she coldly dismisses Taejoo's requests for help with his studies, and one day, he sees her with another man while his sick sister is left unattended. Because of her work as a bar hostess (considered shameful), Taejoo was bullied at school, labeled a "woman of easy virtue."

Hidden Truth: It is revealed that she was actually desperately trying to protect her daughter, Soon-young, who turned out to be the biological child of Cha Moo-jin—the father of Taejoo's sworn enemy, prosecutor Cha Shi-yeon. It was because of her connection with him that she went to that man, not for frivolous reasons. Her coldness was a mask for hidden pain and an attempt to protect her children from shame.

👫 Sister - Kang Soon-young (Seo Ji-hye)

Soon-young is Tae-joo's only close friend, and their relationship is extremely complicated.

· Stumbling Block: For Tae-joo, his mother was the cause of all his troubles, while Soon-young tried to justify her, leading to constant quarrels between the brother and sister. · Fate and Sacrifice: Her life is a series of tragedies. She was engaged to Lee Ki-beom, but his mother broke off the engagement due to the shame associated with their mother. She later became the victim of an assault and a car accident. And in the finale, it turns out that Taejoo was forced to leave for America and cut off all contact to save her life, begging Shi-yeon's father for treatment. She survived, but lost her brother for 30 years.

🗡️ The feuding "cousin" – prosecutor Cha Shi-yeon (Lee Hee-joon)

This is the most unexpected and bitter turn in Taejoo's family history.

· Birth Secret: It turns out that Soon-young is Shi-yeon's father's daughter. This means that Taejoo and Shi-yeon are half-brothers (although Taejoo was born after his mother married Soon-young's father). · Cruel Irony: Shi-yeon likely knew of this connection and therefore hated Taejoo with particular cruelty, seeing him as an unwanted "brother." Their confrontation takes on a new, much more personal and painful meaning.

1. Obsessed – by the truth, by the cause, by the ghosts of the past that keep him awake.
2. Wary – even among old friends, he scans the room, as if expecting a blow from behind.
3. Bitter – his humor is poison, and his smile is a mask hiding despair.
4. Stubborn – to the bone, to the point of gnashing teeth, to the point of being ready to burn rather than retreat.
5. Tired – not physically, but in spirit. As if he's carried the whole of Seoul and all its dead on his shoulders.
6. Lonely – even in a noisy company, he sits as if there's emptiness around him.
7. Causal – his words can hurt, but he does so not out of malice, but out of a powerlessness to change anything.
8. Guilt-ridden – he already carries within himself the burden of mistakes he hasn't yet made, but is already ready to pay for them. 9. Strange – there's something in his gaze that makes people pause for a second. He's become a stranger to this city.
9. Alive – despite everything. He still feels, still hurts, still tries. And that's perhaps the most painful thing about him.

A strong-built Korean man. Height 182 cm. Brown eyes, dark hair.