Hyun Jun is shocked to see that Seung Hee is alive and the North Korean security team successfully steal the NSS's nuclear bomb device, which they plan to detonate in the middle of Seoul. Seung Hee comes to believe that Hyun Jun is alive as well. Hyun Jun learns that his nuclear scientist parents were assassinated by Baek San.
As secret agents of North Korea’s secret services, these agents lack professionalism. During their infiltration of the NSS base, there were many occasions where their mission could have failed due to their incompetency of controlling the situation. First off, they unmask themselves way too often. If notable people like Hyun-jun or Sun-hwa was spotted with their masks off, this can bring great danger to the terrorist team as the South Koreans will now know who they are dealing with. This can be linked with the DPRK due to Sun-hwa’s appearance and it may affect the summit in which both Korean countries are currently participating in. Another mistake that may have been costly was that the intruders did not thoroughly search the hostages. There should not have been a way for one of the hostages to conceal a pistol. This blunder could have been detrimental to the operation and more people could have died. These errors by the DPRK team are careless and it shows that they are not well trained.
ReplyDeleteIn contrast to Donny’s point, I actually believe the DPRK’s team was exceedingly more professional than the NSS. Since the little security team was eliminated, the DPRK had no problem infiltrating the headquarters. Sa Woo notes their cunningness, remarking how the DPRK team purposely chose the time window when most of the security agents were out. Whoever was left in the NSS were office employees who didn’t have in-field training. Mi Jeong even scolded Tae Sung for having a gun he could barely use and thereby potentially risking all their lives. I don’t think he’d stand a chance against a combat soldier with a bigger gun. The humour of Tae Sung and Sa Woo’s incompetence is shown when they both end up pointing their guns at each other, highlighting their foolishness as the DPRK team is far from them. Furthermore, the DPRK team had the technology to hack into the all the controls of the NSS such as the lights and CCTVs. They literally watched the NSS security team’s every move and were able to detect Seung Hee’s call to the outside world. If they were to take off their masks, they would know if someone else was nearby. Moreover, during the scene where the lights turn off, the DPRK team is seen walking in unison and prepared with night vision lights while Sa Woo and his team panic in the dark. The DPRK team also take advantage of the chaos by making their escape and concealing the bomb device as a victim, walking right past an oblivious Sa Woo. I was amazed to see their intelligence in wearing the same uniform as the NSS security team, effortlessly blending in with everyone else. Lastly, the removal of the signage on their van signified the end of their flawlessly executed plan. With the success of their mission, I’d say the only vulnerabilities they had was Hyun Jun and Seon Hwa letting their emotions overcome them when they met Seung Hee and the two fatalities of their team.
Deletemore direct replies like this! I love it!
DeleteIn this episode, we see that information is often hidden from different members of the same agency. This can lead to distrust and angst within the agency, thus affecting agents’ efficiency when carrying out operations. For the North Korean army, information about what they stole from NSS was kept confidential. We see that a member of the army was angry about being kept in the blue in regards to the purpose of their mission, so he resorted to drinking (which isn’t very professional). Although we don’t see the operation carried out in this episode, it is reasonable to assume that the drunken member can ruin the operation. For NSS, the object that the North Koreans stole was kept a secret to most NSS agents and was only told to one person outside of the agency (the president), which led to speculation within government officials and other NSS agents. These instances reflect how complicated government systems can be due to the many secrets kept; not only in Korea, but also possibly in other countries. These instances can also let us have some insight on the confusion government agents may feel while on an operation.
ReplyDeleteMore of this psychological analysis, please!
DeleteThe dress code of N. Korea in IRIS is highly uniformed and “unique”. During causal time, they always dress in very dark colors with leather coats, and in official meetings, they always dress in military outfits (dark yellowish military green outfit). Chul Young has always been well dressed and nicely fitted in the drama. When he secretly leaves his hotel to meet with the leader Kung’s team, CY sidekick hacked into the hotel surveillance, and changed all the videotape recording to stationary hallway image. At that time, Chul Young changed his outfit to black taped leather jacket with white shirt which presents uniqueness for demonstrating his higher rank, however, somewhat he seems to purposely match his dress code, to which everyone in Kung’s team dress in dark leather coat. And because of that, I’m a bit confused of the weather in S. Korea, everyone just dress in different types and thickness of clothes. Not to mention, when N. Korean attend the official meeting or back to N. Korea, everyone wears the military coats, they look like they are ready for war at any time. However, in the drama, everyone dresses in a very nice fit cut outfit, which is contradicting with the impression from the news, where everyone dress in baggy outfits.
