Han Suk-kyu toppled the plot of a malicious corporations with a negotiation trick worthy of a negotiation hero.
On the 16th (Tue), the tvN Monday-Tuesday drama Shin Sajuang Project (written by Ban Giri / directed by Shin Kyung-soo / planned by Studio Dragon / produced by Do Frame) episode 2 aired, in which Shin Sajuang (played by Han Suk-kyu) completed a refreshing revenge and negotiation by moving between lawful and unlawful methods.
Accordingly, episode 2 recorded an average household rating of 7.8% in the Seoul metropolitan area, a peak of 8.9%, and a national average household rating of 7.4% and a peak of 8.3%, ranking first in its time slot among cable and general programming channels in both the Seoul metropolitan area and nationwide, showing a steep rise in just two episodes. Also, it ranked first among 20-49 men and women viewers targeted by tvN across cable, general programming and all channels. (Based on paid platforms integrating cable, IPTV and satellite / provided by Nielsen Korea)
Shin Sajuang decided to punish a malicious corporations that had threatened market merchants' livelihoods with false reports to build a resort and had tried to eliminate him and Jo Philip (played by Bae Hyun-seong) who sought to expose it. He delivered the company's business plan to current affairs program PD Kim Young-ho (played by Choi Won-young) to reveal the truth, and had rookie judge Jo Philip lead negotiations between the broadcaster and the market merchants, successfully concluding the agreement amicably.
Then Shin Sajuang joined forces with police officer Choi Cheol (played by Kim Seong-oh), with whom he had a past connection, and began to track the movements of Oh Jin-ho (played by Song Jae-ryong), who had tried to kill him and Jo Philip. He instructed Lee Si-on (played by Lee Re) to track Oh Jin-ho's family, approaching them covertly on all fronts. Finally, when Shin Sajuang met Oh Jin-ho, he used Oh's family to press him with a mix of negotiation and blackmail, successfully extracting a confession.
Shin Sajuang's moves, which skillfully used both straightforward methods and unconventional strategies, led to a thrilling catharsis. The broadcaster aired an apology and publicly exposed the market merchants' damages and the corporations' corruption to the world, and based on Oh Jin-ho's testimony a corporate official who ordered the murder-for-hire was handed over to the police, delivering justice and offering viewers catharsis.
Barely finishing one case, Shin Sajuang was summoned by Kim Su-dong (played by Jung Eun-pyo), an Assistant Deputy Director at the administrative welfare center. With local elections approaching, malicious posts had been repeatedly uploaded to the civil petition board, causing headaches. Kim Su-dong pointed to a specific person and asked Shin Sajuang to persuade them to take down the posts.
Contrary to what he thought was a relatively trivial civil complaint, Shin Sajuang found materials throughout the complainant's home that could be used to make bombs, as well as obsessive traces of scrapbooks of articles about cancer cases among residents near a fertilizer factory, leaving him shocked. The complaint demanding "they must pay for their sins" and the numerous clues found in the house overlapped, creating a dangerous tension.
Sensing that the post was not a simple civil complaint but a precursor to a major crime, Shin Sajuang persistently tracked the complainant's movements. In the end, it was revealed that the complainant had already installed a bomb in a container box and was even kidnapping the market to pressure it, bringing the sense of crisis to a peak.
With police gathering belatedly to rescue the market, Shin Sajuang, who had arrived on the scene a step ahead, met the counterterrorism team leader Jang Young-soo (played by Choi Deok-moon). When Jang asked how to save the market, Shin Sajuang suddenly said, "Negotiate with me, starting now," and offered to act as the hostage taker's proxy. Shin Sajuang's reversal decision, appearing to side with the perpetrator rather than the victim, shocked viewers and delivered a powerful ending.
Why Han Suk-kyu negotiated on the side of the hostage taker rather than the kidnapped person, and the backstory of that choice will be revealed in tvN Monday-Tuesday drama Shin Sajuang Project episode 3, which will air on the 22nd (Mon) at 8:50 p.m.
[Photo] provided
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