Actor Han Jae-seok is playing the puzzle maker who moves the board of events in Heroes Next Door.
Actor Han Jae-seok, in the Coupang Play X Genie TV original series Heroes Next Door, portrays Ministry of National Defense Vice Minister Lee Geun-cheol, delicately depicting a cold calculation hidden beneath restrained emotions and steadfastly leading the center of the drama.
Heroes Next Door is a work that tells the cheerful and thrilling story of a reserve special forces unit that came together not to defend the country, nor out of any interest in world peace, but solely for their families and neighborhood. In the drama, Han Jae-seok, as a cold strategist pursuing the shadow of military corruption, portrayed a character whose actions move before words with intense focus and precise pacing.
First, Geun-cheol, after the series of explosions in Giyun City, was the first to detect the possibility of military involvement within the army, shaking the center of the narrative. He secretly tracked documents and the scene, identified military vehicles with erased dispatch records, the leakage of military explosives, and abnormal movements in the chain of command, and ultimately provided the decisive clue by summoning Choi Kang (played by Yoon Kye-sang) in person to reveal the true nature of the explosives. Han Jae-seok proved his role as the "puzzle maker," acting as the key coordinator who organically connected the scattered pieces and pierced the reality of the case.
He also made his presence felt as the "invisible hand" orchestrating events from unseen places, such as preparing a secret bunker under a gas station to protect PD Kim In-seop (played by Jo Dong-in). Citing as evidence that military supplies that left the army exploded in civilian areas, he formed an adversarial stance by asking the Minister of National Defense (played by Jo Han-chul), "Minister, do you have nothing to say about this matter?" This revealed Lee Geun-cheol's true nature as not just a public official but a "mysterious public servant" who quietly creates fissures toward the truth.
Han Jae-seok convincingly completed the complex texture of Lee Geun-cheol, raising viewers' immersion by conveying coldness and composure within restrained expressions and tone. Showing the "power of stillness" that changes the flow of the drama with his eyes alone, Han Jae-seok solidified his presence as a mysterious Vice Minister who cannot be labeled clearly as good or evil, and anticipation is building for what choices he will make in the coming confrontations with the Minister.
Meanwhile, Heroes Next Door is released simultaneously on Coupang Play, Genie TV and ENA every Monday and Tuesday at 10 p.m.
[Photo] Coupang Play
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