Original subtitles

[man] Attention!

SEOUL AIR BASE / 3 MONTHS AGO

[man] Present arms!

[fanfare playing]

[fanfare continues in background]

[gasping]

I know he won't try to escape or destroy any evidence, Mr. President.

Please stop the investigation of Seo Gi-tae.

The public opinion would be highly unfavorable, Mr. President.

This is just political retaliation. He's being framed here.

He was accused of accepting a bribe. We should let the prosecution do its job.

Separation of powers are in place for a reason.

Mr. President.

He just arrived after giving a speech at the UN summit

and was on a plane for the last ten hours.

He should really get some rest for now, Prime Minister. [chuckles]

Let's go. [chuckles softly]

If you want to save your friend, perhaps you should join us.

Just put your pride aside,

as hard as it might be to do so.

How far are you going to take this?

One step further

than you, Prime Minister.

[Dong-ho] Call Seo Gi-tae.

Tell him to gather everything he has and bring it to my official residence.

[shuddering]

S… so, my brother…

[mysterious music playing]

I can't call Seo Gi-tae…

[clicks]

[music intensifies]

He passed away, Prime Minister.

[crying] They think it was…

it was a suicide, sir. [crying]

[music stops]

ASSEMBLYMAN SEO'S FUNERAL

[indistinct chatter]

THE LATE SEO GI-TAE

[mysterious music playing]

[exhales deeply]

[whimpers]

[Il-jun] You had told me that by the time I got back

from the United States summit,

and after my attendance over at the UN, you'd have found a way

to finally silence Seo Gi-tae before he dug up any more dirt.

You didn't mention you would kill him off!

With all due respect, Mr. President,

do you really believe that you have any right to scold me?

You were the one who invited me to eat at this table.

Where are your manners?

[phone vibrating]

I cleaned up your mess. Now you should return the favor.

[phone continues vibrating]

PRIME MINISTER PARK DONG-HO

[Il-jun sighs]

[suspenseful music playing]

Dong-ho, listen.

I have no idea how any of this happened.

I'm sorry.

[Dong-ho] The one person

you should apologize to is no longer here.

Come to the Blue House.

How about we talk this over and--

[Dong-ho] You've done things a president should never do.

Now, I'll do what I have to do as the prime minister.

[Dong-ho] Enjoy it while you can.

Your days at the Blue House… are numbered.

[opening theme music playing]

THE WHIRLWIND

EPISODE 2

[horn honks]

[horn blares]

[horns honking]

Deputy Prime Minister,

you are dismissed from your position as a cabinet member.

[murmuring]

[mysterious music playing]

[gasps]

Uh, Prime Minister--

Effective immediately. This is my first order as acting president.

You are no longer allowed here. This is for cabinet members.

I am ordering you to leave now so our meeting can proceed.

Ms. Seo, escort her out.

Show her the door.

[gasps]

[breathing heavily]

[sighs]

[mysterious music fades]

[suspenseful music playing]

[door opens]

[phone vibrating]

[breathes shakily]

Yes?

[Man-jil] Deputy Prime Minister, the president's heart attack was actually

an assassination attempt.

The doctors detected krokodil and methamphetamine

in the president's body.

Those substances can dramatically increase the blood flow to the heart.

Someone from the outside gave them to him somehow.

But nothing ever gets past the Security Service.

They check every medication and meal before it ever gets to the president.

That means whoever it was had to come from the inside.

[car approaching]

[mysterious music playing]

[Man-gil] I got this data from the hospital's intranet.

I've cross-checked it with an internal source as well.

There's only one person who could've gotten so close to the president

and would've been desperate enough to try to assassinate him.

Park Dong-ho.

[tires squealing]

[soldier] Sir!

KANG BYEONG-OH / BRIGADIER GENERAL AT ARMED FORCES CAPITAL HOSPITAL

Who are you?

Huh?

[mysterious music playing]

[Su-jin] On the night of October 26th, 1979,

the sitting president was assassinated inside his safe house in Gungjeongdong.

Six people were sentenced to death because of that.

Tell me,

when a soldier is executed, where does the firing squad shoot first?

Is it the forehead?

Perhaps the heart?

[sighs]

I'd like to know,

when this is all over,

if history will remember the death of one president…

or two of them.

[gulps]

[Dong-ho] First, I want to appoint a new prosecutor general.

-Contact Lee Jang-seok -[Jeong-yeon] Yes, sir.

-[door closes] -[Yeon-sook] You'll face backlash.

