Joo Won faced the threat of the skunk's identity being discovered.
The viewership rating for the second episode of tvN's Wednesday-Thursday drama 'Stealer: Seven Reports of Joseon', which aired on the 13th (based on Nielsen Korea's paid platform that integrates cable, IPTV, and satellite), averaged 4.4% for households in the metropolitan area and peaked at 4.8%, and averaged for households nationwide. It recorded 3.7%, and the highest was 4.1%.
On this day's broadcast, the treasure hunt of Hwang Dae-myeong (played by Joo Won), a skunk, was announced in the extraordinary world of cultural property trafficking. In addition, the moment of imminent action caught by Tae-in Jang (played by Han-cheol Jo), the leader of the cultural heritage team, was depicted, creating tension.
The skunk, who broke into Choi Song-cheol's (Jeong Eun-pyo) house to regain the Jikji commercial area, continued his dangerous strategy. Using his animal senses, he figured out a route to a secret space, and managed to obtain Jikji by climbing a heated vertical tunnel while relying on an iron skewer. In the midst of this thrilling operation, a cultural property preservation agent developed by Skunk's father appeared, arousing curiosity as to what influence his father had on the cultural property recovery project.
Choi Min-woo (played by Lee Joo-woo), who succeeded in apprehending an 'antique thief' for the first time as a police officer in the cultural properties department, opened his eyes to eradicating crimes related to cultural properties after receiving quick tutoring from team leader Jang Tae-in. Among the criminals related to cultural properties, Skunk, an unidentified thief who suddenly appeared five years ago and is said to be stealing cultural properties across the country, caught Choi Min-woo's attention.
Jang Tae-in invited Choi Min-woo to a secret safe located in the confiscated goods storage room of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and told him the surprising fact that all the numerous cultural assets there were sent by skunks. Following Jang Tae-in's words that policemen must catch thieves, skunks became the top target of the cultural heritage team. It was assumed that the skunk's remaining adventures would become even more difficult.
An incident occurred that raised a red flag for the cultural heritage team. While a mass murder was taking place at the mansion of Chairman Yang (played by Jang Gwang), who owned a large amount of cultural assets, even the only witness who knew the whole story was killed, creating tension. This stimulated curiosity as to whether the story about the holey coin that the witness had spilled before his death was connected to all the incidents.
Rumors related to suspicious coins also appeared in Hwang Dae-myeong's childhood. In the past, my father, who was a historian, told me a story about a unit that plundered cultural assets during the Japanese Invasion of Korea and the seven coins that would help them find the cultural assets they had hidden. Hwang Dae-myeong, who recalled the promise he made with his father to return lost cultural assets to their original places, showed both determination and sorrow.
Hwang Dae-myeong sensed something strange when he heard the news that Chairman Yang, who was targeting a hole in Joseon Tongbo, was murdered, so he immediately put on a skunk suit and headed to Chairman Yang's mansion. When Hwang Dae-myeong, who transformed into a skunk, asks Lee Chun-ja (played by Choi Hwa-jeong) whether he believes in the secret of the special Joseon Tongbo that his father told him, he replies, “History begins with believing in everything invisible to the eye,” and follows his father’s wishes. He expressed his intention to do so.
At the same time that the skunk hid in Chairman Yang's mansion, Jang Tae-in also began conducting a secret investigation. Jang Tae-in soon discovered the skunk that had sneaked in through CCTV, causing everyone to hold their breath. The skunk, who noticed that the CCTV was turned on, quickly tried to leave the scene, but was eventually blocked by Jang Tae-in, causing a dizzying sigh.
It raised questions about whether the skunk would be able to escape safely from Jang Tae-in, who was pointing a gun at him, or whether his secret identity would be discovered.
Kim Ji-won, Ten Asia reporter bella@tenasia.co.kr