Made in Korea Season 2 review: Hyun Bin returns to a darker, messier game of power
Nine years can change a lot. In Made in Korea Season 2, it has certainly changed Baek Gi-tae (Hyun Bin). The man who once operated from the shadows of Busan is now the deputy director of the KCIA in Seoul, closer to the country’s political machinery and far more powerful than before. What has not changed is his ability to look at chaos and immediately wonder how he can use it.
Set in 1979, the second and final season of Woo Min-ho’s political crime drama picks up nine years after the events of the first season. Gi-tae has built a formidable criminal empire alongside his position within the state, while his younger brother Baek Ki-hyun (Woo Do-hwan) has risen through the military ranks. Prosecutor Jang Geon-young (Jung Woo-sung), meanwhile, remains part of the larger game. The assassination of President Park changes the balance of power overnight, leaving government officials, military men and criminals scrambling to decide who gets to control what comes next.
If the first season was driven by the collision between Gi-tae and Geon-young, the opening two episodes suggest that Season 2 is interested in what happens when power becomes a family affair.
The most compelling relationship so far is between Gi-tae and Ki-hyun. They are brothers, but almost everything else separates them. Gi-tae is opportunistic, ruthless and perfectly comfortable bending the rules if it gets him closer to what he wants. Ki-hyun is disciplined and principled, a military man whose moral line becomes considerably less clear when his brother is involved. Their scenes carry an underlying tension even when neither is openly threatening the other. There is history here, but also resentment, loyalty and the uncomfortable knowledge that one brother may eventually have to choose between family and principle.
Hyun Bin remains very good at making Gi-tae both repulsive and watchable. He has the swagger of a man who believes he can survive any political weather because he is always preparing for the next storm. There is calculation behind almost every expression. Woo Do-hwan, meanwhile, gives Ki-hyun a more restrained energy, which makes his conflict with his brother more interesting than a straightforward good-versus-bad dynamic.
The season also expands its world beyond the central Korean political conflict. Won Ji-an’s Yuji gets considerably more to do, and the character’s ruthlessness gives the Japanese underworld storyline a momentum of its own. Seo Eun-soo’s prosecutor Oh Ye-jin is another welcome presence, particularly as her investigation begins intersecting with people from her past.
The assassination of President Park is the obvious turning point, but Made in Korea is less interested in the shock than in what everyone does with the vacuum it creates. That is where the writing is most engaging. Nobody seems to be reacting simply to events; everyone is already thinking about the next move. Gi-tae wants to position Cheon for the presidency. Military figures are building their own alliances. Ki-hyun is pulled deeper into an investigation that puts him dangerously close to his brother. Geon-young’s return adds another layer to a game that is already crowded with players.
It can also be a lot to keep track of. There are political factions, military hierarchies, criminal networks, family loyalties and shifting alliances being introduced in quick succession. The show assumes the audience is paying attention, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but some of the plotting becomes harder to follow than it needs to be. The density occasionally comes at the expense of emotional clarity.
Still, the production remains one of the show’s strengths. Woo Min-ho gives the period drama a hard, muscular visual quality, while the violence has an unpleasantness that suits the world. This is not a polished nostalgia piece about 1970s Korea. It is interested in the rot underneath institutions and the people who learn to prosper from it.
The first two episodes also suggest that Season 2 is not merely repeating the first season’s formula. The central rivalry has widened into a larger contest over family, politics and succession. That makes the season feel more ambitious, even if it also makes it more difficult to navigate.
Two episodes are too early to know whether all these moving pieces will come together. But if the opening is any indication, Made in Korea is not returning to finish the same game. It has changed the board.
Made in Korea S2 is streaming on JioHotstar in India.- EndsPublished By: Priyanka SharmaPublished On: Sep 12, 2026 17:19 ISTALSO READ | The Early Spring review: Jing Boran, Sun Qian shine in a deliciously messy romance
