The first two episodes of Made in Korea drop viewers directly into a high-stakes world of 1970s espionage, drug smuggling, and a dangerous game of cat and mouse. Premiering on December 24, 2025, the series immediately sets up a tense conflict between a cunning KCIA agent and a principled prosecutor . The story kicks off with a hijacking that is far more than it seems, revealing hidden agendas and a secret identity that fuels the entire plot.
The new K-drama, available on Disney+ and Hulu, stars Hyun Bin as the mysterious Baek Gi-tae and Jung Woo-sung as the determined prosecutor Jang Geon-young . With two episodes released and four more to come, the show has started a complex story of ambition and corruption.
The first episode, titled “A Businessman,” opens in 1970 . A man using the alias Kenji boards a flight from Tokyo to Fukuoka . He carries a briefcase and seems like any other passenger. Soon, the plane is taken over by activists from the Japanese Communist League who want to force the pilot to fly to Pyongyang, North Korea .
While the Japanese government hesitates, Kenji stays calm. He is not the ordinary businessman he pretends to be. To get the hijackers to release the women, children, and elderly, he shows them the contents of his briefcase: bags of methamphetamine. He offers it as a deal for the passengers’ safety.
Throughout the crisis, Kenji secretly passes a phone number to another passenger, which connects to the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) . The pilot tries to trick the hijackers by landing in Fukuoka to refuel, pretending it is Pyongyang, but the leader sees through the lie . With the situation growing worse and the air running out, Kenji takes action.
He pulls a hidden gun from his briefcase and shoots the hijacker leader. When another threatens to detonate a bomb, Kenji calmly presses the button himself, knowing it is fake .
With the hijackers subdued, the episode ends with the plane proceeding to North Korea with a Japanese minister aboard, while the other passengers are freed . Kenji’s mission to deliver the briefcase of meth in Fukuoka fails because he gave it away during the hijack . However, the bigger reveal comes after he lands.
The alias “Kenji” is a cover. The man’s real name is Baek Gi-tae, and he is a high-ranking agent in the KCIA’s Busan branch. The hijacking was not just a crisis he managed; it was an operation he manipulated. His goal was to smuggle the methamphetamine from Japan to Korea to build his own wealth and power network .
Gi-tae works under Hwang Guk-pyeong, the head of the KCIA in Busan . His role within the agency provides the perfect cover for his illegal activities, allowing him to move drugs without suspicion . His ambition drives him to make dangerous deals, including with the Japanese yakuza, represented by the powerful Yuji Ikeda.
This dual life as a government agent and a drug smuggler sets the stage for the entire series. As one review notes, the intrigue lies in “how he’s going to be able to maintain both ‘jobs’ while climbing the ladder at the KCIA” .
While Gi-tae handles the hijacking, a separate story unfolds in Korea. A young Korean couple is murdered in their home by American soldiers searching for drugs . Their toddler is left alive. The case is picked up by Prosecutor Jang Geon-young, played by Jung Woo-sung.
Geon-young is principled and relentless. He investigates the murder and learns the couple was involved with a criminal organization called the Manjae group, which controls parts of Busan’s economy . Geon-young discovers a note about a meeting at the C’est La Vie Cafe and decides to intercept it .
To do this, he needs to pose as the dead man. He asks his colleague, detective Oh Ye-jin, to act as his wife for the meeting . At the cafe, they meet Kang Dae-il, the right-hand man of the Manjae group’s leader . Geon-young pressures Dae-il, suggesting he has been stealing from his own boss, and tries to turn him into an informant .
Both Gi-tae’s KCIA branch and Geon-young’s prosecution team are now targeting the Manjae group, but for different reasons . Gi-tae is secretly in business with them, while Geon-young wants to dismantle them. Their paths officially cross when Gi-tae visits the prosecutor’s office.
Gi-tae tells Geon-young to back off from the Manjae case, saying it is KCIA business. Geon-young refuses . Unknown to the prosecutor, Gi-tae has already planted listening devices throughout the office . Through this bug, Gi-tae learns that Geon-young has planned to bug a hotel room where Manjae is set to meet yakuza members.
This leads to a tense sequence where both the KCIA and the prosecution team secretly listen to the same meeting about a major meth deal . The situation escalates when Gi-tae’s superior, Hwang Guk-pyeong, storms the hotel. He executes the Manjae group leader for his disobedience . When Guk-pyeong moves to kill Kang Dae-il next, Gi-tae intervenes. He argues that Dae-il is needed to keep the gang’s operations running smoothly .
By the end of the second episode, titled “The Power of the Dog,” the lines are clearly drawn . Gi-tae saves Kang Dae-il and begins plotting with him to restart and expand their drug business . He is fully committed to using his official power for massive personal gain.
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Meanwhile, back at his office, Jang Geon-young discovers the hidden listening devices . He realizes Gi-tae has been spying on him the entire time. This betrayal fuels his determination. He now knows his rival is not just a KCIA agent but a deeply corrupt and dangerous man operating a smuggling network. A direct and personal war between the two has begun.
The stage is set for their conflict to intensify over the remaining four episodes. The next episodes of Made in Korea will continue to release weekly on Disney+ and Hulu.
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