The Part 2 of “Money Heist Korea: Joint Economic Area” keeps it interesting with multiple revelations and the final escape. It is a South Korean adaptation of the Netflix hit Spanish series that took the world by storm. Headed by the Professor, a group of outcasts and criminals took over the mint with a target to print 4 trillion won. While the Professor updated them about the world outside and kept his eyes on the CCTV footage inside the mint, the eight masked robbers (Rio, Berlin, Denver, Moscow, Tokyo, Helsinki, Oslo, and Nairobi) took care of the hostages and dedicated themselves to digging a tunnel inside the vault that would ultimately help them escape with the money. With Captain Cha Moohyuk narrowing in on the Professor, will they manage to pull the heist off? Was there any political motive behind the heist?
Spoilers Ahead
‘Money Heist Korea’ Part 2: Plot Summary – What Happens In The Second Part?
Captain Cha Moohyuk from the Joint Task Force was known for identifying double agents during the cold war between North and South Korea. He had dedicated his life to protecting North Korea, but he soon realized that his efforts were meaningless after the decision for the reunification of the Korean Peninsula was declared. Therefore, his doubt about Park Sun-ho (the Professor) from the moment he laid eyes on him came with years of experience. He entered the café and tried to find out what Park Sun-ho was hiding. He managed to grab an object from his house and requested a fingerprint test. In Part 1, the Professor tapped Cha Moohyuk’s phone, and after overhearing his conversation with the police, he realized that he had to silence him. He later drugged him and kept him in captivity.
Meanwhile, Kim Sangman was desperate to stop the printing of money, as he was threatened by his capitalist associate, who had invested money to elect him as president. The 4 trillion won was meant to feed the capitalists, and it would completely destroy their every effort if the heist team got away with the money. He declared on television that if any of the robbers chose to cooperate with him, they would be granted immunity from execution. He asked them to take action if they sympathized with any of the family members who were present with him. By gathering the family members of the criminals, he attempted to make them emotionally weak and gave them a reason to take action. His plan prompted one of the robbers to rescue Anne, but it also meant that he was putting her life in danger. Meanwhile, Inspector Woojin learned that the heist team was printing money at the mint, and the amount of money they were printing would be considered legitimate because the 4 trillion won had been sanctioned for the unification of the Korean Peninsula. Woojin requested Kim Sangman to call off his operation, but he refused to do so. She was forced to inform the Professor about the mole in his team and asked them to protect Anne. Even though Anne initially wanted to escape and had reached the vault, she chose to stay after she realized that her escape could cause further trouble for the other hostages. The decision she took saved her life because the vault had a bomb fixed at the entrance. Later on, we learned that Nairobi was the mole, and she did it to protect her son after she noticed him during Kim Sangman’s broadcast. Sangman kidnapped her son to generate pressure on her team, but they managed to find a way out and handed over the child to Inspector Woojin.
Under the leadership of Park Chulwoo, the hostages came up with a plan to fight the heist team together. They struck Oslo, and as Park Chulwoo fought Helsinki, the remaining hostages rushed to the basement to escape. He managed to inform Woojin, by threatening Rio, that the hostages were trying to escape, and they needed the assistance of the task force to make it out of the mint. As the task force tried to enter the basement, the heist team fought back and forced them to leave. With the heist team engaged in fighting the task force, the hostages ran from the basement to the roof and jumped off the inflatable that was set by the task force. Half the hostages were able to escape, and the heist team was split. Berlin was obsessed with finding the traitor amongst them. He came up with a plan with Tokyo to find the mole. Nairobi confessed the truth, and the rest of the team sympathized with her. Berlin pushed Tokyo out of the mint to contact the Professor and rescue Nairobi’s son. In the meantime, he asked the task force to bring the former warden of Gaecheon Detention Camp 14, Jeon Yongsu. Why was Berlin interested in meeting Jeon Yongsu? Was he aiming for personal revenge? And how will the Professor manage to handle his team now that the pieces are slowly falling apart?
See More: How Is ‘Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area’ Different From ‘La Casa De Papel’?
Why Did Berlin Expose Jeon Yongsu? How Was The Professor Related To Berlin?
From part one, we are aware that Berlin suffered endless torture at the concentration camp when he was young. His parents tried to escape North Korea, but they were found in the process. His mother was shot dead, and he was taken to the concentration camp, where Jeon Yongsu behaved inhumanly, even with the young inmates. Berlin wanted to use this opportunity to expose Yongsu and get public sympathy. When Jeon Yongsu arrived at the mint with the counter-terrorism team, he planned to shame Berlin as well. In response to Berlin’s allegations, he stated that Berlin sought revenge by sleeping with his stepdaughter. The public was shocked by the revelation, but soon a member of Berlin’s gang came on the live feed and stated that she was the stepdaughter Jeon Yongsu was talking about. She clarified that Berlin never raped her; it was her stepfather Jeon Yongsu who raped her when she was a child. Berlin saved her from the torture at the concentration camp. The public not only learned that Jeon Yongsu was a terrible man, but they also realized that Kim Sangman was equally shrewd. He had kidnapped the son of one of the heist members to cut a deal. Berlin and the Professor had planned to pull this stunt long ago. Their purpose was to gain the sympathy of the audience and make them believe that what they were doing was more than a heist; it was a political revolution to bring down those in power and liberate the common people who were always deprived. They established that a unified Korea could never succeed if the leaders remained corrupt. The unification was simply a front to bring in larger investments that would only benefit the capitalists.
