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An ordinary businessman enters a covert operation
Netflix’s South Korean crime thriller “Narco-Saints” follows an ordinary businessman drawn into a dangerous intelligence operation targeting a Korean drug lord in Suriname.
Released Sept. 9, 2022, the six-episode series was directed and co-written by Yoon Jong-bin. It has also been promoted in English as “The Accidental Narco,” while “Narco-Saints” is used for the English-dubbed version.
Ha Jung-woo stars as Kang In-gu, a civilian businessman who agrees to help South Korea’s National Intelligence Service capture Jeon Yo-hwan, a powerful drug trafficker played by Hwang Jung-min who operates under the guise of a pastor. Park Hae-soo portrays intelligence official Choi Chang-ho, who infiltrates the organization under an alias. The show’s central warning translates roughly as: “Deceive and live; be deceived and die.”
The premise was inspired by a real operation involving South Korean intelligence agents and a civilian informant who helped capture Cho Bong-haeng, a Korean man who became a drug kingpin in Suriname.
A prominent Korean cast
The ensemble includes Jo Woo-jin as Jeon’s right-hand man, Byun Ki-tae; Yoo Yeon-seok as the organization’s lawyer, David Park; and Chang Chen as Chen Zhen, the head of a Chinese gang based in Paramaribo’s Chinatown. Choo Ja-hyun plays Kang’s wife, Park Hye-jin.
Other cast members include Hyun Bong-sik, Lee Bong-ryun, Kim Min-gwi, Chidi Ajufo and Brian Larkin, who appears as an official with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
The cast was announced in March 2021, and the first script reading took place in Seoul on March 22. Plans to film in the Dominican Republic were delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting production to begin on sets in South Korea. Cast and crew members later traveled overseas for filming beginning in late October 2021. The production was estimated to cost 35 billion won.
Awards and reviews
Jo won best supporting actor in television at the 2023 Baeksang Arts Awards for his performance as Byun. Ha received the best actor award in the drama category at the 2023 Blue Dragon Series Awards.
The series holds a 7.7 rating based on 180 user evaluations on TMDb. On Rotten Tomatoes, 71% of seven critics’ reviews were positive, with an average score of 6.8.
Suriname objects to its portrayal
The series also prompted signs of a diplomatic dispute. On Sept. 13, 2022, Suriname’s foreign minister, Albert Ramdin, said the country had worked for years to overcome its image as a transit point for illegal drugs and argued that the Netflix production had put it at a disadvantage again.
Ramdin said the government was considering legal action against the producers and planned to send a protest letter to the U.S. ambassador in Suriname. South Korea’s Foreign Ministry called for any misunderstandings to be resolved, while the South Korean Embassy in Venezuela, which also handles diplomatic affairs involving Suriname, said it would work to protect Korean residents there.
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