Is — The Gangster The Cop The Devil Based On True 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.
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?
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, the serial killer "K" is a faceless, spectral figure who kills for a twisted sense of pleasure. He has no clear motive, lacks empathy, and is always smiling. This character is almost entirely the invention of screenwriter Kim Min-seok.
The real Yoo Young-chul was far more eccentric and motivated by specific class rage. He was a disgruntled construction worker who hated the wealthy and, later, hated sex workers because he blamed them for his own sexual failings. He was not a quiet, calm phantom; he was a chatty, narcissistic, and angry man.
However, one detail the film borrows accurately is the car accident. In the movie, the gangster (Don Lee) deliberately rams his car into the killer's vehicle to disable him. In reality, Yoo Young-chul was caught because he rammed his car into a police surveillance vehicle by accident, leading to his arrest. The filmmakers inverted this—giving the gangster the agency to crash the car.
Here is where the film diverges from reality. In the movie, the detective (Jung Tae-seok) has no leads. He is frustrated, departmentalized, and desperate. He needs the gangster’s help. is the gangster the cop the devil based on true story
In the real 2004 case, the police were already several steps ahead. When Kim Tae-chon was beating up Yoo Young-chul in the street, police were already investigating a series of murders that Yoo had committed. In fact, Yoo was already on their radar via a separate investigation into stolen golf clubs.
Furthermore, the "mob boss" Kim Tae-chon never entered into a formal alliance with the police. Kim was arrested shortly thereafter for his own crimes (including violence, blackmail, and running gambling dens). He only told the story about beating up the serial killer to the press after he was in prison, likely to boost his reputation.
When the police interrogated Yoo Young-chul, the killer confirmed the story. He admitted he was terrified of Kim and had avoided the Gangnam district entirely after that beating.
| Element in Film | Based on Real Events? | |----------------|------------------------| | Serial killer stabbing random victims | Yes — patterned on Yoo Young-chul’s crimes | | Gangster survives attack | No confirmed real case | | Police-gangster alliance | No — pure fiction | | Specific killer’s methods (stabbing, calm demeanor) | Partially inspired by real killer profiles | | Final arrest via cooperation | Loosely inspired, but dramatized |
Yes—at its core, it is. The film’s central, unbelievable premise—a mobster and a police officer forming a pact to hunt a serial killer—actually happened in Seoul in 2005. The real-life case of Kang Ho-sung, the "traffic accident killer," provided the blueprint.
However, the film is not a documentary. The characters are composites, the action is hyper-violent and stylized, and the ending is pure cinematic catharsis. The real-life alliance was tense, brief, and pragmatic. The film transforms that pragmatic deal into a blood-pumping, action-packed, darkly comic buddy thriller.
So, the next time you watch Ma Dong-seok sucker-punch a serial killer while handcuffed to a cop, remember: somewhere in a Seoul prison, the real "devil" is still alive. And the only reason he was caught is that a gangster and a cop briefly decided to ignore the law—to serve a darker kind of justice.
Have you seen The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil? Does knowing the true story make you view the characters differently? Share your thoughts in the comments below. Director Lee Won-tae had a specific goal
The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil loosely based on real-life events that occurred in South Korea around 2005 TheGATE.ca
While the film's specific partnership between a mob boss and a detective is highly dramatized, several elements are inspired by the serial killings committed by Yoo Young-chul , often known as the "Raincoat Killer". True Story Inspiration The Killer's Modus Operandi:
The "Devil" in the movie (Kang Kyung-ho) targets drivers by rear-ending their cars and stabbing them during the subsequent exchange—a tactic similar to some real-life accounts from the mid-2000s. Yoo Young-chul Connection:
Yoo Young-chul murdered at least 20 people between 2003 and 2004. Much like the film’s ending, the real-life killer was sentenced to death and remains on death row today. The Unlikely Partnership:
Some reviews and viewers note that the concept of criminals and police working together to catch a more dangerous threat is a "true tale", though most critics view the specific alliance in the film as an "inventive reworking" of tropes rather than a literal historical record. Useful Review Summary
Critics and audiences generally praise the film for its unique spin on the thriller genre.
No, The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil is not based on a true story.
While the film feels grounded and gritty, it is a work of fiction. Here is the breakdown of the film's origins and why it might seem realistic: Yes—at its core, it is
1. It is a remake of a Chinese film The movie is actually a remake of the 2015 Chinese film Fatal Visit (also known as The Visitor). Neither the Korean version nor the original Chinese version claims to be based on actual events. The story was written as a high-concept thriller screenplay rather than a biographical account.
2. Fictional Characters The three main characters—the gangster (Jang Dong-su), the cop (Jung Tae-seok), and the devil (Kang Kyun-ho)—are fictional creations. There is no record of a specific Korean gangster teaming up with a police detective to catch a serial killer in the way depicted in the film.
3. Realistic Elements The film may feel like a true story for two reasons:
Summary In short, The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil is an action-thriller designed for entertainment. It is an original narrative about an unlikely alliance, not a depiction of historical fact.
No, The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil is not a true story in its narrative details.
However, the film is absolutely "inspired by" a true story.
The core, unbelievable premise—A serial killer accidentally attacks a mob boss, and the mob boss hunts him down—is 100% factual. The screenwriters took that extraordinary seed of reality and grew a fictional forest around it.
No, The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil (2019) is not directly based on a true story.
However, it is inspired by real-life events and crime patterns, particularly a notorious series of serial killings in South Korea during the early 2000s.