We gradually get to know that the Professor and Berlin were brothers. When their parents tried to escape North Korea, Berlin and their mother failed to cross the river, whereas the Professor and his father successfully reached South Korea. Later, the Professor contacted Berlin and discussed with him how their father had died trying to rob banks to free Berlin from the camp. The Professor had grown up watching his father struggle to gather money to free his son. As a little boy, he wondered why the government did not print enough money to fulfill the needs of the poor. It was his dream to hand money to those who needed it, and even as he grew up, he wanted to distribute a fraction of the money that they printed to the common people. He contacted Berlin to fulfill a plan that their father had thought of but could not execute. It can be presumed that the plan the Professor discussed was the Mint Plan. The two brothers united to execute their father’s dream. It was always more than just becoming rich; it was about bringing down those who misused their powers.
‘Money Heist Korea’ Season 1: Ending Explained – How Did The Heist Team Escape From The Mint?
The hostages were given a choice—they could either leave the mint, or they could each earn 3 million won by helping them. Surprisingly, many chose to stay back, hoping to make money before leaving. This helped the Professor turn some of the hostages into accomplices. Meanwhile, Woojin faints in front of the Professor’s café. He admitted her to a hospital, and she later visited him to thank him. She informed him that she was off the case, and during their conversation, the Professor mentioned that his father also suffered from dementia like her mother. While Woojin did not think much about the conversation, it later struck her that it was strange how Park Sun-ho was aware of her mother’s condition. When she questioned her mother, she could only remember seeing Park Sun-ho outside of their house through the window. Later, after studying the fingerprint of Park Sun-ho, she found out that he had defected from North Korea and was declared dead. This confirmed her suspicion that the man she thought she had met by chance in a car accident was the Professor. She had always been a part of his plan.
Meanwhile, the heist team successfully dug out the tunnel in the safe. They planned to move the money through the underground sewage system on the day of the Summit. They knew that a crowd would gather to protest the unification, and they aimed to use the distraction to their advantage. Woojin called Park Sun-ho, asking him to drive her to the hospital where Cha Mooyuk was admitted. Cha Mooyuk had escaped from the Professor’s den and was admitted to the hospital after he came under a car. Woojin used the opportunity to place a tracking device in the Professor’s jacket. Though he was soon warned about it by his associates, and he ultimately managed to trick her. On the day of the Summit, police were sent to take down the heist team, even if that meant maximum damage. The politicians had to stop the team to ensure that the money they intended to sanction after the unification was still available. The team managed to defeat the police force, and they escaped through the tunnel. Berlin stayed behind in the vault to attack the task force once they entered. But the woman he loved, Seoul, came to his rescue and managed to activate the bomb and block the tunnel as they had planned. Meanwhile, the Professor doubted his plan since the police were now aware that they would be using the sewage system to escape. But just then, he noticed the map drawn by his father, on which he marked a secret passage. Even though his father was not there with him, he came to his rescue when he needed him the most. Using the secret passage, they managed to escape and board a train with all the money they had printed. Only Woojin guessed where they could have gone, but no one was ready to listen to her anymore. She went to the location alone with a gun and confronted the Professor. He asked her to shoot if she truly wanted to stop him, even after knowing how the politicians acted against the people. She could not pull the trigger, and the heist team escaped.
Before leaving, the team distributed the 0.3 billion won by bursting inflated pigs at the peace square among the crowds that had gathered to protest against corrupt politicians. The media covered the heist headed by the Professor, and the corrupt politicians were exposed. People were now aware that the politicians planned to use JEA as a disguise to use the money sanctioned for the unification to fund conglomerate companies. Not only did the Professor and his team pull off a successful heist, but they also exposed the corruption occurring in the name of unification.
Can We Expect Season 2 Of ‘Money Heist Korea’?
The second part of “Money Heist Korea: Joint Economic Area” hints at a possible return. A year after the heist, Woojin continued to be interrogated, as she was accused of being involved in the heist. She was soon contacted by a foreign firm, which offered to represent her. They further added that their service was already paid for. She knew that it must be the Professor who was looking after her, even though he was gone from her life. She found the postcard that he once showed her and discussed the place he wanted to visit. She traveled there, hoping to meet him. As she inquired about a café with a stranger, the Professor greeted her from behind. He invited her to join him on his next mission, and she looked at him with awe. He promised that in the history of crime, his plan would go down as revolutionary.
In the mid-credit scene, we come across a disappointed Cho Youngmin, the director of the mint. Clearly, his family does not want him to continue to live with them. His affair was no longer a secret, and he was forced to move out. While loading his belongings in the truck, he noticed a box that he angrily unloaded from the truck, stating that it did not belong to him. As the camera goes close to the box, it is evident that the box consists of money sent by the Professor, just as he had promised. While “Money Heist Korea: Joint Economic Area” indicates a possible return, at the end of the day, it all depends on Netflix to green-light the show.
