Is The Gangster The Cop The Devil Based: On True Story

The cop Across the city, a detective rose through a different set of hardships. Not an idealist blinded by romance, but a practical officer who had seen the consequences when corruption went unchecked: witnesses threatened, prosecutions dropped, and ordinary people trapped between criminals and unresponsive institutions. He kept meticulous records, followed patterns others overlooked, and slowly assembled a casefile that reached beyond petty arrests into the architecture of the gangster’s operation. He took risks—working undercover contacts, pushing for search warrants, and confronting superiors who preferred quiet settlements. Bravery for him was procedural: persistence, paperwork, and patience.

The Real-Life Inspiration: South Korea's 2000s Serial Killers

In the pantheon of modern Korean cinema, few films blend brutal action with moral ambiguity as deftly as Lee Won-tae’s 2019 masterpiece, The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil (Korean title: Akinjeon ). Starring the legendary Ma Dong-seok (also known as Don Lee) as a crime boss and Kim Moo-yul as a rogue detective, the film delivers a visceral cat-and-mouse game where the lines between law enforcement and organized crime vanish completely. is the gangster the cop the devil based on true story

To understand the realistic backdrop of the film, you have to look at South Korea’s history with organized crime. In 1990, President Roh Tae-woo declared a "War on Crime," launching massive crackdowns on violent street gangs ( jopok ). By the 2000s, these gangs had evolved from street brawlers into highly organized, corporate-style syndicates dealing in illegal gambling, loan sharking, and real estate—exactly like Ma Dong-seok's character in the film. Police-Gang Collusion

The film references the (also known as the Gapyeong serial murders ) that occurred between 2003 and 2004 in rural South Korea. The cop Across the city, a detective rose

The portrayal of the South Korean police force and the (organized crime) is rooted in historical reality. In the late 90s and early 2000s, the lines between the law and the underworld were often blurred.

In the movie, the killer uses a specific tactic to trap his victims: he intentionally bumps into their cars from behind on dark roads. When the unsuspecting drivers get out to inspect the bumper damage, he stabs them to death. This specific, calculated method of staging minor traffic accidents to ambush victims was pulled directly from real South Korean police files of the mid-2000s. Fact vs. Fiction: What Really Happened? Starring the legendary Ma Dong-seok (also known as

into the "Raincoat Killer" or perhaps details on the upcoming American remake

Ma Dong-seok (Don Lee), Kim Mu-yeol, and Kim Sung-kyu

The key to understanding the film's origins lies in the real-life figure who haunted the streets of Seoul in the early 2000s.

The film’s primary inspiration is the prolific serial killer , who terrorized Seoul and surrounding areas in 2003-2004. Known as the “Raincoat Killer” (for wearing a raincoat to avoid blood splatter), Yoo confessed to murdering at least 20 people—mostly wealthy elderly individuals and female masseuses.