Jesus Christ, do think I believe a word he says?! He's throwing a ton of money at us! It's only thanks to Seong Gi-hun coming to me when he did, paying off his debt and turning around and hiring me that I could even pay any of you or keep the business going. Okay?
Mr. Kim to Choi Woo-seok in "Bread and Lottery"
Kim Jeong-rae (김정래 Gim Jeong-lae?), better known as Mr. Kim, was a loan shark who formerly led Sunshine Capital. Seong Gi-hun used to owe money to him, and after he paid his debts off, Mr. Kim later assisted Gi-hun in tracking down The Recruiter.
History[]
A loan shark and career criminal, Mr. Kim made a living by lending out money to desperate people. When his borrowers couldn't pay him back, he and his men would track them down and beat them up to extort the money out of them and forcibly harvest their organs when this failed. At some point in his adult life, Mr. Kim met Choi Woo-seok and became close friends with him, even officiating his wedding ceremony.
In 2020, Mr. Kim and his men found Seong Gi-hun at a racetrack. They chased him into the toilet where Mr. Kim demanded the money Gi-hun owed him. Gi-hun wanted to give him his money but it had been stolen by a pickpocketer. Mr. Kim hit him which resulted in Gi-hun getting a nose bleed. He tasted his blood, which he claimed to have found sweet. He claimed to have mercy on Gi-hun and asked him to sign a waiver. He informed Gi-hun that if he did not reimburse him next month, he would take one of his kidneys and one of his eyes. When Gi-hun told him he had no ink, he hit him in the nose, forced him to sign with his blood and then left with the papers sneering. Eventually, Gi-hun pays off his debt to Mr. Kim after winning the 33rd Squid Game.
In 2024, Gi-hun employs Mr. Kim who joins a group of loan sharks to find the Recruiter. He pairs up with Woo-seok to search at subways to find their target. After his leader grab the money he argues in front of his men of the purpose of this. Woo-seok believes they will find the salesman and thinks it is made up. Once the leader inform his men about the ₩500 million bonus, Woo-seok and others got excited. The next day Mr. Kim and Woo-seok had a quick lecture on the salesman and how he plays Ddakji. After two months of search, Mr. Kim and Choi found the recruiter in Jonggak Station playing ddakji with a young man on the other side. They inform Gi-hun of the situation was ordered to follow him but avoid contact. They discreetly followed the recruiter to Tapgol Park who made homeless people choose either bread roll or lotto ticket. When majority of the homeless picked the lotto ticket instead of the bread, Mr. Kim and Woo-seok saw the recruiter step on all the bread rolls that the homeless "wasted."
Fate[]
The Recruiter shoots Mr. Kim.
Despite Seong Gi-hun's order, both engaged with the Recruiter and both lost the fight. They were captured, tied up and forced to play Rock Paper Scissors Minus One combined with Russian Roulette. Mr. Choi did not participate and was hesitant to play in fear. In the final round, Mr. Choi put 2 rocks by accident and Mr. Kim put paper and scissors, but Mr. Kim sacrifices himself for his friend and the recruiter shoots him in the head. The Recruiter asked questions on Gi-hun's location. After the interrogation, the Recruiter places Mr. Choi on a bed at Gi-hun's HQ.
Woo-seok was rescued by Detective Hwang Jun-ho (who was looking for Gi-hun), the detective told him to tell him where Gi-hun was and Mr. Choi told him that in Room 410, Jun-ho tried to arrest Gi-hun for The Recruiter's death (thinking it might be murder) but Woo-seok knocked Jun-ho out with a fire extinguisher. After Gi-hun talked to Jun-ho and the detective offered to help him stop the games, Woo-seok wanted to help as well to avenge Mr. Kim.
Trivia[]
- Mr. Kim's resident registration number starts with "770920-1".
Behind the scenes[]
Mr. Kim is portrayed by Kim Pub-lae. He was initially credited as "Loan Shark Leader" during Season One. In Season Two, he was credited as "김대표" in Korean, which roughly translates to "Mr. Kim".
Appearances[]
- Season One
- Season Two
- "Bread and Lottery"
- "Halloween Party" (Mentioned)
See also[]
- Loan sharks - which included his gang seen from the first episode of the first season.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Seen on business registration documents viewed by Hwang Jun-ho in his desk.
- ↑ Under the traditional Korean age system, which was changed in June 2023, a year is added to a person's age after birth, meaning he would be 48 in 2024. His age, as stated, is given in international years.
- ↑ Seong Gi-hun's phone screen showed the date was September 1, 2024, on the same day Mr. Kim and Woo-seok pursued the Recruiter.