Prosecutors care about rank and hierarchy,

so if you appoint Lee Jang-seok, it might cause--

[Dong-ho] Then I will cut down their ranks and ignore the hierarchy.

What else do they care about?

I'll destroy everything the current prosecutors wish to protect.

I won't hold back.

We're in this position

because the man who should've fallen didn't.

And now we have corruption everywhere.

Don't you agree?

[birds chirping]

Despite everything,

Gi-tae already had his burial place secured.

I took care of the landscaping.

So you should

write the epitaph, Jang-seok.

Gi-tae left this case for us.

So no stone

should be left unturned.

No authority should be immune to impartial investigation.

"No stone should be left unturned."

Often enough, people who say that are unturned stones.

When Gi-tae first started investigating,

you were the one who brought it to a halt.

The administration would've collapsed if I hadn't.

So what's changed?

Now the country will collapse if we don't do this.

[mysterious music playing]

[footsteps approaching]

They're expecting you at the National Cemetery, sir.

Cancel it.

But it's your first event as the acting president.

The government officials are waiting for you there.

This is my national cemetery.

If you must draw my blood

in order to punish Jeong Su-jin and Vice-Chairman Kang Sang-un,

then do it.

Do what must be done.

[phone vibrates]

CHOI YEON-SOOK

Park Dong-ho speaking.

[Yeon-sook] The hospital's been hacked.

[suspenseful music playing]

It's been confirmed by both the national and defense intelligence.

The president's records have been leaked.

We're checking if North Korea's behind it.

Even if they wanted to, they couldn't. It was probably a domestic act.

Don't let the press talk to the president's family.

They've been taken to the safe house accompanied by the Secret Service.

The vape, where is it?

[suspenseful music intensifies]

Contact all major newspapers and broadcasting stations.

We'll hold an emergency press conference in an hour.

[Man-gil] That's not enough time.

We need time to prepare.

[Su-jin] Just get it done.

Time is not on our side. We need to move quickly.

[door opens]

CEO OF NAMSAN C&C / HAN MIN-HO

You're here.

Honey, they caught this lobster yesterday evening in Siberia.

Can you believe it?

Come to think of it, it makes me think of V.I. Lenin.

As a matter of fact, did you know he quit smoking at age 32

in a Siberian labor camp? Why's that?

What brings you here, honey?

Ah. [chuckles]

Um, the vice-chairman made a big investment in our PE fund.

It's funny, Deputy Prime Minister.

Anytime I meet with you like this,

I end up investing in your husband.

Anyway, the reason Lenin quit smoking is, you see, his mother--

So-yeon is seeing the dentist today.

You should take her.

-[phone beeps] -[Sang-un] Yes, get Mr. Han's car ready.

[phone beeps]

[clears throat]

Anyway, thank you for your investment and your trust.

-I appreciate it. -No, I should be thanking you.

It's because of you, I get to a share a table with a very distinguished guest.

[Min-ho] I'm going.

[door opens]

[door closes]

[Su-jin] The first time my husband got involved in business with you,

you asked me for a meeting with President Jang.

The second time, you asked…

Article 84 of the Constitution.

"The president shall not be charged with a criminal offense

during his tenure of office,

except in the case of either insurrection or treason."

With that said…

I've come to learn Park Dong-ho tried to assassinate the president.

That is treason.

He will be arrested by the end of today.

What then?

There'll be an early election, and

we'll make sure the next president is ours.

[Sang-un] And then?

The succession of Daejin Group

will be yours.

And?

I'll get your father a special pardon.

Or I'll try, at least.

[suspenseful music playing]

You'll try?

People don't like it when chaebols get special pardons. You know that already.

We'll try to win over the public.

[Sang-un] If trying is the best you can manage right now,

with the dirt I've got on your husband,

I wonder if the guy who tried to kill the president

has more guts to do what I need.

Sang-un, listen.

[Jeong-yeon] They have the hospital director's support.

It seems they have evidence against you.

They are holding a press conference in an hour. That doesn't give us--

[Yeon-sook] There's not going to be a press conference.

I know the way he works.

Kang Sang-Un is calculated. He will control you.

[Sang-un] This could do some real damage.

I can control him.

The investigation into your family and your father's arrest…

It was Park Dong-ho who pushed for chaebol reform

and got you into this mess.

I know that.

But maybe I can persuade him to be on my side with this.

But he's the one who tried to assassinate the president.

That's a conspiracy against the state.

