Be forewarned of extensive goings on in “Yadang” causing hopeless entanglements with the plot. I have six pages of detailed notes and watched the film twice determined to conquer its plot. Ask me to be precise about the plot I just might give you a vacant look three quarters of the way through my explanation. I will gladly give you a gold star if you breeze through the film understanding its temporal hip hopping and plot intricacies. The good news is if you remain in your seat in high attention to the conclusion of this two-hour long movie the breadcrumb hints dropped along the way result in a beautiful souffle! In some respects, the intricate plot may be but a red herring as there are striking and highly effective generalities imparted without thorough plot understanding.
Yadang means snitch in Korean and a cornerstone in the Korean narcotic landscape where there are dealers, those that catch them and a liaison in between. The dealer is apprehended by the police and through an Investigating Co-operation Agreement becomes a snitch and if ratting leads to a conviction the snitch obtains freedom or a reduced sentence. In some cases the snitch also greases the wheels by paying a liaison to facilitate the apprehension and conviction of the target.
Kang-suoo known as Kang (Kang Ha-neul), a taxi driver, is set up by a dealer who leaves cash and narcotics in Kang’s car saying he is visiting his side chick and will be back in 30 minutes. As soon as he leaves the car the police swoop in and arrest Kang for drug possession and trafficking. Kang is innocent. The dealer needed a set up to avoid arrest so innocent Kang is set up.
In prison Kang acts as a snitch for a low level but ambitious prosecutor Ku (Yoo Hae-jin). The bigger the Kang assisted busts the farther Ku climbs the ladder. Ku and Kang become “brothers” or a least Kang believes that to be.
The swaggering overconfident Kang rises in the ranks of liaison man in tandem to Ku rising close to a senior prosecutorial position in Seoul. Kang excels to the point the prosecutor Ku is nabbing big dealers prior to the police and Kang with his swagger and arrogance makes enemies with the “Jade Emperor” narcotics captain who is aggravated by being beaten to the punch in arrests by prosecutor Ku. Kang is also making enemies amongst those taken down by his snitching.
An apparent beneficial mutuality expands to ever increasingly significant busts touching political aspirations. Snitches snitch on snitches who snitch further up the chain encountering a Presidential election and the corruption and violence escalate leading one to conclude the entire narcotics enforcement mechanism is ridden with corruption. The innocent are not so innocent. In this treacherous world of narcotics no one is to be trusted and as Kang climbs the ladder this smiling happy overconfident man gets far more than what he bargained for.
In so many movies of the crime genre the good guys are often the winners. Are there any “good guys” in Yadang? That would be a hard sale to close!
Yoo Hai-jin, Park Hae-joon and Kang Ha-neul a perfect trifecta of acting!
Directed by Hwang Byeong-gug.
Watch the teaser here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdgVwlTaVC0
Opens theatrically in North America 25April2025.
“Yadang” is a fascinating tale of pervasive corruption in the Korean narcotic enforcement “industry” where “winning” is embedded with corruption. It could well be that winning is but revenge in “Yadang” and my goodness it is sweet.
RKS 2025 Film Rating 92/100.
P.S. There are some humorous moments in “Yadang” particularly the Coca-Cola swilling junkie at the beginning of the film.
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