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| “ | You 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. | „ |
| ~ Kim Jeong-rae to Choi Woo-seok. |
Kim Jeong-rae (Korean: 김정래), also known as Mr. Kim, is a supporting character in Netflix's K-drama Squid Game. He's a ruthless moneylender who employs loan sharks to squeeze won from his borrowers, none more so than the hapless Seong Gi-hun.
However, after Gi-hun wins the 33rd Squid Game, he settles his debt with the prize money, recruiting a skeptical Jeong-rae and Choi Woo-seok to hunt down The Recruiter who lured him into the games.
Unfortunately, The Recruiter captures them and forces them to play a mix of Russian Roulette and Rock, Paper, Scissors Minus One. In the final round, Jeong-rae sacrifices himself to save Woo-seok, who then joins Gi-hun and Hwang Jun-ho to avenge his boss's death and find the Masked Men.
He was portrayed by Kim Pub-lae.
Personality[]
In Season 1, Mr. Kim appears as a brutal, heartless criminal who extorts money from people. He proves violent and merciless by threatening to harvest Seong Gi-hun's organs if his debts aren't repaid. He even tastes Gi-hun's blood after assaulting him and calls it "sweet" before making Gi-hun sign a waiver with his blood.
However, his more honorable side is shown in Season 2. After Gi-hun wins the 33rd Squid Game and repays his debt, he hires Mr. Kim to help find The Recruiter. When his associates dismiss Gi-hun's story as ridiculous, Kim is more pragmatic and argues that Gi-hun is nonetheless paying them well. He also swallows his pride and shows respect to Gi-hun, reminding his employees that without him, he couldn't keep the business running. When seeing The Recruiter mock homeless people, Mr. Kim expresses disgust at his actions, showing he has standards.
Mr. Kim is also affable and loyal to his fellow loan sharks. In a self-sacrificing act, he intentionally loses the lethal game of Rock Paper Scissors Minus One to save Choi Woo-seok, his close friend whose wedding he officiated. His death not only saves Woo-seok but also inspires him to enact revenge against the Masked Men in Mr. Kim's memory, with Woo-seok claiming he was "like a brother" to him.
Biography[]
Background[]
A loan shark and gangster in Seoul, South Korea, Mr. Kim was born September 20, 1977, and made money by lending to desperate people. When borrowers couldn't repay him, he and his crew would track them down and beat them to get the money back, and threaten to take their organs if that didn't work. At a certain point, Mr. Kim also became close friends with one of his employees, Choi Woo-seok, and officiated his wedding.
Squid Game[]
Season 1[]
In 2020, Mr. Kim and his men caught Seong Gi-hun at a racetrack. They cornered him in the bathroom where Mr. Kim demanded that he pay him back. Gi-hun wanted to pay but his money had been pickpocketed by Kang Sae-byeok. Mr. Kim hit him, causing a nosebleed, from which he tasted the blood and claimed it was "sweet." He then showed "mercy" by having Gi-hun sign a waiver stating that if he didn't pay back the debt within a month, Mr. Kim would take one of his kidneys and one of his eyes. When Gi-hun said he had no pen, Mr. Kim punched his nose again and forced him to sign with his own blood before sneering off. Eventually, Gi-hun paid off his debt after winning the 33rd Squid Game.
Season 2[]
In 2024, Gi-hun hired Mr. Kim to join a team of loan sharks searching for The Recruiter. He partnered with Woo-seok to search subway stations for their target, and argued with his men that they should respect Gi-hun due to the way he was paying them off, despite them believing it was fake. When the leader told them about the ₩500 million bonus, Woo-seok and the others got excited.
The next day, Mr. Kim and Woo-seok were taught a short lesson about The Recruiter and how he plays Ddakji in order to entice his victims. After two months of searching, Mr. Kim and Choi found the recruiter at Jonggak Station playing ddakji with a young man (Lee Myung-gi). They informed Gi-hun and were told to follow him without making any contact. They secretly followed The Recruiter to Tapgol Park, where he made homeless people choose between a bread roll or lottery ticket. When most homeless people chose the lottery ticket over bread, Mr. Kim and Woo-seok watched in shock as The Recruiter stomped on all the bread rolls in what appeared to be a meltdown.
In spite of Gi-hun's orders, both men tried to ambush and physically fight The Recruiter, but were defeated. Then, they were captured, tied up, and forced to play a lethal, tortuous game combining Rock Paper Scissors Minus One with Russian Roulette against each other. Mr. Choi was afraid and hesitant to play. In the final round, Mr. Choi accidentally put down 2 rocks while Mr. Kim played paper and scissors, but Mr. Kim decided to sacrifice himself for his friend by losing the game, and as such, The Recruiter shot him in the head.
After Gi-hun spoke with the detective Hwang Jun-ho and offered to help stop the games, Woo-seok wanted to help as well to avenge Mr. Kim's death.
Gallery[]
Images[]
Squid Game[]
Behind The Scenes[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- "770920-1" appears at the beginning of Mr. Kim's resident registration number.
- Mr. Kim was initially unnamed and only credited as "Loan Shark Leader" in Season 1. He was only given the name of Kim Jeong-rae in Season 2.
- Part of Mr. Kim's motive for trying to hunt down those working for the games is that he's noticed many of his debtors would go missing every year without returning.
External Links[]
- Kim Jeong-rae on the Heroic Benchmark Wiki
- Kim Jeong-rae on the Villains Wiki
- Kim Jeong-rae on the Squid Game Wiki
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