Don't you understand?

It's critical we expose the truth.

[Sang-un] We'll do that only if you

expose the truth about yourself as well.

[breathes shakily]

[mysterious music playing]

[line ringing]

This is Kang Sang-un.

It seems you are in need of my help.

Should I come to you?

Or will you come to me?

SAFE HOUSE IN SAMCHEONGDONG

[Sang-un] When the president collapsed the day before your arrest,

I thought you were just lucky to be honest.

But it turns out that you're just a very smart guy.

I've always wondered how you've managed to live

with the burden of crimes on your shoulders.

You're not as smart as I believed.

An attempted assassination?

I haven't seen the president since the Cabinet meeting last month.

-He canceled my Blue House briefing-- -[Il-jun] You should go now.

Park Dong-ho will be here soon.

[mysterious music playing]

[grunts]

[Sang-un] Prime Minister Park will be arrested by tomorrow morning.

Why meet with him?

1 HOUR BEFORE ASSASSINATION

[Il-jun] If he wants to come, why stop him?

It wouldn't hurt

to give him a nice little pat on the shoulder before he's arrested.

[Sang-un] I picked up this habit because half the people I deal with are scumbags,

and the other half are untrustworthy.

I'm sure you had your bases covered with all the security cameras.

But what about this?

[sighs]

[sighs]

I had already planted a tree at the Blue House,

but some idiot cut it down before it bore any fruit.

So how about you help me plant a new tree instead?

Just give me half of what bears fruit.

And keep the rest if you want.

How pathetic.

You really believed a petty threat like that would work.

[chuckles]

If your assassination attempt gets out,

you'll spend the rest of your life in prison on death row.

And your suffering won't end there.

You will forever be remembered

as the traitor who assassinated our president.

You think your wife, Kim Do-hui,

and child, Park Han-gyeol…

can still live in this country?

How's that for a petty threat, huh?

So just take my offer.

I'll forget what you did that night,

and nobody will know about it.

Only our friendship will remain.

I'll wait on your response for now.

[footsteps receding]

[door closes]

[sighs]

[Jeong-yeon] Don't beat yourself up.

You gave it all you had, your very best.

Many people kept their silence out of fear,

but you fought for justice till the very end.

[mysterious music playing]

If they win,

then even more people will come to fear Daejin.

That's what I fear.

Jeong-yeon,

it's not over yet.

That night, when I visited the president,

I crossed the line.

And once you cross it,

there are no more limits.

[mysterious music intensifies]

[gunshot]

[gunshot]

I just learned Chairman Park went to the Blue House.

I think he made lunch plans with Park Dong-ho.

[music fades]

Park Dong-ho called for an emergency meeting.

This can't be good for us. Are you listening?

[panting]

Sh.

Ah.

It's not easy, you know? Finding moray eel soup in Seoul.

I only get to have it twice a year in my hometown.

No flight required for this one. [chuckles]

Once you're the first elected president from Gangwon-do,

please invite me to your hometown. Show me around. Treat me to a meal.

[chuckles]

[slurps]

Ah.

[sighs] I'm not even done eating, and you're already giving me dessert?

Is it really that urgent?

Chairman, do you remember what I promised you?

[Dong-ho] Chairman Park,

with your permission, I know I can be of great service to you.

That right there is your ticket to the Blue House.

That document concerns the PE fund linked to the president's son,

Jang Hyeon-su.

A number of anonymous individuals pooled their money

in order to invest in national projects,

but… it turns out they had privileged information.

A lot of money was embezzled. This was an abuse of political power.

[dramatic music playing]

Uh-huh.

Is that why you called for that emergency Assembly meeting?

Do you want an investigation to be launched?

I'm proposing you become a trailblazer for change

instead of the proclaimed nine-tailed fox of Yeouido.

[laughing]

[line ringing]

The Assembly meeting, cancel it.

Tell everyone to just go back to their own provinces for now.

No need to attend today. Forget about Yeouido.

Chairman Park.

[gun cocks]

[gunshot]

[dog pants]

[barking]

Chairman Park can mobilize more than half of the Korean Liberal Party.

If he makes a move--

The Nine-Tailed Fox of Yeouido, Chairman Park.

Politicians are known to

cut off their own tails when trouble arises.

But not Chairman Park.

He doesn't do that. He's steadfast until the end.

That's why all nine tails of his are still intact.

He's kept them for thirty years.

He won't give in.

If Jang Hyeon-su, the president's son, was found linked to that PE fund,

do you think the people involved

will be from our side or their side?

