Park Min-young and Wi Ha-jun Uncover Art Forgery Scheme in 'Siren'

Park Min-young and Wi Ha-jun delve into a scheme where forgeries are passed off as genuine art pieces.

In the 8th episode of tvN's 'Siren' (directed by Kim Chul-kyu, written by Lee Young), which aired on the 24th at 8:50 PM, a conversation between Han Seol-ah (played by Park Min-young) and Cha Woo-seok (played by Wi Ha-jun) was depicted.

During the episode, Han Seol-ah asked, "I saw on the news, is there an issue with the insurance?" To this, Cha Woo-seok replied, "It's similar to the accident my brother had."

A surprised Han Seol-ah asked, "What do you mean?" Cha Woo-seok explained, "The accident happened at the curve near the interchange, hitting the retaining wall, with only the passenger seat affected and a fire breaking out. Everything else is the same." He continued, "Criminals often repeat methods that have worked for them before," and added, "I want to check if it was the same person who planned it."

Cha Woo-seok said, "I need your help, Han Seol-ah," and showed her a painting. Han Seol-ah responded, "These are all pieces I auctioned," and explained, "They were put up by an overseas gallery, but upon investigation, it turned out to be a paper company, and the real owner was our chairman."

Cha Woo-seok asked, "Did you say the chairman here?" Han Seol-ah replied, "I've been selecting profitable artworks for the conglomerate, making a margin," and added, "These pieces were auctioned for 1.5 billion won, but they were actually acquired overseas for about 300 million won."

Cha Woo-seok questioned, "Is that possible?" Han Seol-ah explained, "There's no fixed price for art," and added, "If someone buys a painting for 1.5 billion won, then that's its value." Cha Woo-seok remarked, "So if you insure it and intentionally burn the artwork, you could get back the full 1.5 billion won."

However, Han Seol-ah insisted, "People in the art world would never do such a thing," and added, "They would never burn a genuine piece." Cha Woo-seok speculated, "So they swapped the genuine piece and burned a forgery?" Han Seol-ah confirmed, "That's our chairman's method." This left Cha Woo-seok deep in thought.

Reporter Chaeryeong Lim, Ten Asia syjj426@tenasia.co.kr