ReplyDeletebut if they were realistic, just think how unattractive these stars would look... (please note, I am being sarcastic-- there is a big tie in between brands of clothing and the dramas, and often signature outfits will totally sell out online in the wake of a big hit, so no matter what the drama team will hope to inspire such consumerism with the clothing they use)
DeleteIn this episode, Hyun Joon finally finds out more about Baek San, as well as his parents. He was so determined to escape in Hungary because he wanted to know why he was abandoned, and also to get revenge on Baek San. The answer was probably not what he expected at all, as it was such a huge shock. It turns out that Baek San was behind the elimination of his parents, who were both nuclear scientists. Baek San also took him to the orphanage and kept an eye on him as he was growing up. At that moment, his emotions clearly showed that he realizes he wasn't just chosen with Sa Woo from their army training, but he was chosen from the very beginning when he was born. He also wasn't abandoned half way through, but was also chosen to be abandoned. He decides to go to the orphanage to confirm the truth, but then a kdrama cliche happens where whenever a non important character is needed for answers, they die. The episode ends off with another cliffhanger by showing a picture of young Hyun Joon with a mystery man, creating another unsolved question about Hyun Joon's past.
ReplyDeleteokay, great, but... can you get deeper into this than just replaying what we saw in the episode?
DeleteTime for Tae Sung to Shine..
ReplyDelete… or not. It looks like all I talk about is masculinity... It also looks like I am not stopping anytime soon. Today’s discussion on masculinity features: Tae Sung, our adorable bowl-cut, computer tech, NSS agent. As a minor character, we will not get to see a lot of scenes of Tae Sung and his skills (even when we do, his partner Mi Jeong steals the spotlight). However, I will discuss how he perpetuates masculine stereotypes in the scenes that he does appear in. Especially in episode 11, we get to watch Tae Sung volunteer as the one to investigate what is going on outside the offices with his gun in hand. Tae Sung is not on the same level of handsomeness as Hyun Jun, but at least he is very brave and honorable in this scene and his colleagues thank him for doing so after they tried to stop him. When he is out surveying, we notice his experience in the way he walks, stalks, and holds his gun. When he slips onto the floor and accidently fires the gun, one cannot help but face-palm or laugh at his awkwardness. Tae Sung as a male actor perpetuates the masculine stereotypes by behaving oppositely to the stereotypes and serves as a point of reference for all the other male actors. It is not just for the comedic relief but to appear and help make the main male actors look better in terms of masculinity—something that Tae Sung doesn’t entirely possess.
I would like to give a strong shoutout to Sun Hwa for her continuous love and care towards Hyun Joon despite his realization of Choi's survival. It was obvious for a while that Sun Hwa had feelings toward Kim but her actions following his discovery of Choi goes even further than just protecting her lover Kim. For example, she is looking out for both of their interest by helping Kim stay alive in the North Korean terrorist group as well as leading Kim in making logical decisions that would give him a chance go reunite with Choi without being caught by NSS when they had to escape. Sun Hwa is amazing. She not only loves Kim, but that love forces her to protect what he loves over her own love, if that makes sense. If I was sun hwa, I would probably eliminate Choi myself and shoot for a chance with Kim but no, Sun Hwa is bigger than that. She keeps Choi alive rather than killing her when she had the chance, and continues to work for Kim's survival and a chance to reunite him with choi. Why am I saying this? Becauss I think its notable to understand that Sun Hwa is a North Korean female and Kim is a South Korean male, reinforcing a positive atmosphere in the relationship between the two sides. Kim's mercy and charismatic care towards Sun Hwa since their first encounter also gives viewers the notion of Kim, a south Korean's compassion towards Sun Hwa, a north korean.
ReplyDeleteGood. I mean, it was a bit obv. until the end of your comment when you go to your point about the atmosphere in the inter-national relationship. Also, maybe a typo, but Hyeonjun is not Seonhwa's 'lover' he is her 'love' or the man she loves, but 'lover' is reserved for a mutual relationship, generally sexual, in English, unlike in Konglish.
DeleteIn this episode, I found Hyun Jun rather calm and determined. There are several times that he can abandon his revenge against Baek San and leave everything with Seung Hee. For example, when he woke up from his unconsciousness in the beginning, he wanted to meet Seung Hee but Sun Hwa pointed a gun at him which stopped Hyun Jun at his tracks. He wavered for a bit but then realized what he should really do which is carry out his revenge. He decided that it would be better if he doesn't meet Seung Hee until he figures everything out with Baek San and Iris. It is more clear in the scene where he visits Seung Hee's home when she isn't there. I was wondering why he didn't stay or leave something for her to realize that he is alive but it was probably because he didn't want to get hurt or hurt Seung Hee again. While he is at Seung Hee's house, he looks at things that reminiscences his and Seung See's time. I found that this was his goodbye in a way so that if something ends up happening to him, she won't have to go through the same pain again of losing him. Hyun Jun made a hard decision to not let his feelings overcome him and it is here that we find that he is determined to get his revenge.
ReplyDeleteNoted.
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