It takes one bad apple to spoil the bunch. So we have to get rid of--

Nobody does politics alone. We need alliances.

If a bad apple spoils the bunch, and we get rid of every apple,

then we'll lose our--

But transparency will earn you the people's unwavering support.

You play poker, don't you?

Well, I just threw in

a chip for you.

But don't ask me to go all-in.

Chairman Park.

I don't feel like dessert.

Let's have more soup instead.

[Su-jin] Park Dong Ho doesn't give up.

He's relentless.

Not even President Jang could tame such a dangerous animal.

-If that hound were to bite… -Don't worry. He won't bite.

-Sang-un, listen! -Damn it.

[dog whimpers]

What's wrong? He won't bite.

[gasps]

I still have some game left to hunt.

I guess you'll fetch it.

[breathes shakily]

[thunder rumbling]

[Dong-ho] If news of the attempted assassination gets out tomorrow,

we won't respond.

We'll just have to stand our ground until the investigation is finished.

[phone vibrating]

-Yes, Jang-seok. -Dong-ho.

About the PE case… The CIO requested a case transfer.

The Prosecutor General has ordered us to abandon the case completely.

He just disbanded

the entire team till further notice.

[suspenseful music playing]

Get me the CIO Director now!

Apparently coffee is bad for diabetes.

Also beer. It's actually bad for high cholesterol.

I guess that why I always drink water wherever I go now.

[chuckles]

Prosecutor Lee Jang-seok has been working on this case for a long time.

Please transfer it back to the prosecutor's office.

The Blue House cannot interfere with any investigations.

I'm afraid it's against the law.

The Ministry of Justice and the Blue House hold the right to mediate

when investigative agencies collide.

[Jung-gwon] The Blue House has the right, you say?

I'll look for precedents, Mr. President.

But truth be told, I'm a slow worker,

so it could take over a week or two.

Director Lee Jung-gwon, listen to me!

My higher-ups set the target for me.

I just make sure the trigger gets pulled.

I think you need support for what you want to do, both public and private.

You want to start a scholarship foundation in your hometown.

I know that's been a dream of yours since you were an educator.

I can help

make that dream come true.

Is this your idea?

Or is it Vice-Chairman Kang's idea?

Well, huh,

come to think of it, you two were always alike.

I'm only involved because of my duty to President Jang.

[chuckles quietly]

[mysterious music playing]

If no one had submitted the initial report,

Assemblyman Seo Gi-tae wouldn't have died,

Park Dong-ho would have never pursued an investigation,

and nothing would've happened to President Jang.

Recently, I found out who was…

responsible for making it.

[suspenseful music playing]

It's funny you didn't have the courage to come forward on your own,

and yet you didn't have confidence to remain silent either.

Please resign from your position as Chief of Staff.

Back in university,

you were a really gifted student.

I'll have to teach you something new

that I couldn't teach then.

[scoffs]

[Su-jin] Some advice.

At your age, courage can be dangerous.

-Listen, Su-jin-- -[Su-jin] Enough!

[exhales]

I'm not a student of yours anymore.

My apologies.

I'm pressed for time.

I didn't mean to lose my composure with you.

What's going to happen…

to Acting President Park?

Let's just say

he will get what he deserves in the end.

When the CIO director was nominated,

there were rumors that he was on Park Chang-sik's payroll.

I thought they were only rumors.

Jeong-yeon…

[sighs]

…we are going with plan B.

[mysterious music playing]

[knocking on door]

[mysterious music continues]

[Yeon-sook sighs]

Jeong Su-jin just came to speak with me.

I'm sure she promised you safety

and asked you to resign.

[scoffs]

[sighs]

Despite everything, I know both our hearts are on the same goal.

Will you see it through with me?

What do you need me to do?

Not long ago, in this room,

President Jang's heart had stopped beating.

By midnight,

we have to make sure one more heart stops beating.

-[whistle blows] -[indistinct chatter]

I thought we could celebrate your 80th birthday

on the day of Daejin Group's anniversary.

I'll invite some international guests too.

I'm sure soon you'll get a special pardon.

Sounds about right.

KANG YEONG-IK

After all, you only have one father to inherit the company from

Don't you forget.

On the other hand, I can leave the company to your brother.

I have two other sons to choose from.

[phone vibrating]

PRIME MINISTER PARK DONG-HO

Kang Sang-un speaking.

This is Park Dong-ho.

