The three main characters—the gangster (Jang Dong-su), the cop (Jung Tae-seok), and the devil (Kang Kyun-ho)—are fictional creations. There is no record of a specific Korean gangster teaming up with a police detective to catch a serial killer in the way depicted in the film.
The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil loosely based on true events
into the "Raincoat Killer" or perhaps details on the upcoming American remake is the gangster the cop the devil based on true story
Its premise is so universally compelling that a Hollywood remake is currently in development. Action icon Sylvester Stallone is producing the project under his Balboa Productions banner, alongside horror mastermind James Wan directing the film . Proving how irreplaceable his performance was, Ma Dong-seok (Don Lee) is set to reprise his leading role as the formidable mob boss for the American version.
The most thrilling aspect of the movie—a massive gangster surviving an attack and launching a underworld manhunt—is where the film blends fact with folklore. The three main characters—the gangster (Jang Dong-su), the
While the specific alliance between a mobster and a cop is a dramatized "what if" scenario, the director, Lee Won-tae, has stated that the film is from various criminal cases in South Korea. 1. The "Devil" and Real-Life Serial Killers
While gangsters and police have been known to share information in real-world investigations, the cinematic, high-drama team-up where a mobster actively works alongside a detective is almost entirely a creation of the screenwriter and director, Lee Won-tae. Action icon Sylvester Stallone is producing the project
The primary real-life inspiration for the serial killer in the movie is Yoo Young-chul, one of South Korea's most notorious serial killers. His murder spree occurred between September 2003 and July 2004. Initially, Yoo Young-chul was convicted of 20 murders, though he confessed to having killed up to 26 people. His victims were primarily elderly people, masseuses, and sex workers from affluent areas of Seoul.
The cop Across the city, a detective rose through a different set of hardships. Not an idealist blinded by romance, but a practical officer who had seen the consequences when corruption went unchecked: witnesses threatened, prosecutions dropped, and ordinary people trapped between criminals and unresponsive institutions. He kept meticulous records, followed patterns others overlooked, and slowly assembled a casefile that reached beyond petty arrests into the architecture of the gangster’s operation. He took risks—working undercover contacts, pushing for search warrants, and confronting superiors who preferred quiet settlements. Bravery for him was procedural: persistence, paperwork, and patience.
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