Warning: Spoilers ahead for Made in KoreaThe cat-and-mouse game between prosecutor Jang Geon-young (12:12: The Day’s Jung Woo-sung) and KCIA agent turned international drug smuggler Baek Ki-tae (Harbin’s Hyun Bin) came to a head in the season finale of the Hulu period thriller Made in Korea. Heading into Episode 6 of the 70s-set K-drama, out on Jan. 14, Ki-tae and his corrupt KCIA compatriots had kidnapped Geon-young and his younger sister Hye-eun (Lee Ju-yeon) off of the street, ready to do whatever they needed to in order to convince Geon-young to drop their narcotics investigation against them.[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]Family connections ground the violent spy machinations of Made in Korea. For both righteous Geon-young and power-hungry Ki-tae, the feelings of love and protection they have for their respective siblings make them vulnerable. In the beginning of Episode 6, Ki-tae tries to break Geon-young by threatening to go after his younger sister for espionage. Hye-eun, who works at a dye factory, has been spending her time in a guitar club that may or may not have a connection to North Korea and to communist organizing. If Geon-young continues to make life hard for Ki-tae, who is planning a big meth shipment to Japan, then the KCIA will go after Hye-eun, and seek the death penalty for her violation of the Anti-Communist Act. But there were several twists and turns in store for the characters before the season came to an end. Here’s everything that went down in the Made in Korea Season 1 finale, and who came out on top. Chief Na bails Geon-young outAs the finale makes clear, Ki-tae and Geon-young are only as powerful as the people who are backing them. Ki-tae has presidential advisor Cheon Seok-jung (Jung Sung-il) on his side, having promised Chief Cheon billions of won in presidential campaign funds once his Japan drug deal goes through. Meanwhile, Geon-young’s detainment has upset the Prosecutors’ Office, which in turn unsettles Chief Na (Oh Dae-suk), who is Cheon’s main rival within the presidential cabinet. Cheon, pressured by Na and worried that Geon-young’s arrest is a distraction from Ki-tae’s drug dealing, forces Ki-tae to release Geon-young. For now, both the cat and mouse are released back into the field.A trip to VietnamWith Ki-tae’s focus back on his meth smuggling operation, he is in need of more raw supplies to make the amount of drugs he’s promised to the Ikeda yakuza clan. Yu-ji (Won Ji-an), the adopted daughter of Ikeda boss Osamu (Lily Franky), suggests he seek out a Taiwanese American man named Jason Chang, who is currently working out of Vietnam, and the pair travel to see him.While the trip to Vietnam is a bit of a detour from the main narrative of Made in Korea Season 1, it sees Ki-tae at his most emotionally vulnerable. Ki-tae’s younger brother, Gi-hyeon (Woo Do-hwan), is currently stationed in Vietnam with the Korean military. Gi-hyeon is patriotic in a way that Ki-tae is not; in many ways, Gi-hyeon has more in common ethically with Geon-young. But Ki-tae is his brother, and the person who raised him when his parents died.When Gi-hyeon is ordered to spy on the meeting between Ki-tae, Yu-ji, and Chang, his career autonomy is once again threatened by Ki-tae’s machinations. He is put in the tough position of either reporting his brother’s involvement or staying quiet and putting his promised promotion at risk. While Ki-tae initially doesn’t see his little brother, they are both caught up in an explosion as they are leaving the meeting. They survive mostly unscathed, but it’s a close call. In the aftermath, Ki-tae sees his brother, and perhaps understands just how angry Gi-hyeon is with him.More broadly, Vietnam represents a turning point in Ki-tae’s life. As he tells Geon-young later in the episode, he was stationed there during the war. When his battalion was mostly slaughtered in a bombing by their American allies, Ki-tae was forced to take the blame for the unnecessary deaths. “I was just cannon fodder in someone else’s rise,” he tells Geon-young. He vows never again to be put in such a powerless position, and begins to see patriotism as something much more selfish and cutthroat.Ki-tae is arrested upon his return to KoreaFollowing his arrest, Geon-young tells his colleagues that they must toe the line—but he is far too invested in taking Ki-tae down to truly let it go. For Geon-young, whose father killed his mother while high on drugs, bringing down people like Ki-tae is personal. It’s patriotic. It’s an integral part of his identity. In an effort to finally take down Ki-tae, Geon-young has Ki-tae’s sister arrested while she is bringing drugs to Kang Dae-il (Kang Gil-woo). When we first met Dae-il at the beginning of the season, he was the second-in-command of Busan-based gang Manjae. When Dae-il’s boss is taken out by the KCIA, giving Ki-tae an opportunity to step into the power vacuum, Geon-young recruits Dae-il as a reluctant informant.Episodes later, Dae-il is addicted to the meth that he helps traffic and has been dating Ki-tae’s younger sister, Baek So-yeong (Cha Hee). Geon-young arrests both Dae-il and So-yeong, and convinces Dae-il to incriminate Ki-tae. Geon-young raids the KCIA offices and arrests Ki-tae. He thinks that this is finally the moment when Ki-tae will meet his downfall. Geon-young thinks he has convinced KCIA agent Pyo Hak-su (Roh Jae-won) to retrieve a tape from Ki-tae’s office that incriminates Chief Cheon, the power behind Ki-tae. But Hak-su chooses a side, and it is not Geon-young’s. Ki-tae wins… for nowHak-su chooses Ki-tae and Chief Cheon. He retrieves a tape from Ki-tae’s raided office, but it is not of Cheon. It is a tape incriminating Chief Na as accepting bribes. Hak-su gives it to Cheon, effectively ending this chapter of the power struggle. With Na’s hands tied, Geon-young doesn’t have the power to take Ki-tae down. Instead, Kang Dae-il is used as a scapegoat. He kills himself while in police custody, and the KCIA pins everything on him. Geon-young is removed as a prosecutor, and framed for helping Dae-il. “I wonder. What was my patriotism truly for?” Geon-young asks in voice over as he is led in handcuffs out of the Prosecutors’ Office.Meanwhile, Ki-tae is more powerful than ever. He closes the deal with the Ikeda Clan, and Cheon gets his money. Ki-tae is promoted within KCIA, now holding the office that Director Hwang held before Ki-tae murdered him for getting in his way. In the final scene, Ki-tae makes a pledge to devote his loyalty to the president and to the country in his new role. We know it is hollow. He only cares about his own power. Made in Korea Season 2While Made in Korea could wrap up after these six episodes, we know there is more story to come. Production is already underway on Season 2, which is slated for release before the end of 2026. This will give Geon-young another chance at taking down Ki-tae, who is more powerful than ever in a society—1970s Korea, under President Park Chung-hee’s authoritarian rule—that rewards corruption and cruelty.