See you at the Blue House. Come alone.

[suspenseful music playing]

[suspenseful music intensifies]

Let's go.

Mr. Kim Il-hwan.

[no audible dialogue]

[door opens]

I'd like to have my father freed before Christmas dinner this year.

[Dong-ho] I put him there. It's only fair I get him out.

The National Tax Service has been breathing down my neck as of late.

You'll have to protect your management right.

Just tell me how much you're able to pay.

I'll adjust accordingly.

[mysterious music playing]

[Sang-un] "A world in which justice flows like a river."

Hmm. Come to think of it, rivers are impossible to control.

They are unpredictable.

They can suddenly flood or run dry.

That's why I want to create something else.

Like a reservoir.

A reservoir that will release

the exact amount of justice the world can live with.

And if it doesn't benefit me, I'll close the floodgates.

I can control whether the water flows or not.

Now I can live in that world.

[Jeong-yeon] Aconitine,

a substance extracted from a flower called monkshood.

Just two milligrams of it is enough to kill a person within just five minutes.

[sighs]

It's diluted with another substance.

There's a chance of survival if it's pumped out within 30 minutes.

And what if

our plan fails?

We'll have to face off in court.

Here's to our long history as enemies,

and our new future as friends.

[suspenseful music continues]

Park Dong-ho is…

Not even President Jang could tame such a dangerous animal.

Is a dangerous animal even President Jang couldn't tame or control.

If that hound were to bite…

Park Dong-ho is a dog.

A dog who bites.

Su-jin was right, apparently.

Damn it.

When will you learn

you won't win here?

You can't drink from that glass.

Why are you still holding it?

[scoffs]

Park Dong-ho,

just how far did you wanna take this?

Just one step further than you.

What're you doing?

[suspenseful music intensifies]

[gasps]

[straining] Thank god.

It doesn't matter if I make it or if I die.

No matter the outcome, I won't have to…

[grunts]

…live in a world with you in it.

[mouthing] Park Dong-ho.

[Yeon-sook] The Blue House security team has arrested

Daejin Group's Vice Chairman Kang Sang-un

for the attempted assassination of Acting President Park Dong-ho.

After initially investigating

that President Jang's collapse was not caused by underlying conditions,

the Blue House Security Service team

strongly believes that a poisonous substance

was administered to the president.

Vice-chairman Kang is considered the prime suspect.

A search and seizure was conducted at Daejin Group's office,

and evidence potentially linked to the president's assassination attempt

was discovered and confiscated.

It has also been discovered that Kang Sang-Un

visited the Blue House on the night of the attempt.

Furthermore, it has been confirmed

his people hacked into the Armed Forces Hospital servers,

to retrieve medical information concerning the president's condition.

Earlier tonight, Kang Sang-un

was arrested after attempting

to assassinate the Acting President, Park Dong-ho,

in order to guarantee his own safety.

The Acting President is currently being transported

to the Armed Forces Capital Hospital.

I do not have any updates on his condition at this time.

[suspenseful music continues]

But ma'am, we still don't know his prognosis.

Call me as soon as you have an update.

[Man-gil] Park Dong-ho is putting on a show.

The public won't fall for this.

Kang has no motive to kill the president.

It doesn't matter if he has a motive.

If they investigate him, they'll uncover our secrets.

We can't allow it.

We must prevent Park Dong-ho's return…

and stop this investigation.

[grunting]

My phone!

Where's my phone? I need it!

[mysterious music playing]

You did good.

[Il-jun] You should go now.

Park Dong-ho will be here soon.

[Sang-un] Prime Minister Park will be arrested by tomorrow morning.

Why meet with him?

[Il-jun] If he wants to come, why stop him?

It wouldn't hurt

to give him a nice little pat on the shoulder before he's arrested.

[phone vibrating]

SEO JEONG-YEON

They're pumping his stomach.

The helicopter was delayed because of the bad weather.

[machine beeps]

He's in critical condition.

[weeps]

[machine beeps]

[suspenseful music playing]

[beeping]

Director!

-President Jang just woke up. -[gasps]

Did Park Dong-ho pass away?

President Jang…

[suspenseful music intensifies]

…regained consciousness.

[machines beeping]

[suspenseful music playing]

THE WHIRLWIND

[closing theme music playing]

CHARACTERS, LOCATIONS, NAMES, PLOTS, AND EVENTS IN THE SHOW ARE FICTIONAL

ANY RESEMBLANCE TO REAL LIFE IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL

[music ends]