Asian Drama

Shi Hyun, the monetary policy manager at the Bank of Korea, predicts a massive national financial crisis and reports it to the Director. The Director doesn’t schedule an emergency summit until 10 days later but does it without notifying the public of the situation. Shi Hyun urges for the crisis to be announced in order to warn people of the looming disaster, but her plea is ignored. The summit is held behind closed doors.

Jung Hak, a financial consultant, notices Korea is suddenly hemorrhaging foreign funds, and he learns the reason is that international finance firms have ordered an all-out investment withdrawal from the country, which has caused the credit rating to plummet. He hands in his resignation and decides to play the odds on what he’s sure is a coming crisis. He secretly starts gathering investors willing to do the same.

Gap Su, a family man who runs a small tableware factory, has a big break and wins a contract with a department store. The fact that the price settlement terms equal to little more than a promissory note concern him only briefly, and oblivious to the looming financial upheaval, Gap Su signs the contract.

The Managing Director of IMF comes to Korea just one week before the country goes bust, and that is when those who try to prevent the crisis, those who seek to take advantage of it, and those only trying to protect their livelihood are caught in the wake of national bankruptcy.

Detective Hwang (Sol Kyung-Gu) leads a specialized surveillance team in the police department. Yoon-Joo (Han Hyo-Joo) takes a test to join the team. She's tested on her observation skills and memorization. She passes her test and becomes the newest member of the surveillance team. While, Yoon-Joo takes her test, James (Jung Woo-Sung) and his crime group robs a bank. He stands on the rooftop of a nearby building and directs his team's movements. He doesn't tolerate any mistakes. As soon as Yoon-Joo joins the surveillance team, they are tasked to take down James' criminal group. The surveillance team immediately runs into trouble when they can't identify any of the robbers due to their masks and their efficiency in robbing the bank. Detective Hwang finds one man caught on CCTV near the bank. James gets a new order from a mysterious broker (Kim Byung-Ok) and once again completes a heist. While, the surveillance team goes after James, the mysterious broker also looks to take out James.

The film tells the story of Detectives Chu Ja Young and Kim Dong Wook, who must solve a puzzling murder case involving a string of deaths at a local high school. Their investigation eventually leads them directly to a middle school student who has long suffered abuse at the hands of school bullies. In fact, each murder occurs just as it is described in the student's diary. On that evidence alone, one might think the detectives have an open and shut case. However, there's one problem. The student is already dead!

"Birdcage Inn" is a story about Jina, the new call girl at the Birdcage Inn. The Birdcage Inn is a hotel that is operated by a poor family - a father, mother and their two kids. The family relies on Jina's income as a whore to pay the expenses that keep the hotel alive for business; as well as putting food on the table. Still, the family is barely getting by and practically living very low-class. There's not much known about Jina, but one thing is clear, she's not happy with her job status (is there a whore who is?). When Jina's not working, she takes the time to enjoy the beauty of looking at the ocean. Jina is also a terrific artist, but God only knows why she doesn't use her artistic talents instead of selling her body. It's apparent that Jina is obviously torn from something that happened in her unexplainable past.

Hyemi, the daughter of the family, resents Jina from the beginning. Not only does Hyemi hate the fact that her family runs such a scummy business, but she blames Jina for being the primary tool. Jina notices Hyemi's rude attitude towards her, but still tries to win her affection by doing nice things for her and buying her items she can't afford. Still, Hyemi doesn't budge. The plot thickens when unexpected things *cough* start to happen: Jina's old pimp shows up out of the blue demanding that he still gets a cut of her earnings, Hyemi's young brother develops a small crush on her which leads to trouble, Jina gets involved with an Andy Lau-wannabe, and worst of all, Hyemi's boyfriend gets in between Hyemi and Jina.

The male radio presenter Dong Hyun and the female TV home-shopping phone operator Soo Hyun are both lonely. While Dong Hyun is focused on getting back to his ex-girlfriend Young Hae who has sent him a special LP, Soo Hyun is crazy for her friend's boyfriend. Via the Internet and music Soo Hyun and Dong Hyun get together in a special way.

(Source: Written by Marco Radke)