Who was Seoul? Seven Key Differences in Money Heist (La Casa de Papel) and Money Heist: Korea-Joint Economic Area

Key Differences in Money Heist (La Casa de Papel) and Money Heist: Korea-Joint Economic Area: Money Heist (La Casa de Papel) became a global phenomenon. Netflix purchased the show and entertained audiences with more seasons in the original Spanish. Such was its popularity that a Korean remake (Money Heist: Korea- Joint Economic Area) was discussed, and it came to life in 2022, and Part 2 concluded recently on Netflix. The Korean version of the show seemed to be a frame-by-frame remake of the Spanish version. There was a Professor who found a group of skilled individuals and gave them an instruction to pick city names. These individuals chose the exact names as their Spanish counterparts, i.e., Berlin, Tokyo, Rio, Nairobi, Oslo, Helsinki, Denver, and Moscow. They wore red jumpsuits, had white masks, and took over a mint to begin printing money.

Like La Casa de Papel, Money Heist: Korea-Joint Economic Area also had the robbers aim to portray themselves as saviors of the masses who were seeking to redistribute the wealth, not just rob money. However, some changes were made to the show, which helped it stand out and retain its identity. 

Reactions to certain elements of the Spanish version were taken into account and improved/rectified in the Korean version. 

Seven Key Differences in Money Heist (La Casa de Papel) and Money Heist: Korea-Joint Economic Area. This list will contain spoilers for both Money Heist seasons.

Tokyo getting expelled from the Mint was a pre-planned tactic.

Andres Fonollosa’s Berlin lost control and his colleagues’ faith in the bank. This saw some of them rebel, and Tokyo played a game of Russian roulette with him. Once Berlin regained control, he had Tokyo strapped to a trolley and pushed her out of the mint. Professor had to react on the fly and use the Serbs to intercept the convoy carrying her to jail. While this was an act of revenge in La Casa de Papel, Berlin expelling Tokyo was a pre-planned ploy in Joint Economic Area.

Berlin suspected Tokyo and apparently tossed her out of the mint due to the same. However, it was later revealed as a strategy to use in case the communication systems within the mint failed. The fact that it also served as a ploy to allow Nairobi’s conscience to come to the fore and confess that she leaked info was just a coincidence. 

Park Chul-woo shot the robbers’ communication equipment, leaving them unable to contact Professor. Hence, Tokyo, who was made to exit, received a plan to ensure she could get herself transported to a central jail. While this transport would take place, the group would rescue her and allow her to facilitate an exchange of information. 

It proved to be crucial as Professor received information about Nairobi’s son. Tokyo also got medicine for Berlin and brought news of the rearranged Korean summit.

One mercenary had a city code name: Seoul.

Money Heist saw Professor introduce a group of mercenaries known as The Serbs to free Tokyo from custody. These individuals didn’t have a city name, or any name for that matter, and were collectively referred to by their home country. However, this aspect changed in Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area. 

The female mercenary introduced herself to Tokyo as Seoul. She was Berlin’s lover who met him whilst at the North Korean concentration camp where she worked as a medic.

Seoul fell for Berlin as she saved him at camp, and he saved her from her stepfather’s advances. Song Jung-ho went as far as to start a riot to escape from the camp, all for his lover. 

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Berlin survived

La Casa de Papel saw Berlin (Andres Fonollosa) meet his end in a truly heroic fashion as he sacrificed himself to allow his fellow gang members to get through the tunnel and make it to the hideout. Audiences craved more of him, and the makers included him in flashbacks when the sequels hit screens. The Korean Money Heist’s Berlin (Song Jung-ho) did not have Pedro Alonso’s charm and charisma due to his time in a camp. However, his nobility came to light thanks to Seoul. This got him his fair share of supporters behind the fourth wall who began rooting for him. They may have shed a tear when the story moved to the part where the tunnel detonators failed, and Berlin elected to stay back. As both Fonollosa and Jung-ho suffered from a disease, it seemed imminent that Berlin would bite the dust in this version as well.

However, that didn’t happen as Seoul rushed into the vault, dragged Berlin into the tunnel, and shot the detonator to trigger an explosion. It seemed as though they were buried under the sand. Later, Berlin phoned his brother and revealed he had made it. 

The camera never actually showed Seoul and Berlin’s bodies. The duo made it and got to a manhole from where they emerged and merged with the crowds thronging the streets as the Korean Berlin’s life had been a tragedy; seeing him make it through the season provided some joy to him and his brother Park Sun-ho.

Nairobi turned traitor

Nairobi’s son was a factor in La Casa de Papel too, but he was used to luring her to the window and positioning her for a sniper shot. She didn’t leak information to the outside at any point until her death at the hands of Gandia. 

In Money Heist: Korea-Joint Economic Area, the politicians devised a directive to end the heist. They provided an amnesty offer via a projector and made relatives of each of the identified robbers stand in front of the screen. It was a ploy by Kim Sang-man to break the robbers’ morale.

Nairobi succumbed to it and used the blind spots to get a phone unseen. She then revealed the plot and was tasked with getting rid of the Ambassador’s daughter, Anne, to allow the authorities to storm the back freely. Until then, they had only been holding back, as she was a high-profile hostage and could not be considered collateral damage. 

Professor used the backups and had his mercenaries led by Seoul and Tokyo, embark on a mission to get the young boy out of Kim Sang-man’s clutches.

The mercenaries had a meatier role in Money Heist: Korea-Joint Economic Area.

The mercenaries, with Seoul and Tokyo in the lead, had a crucial task in the Korean version of the show. They broke into Kim Sang-man’s residence to free Nairobi’s son and eliminate the corrupt politician’s leverage over her.

Akin to the Serbs, the mercenaries also helped dig the escape tunnel. However, this spin, and the introduction of Seoul as a core character integral to the plot, was one of the better alternations in Money Heist: Korea-Joint Economic Area. 

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The mercenaries were from Berlin’s gang and not Professor’s

The group of mercenaries (the Serbs) from La Casa de Papel were hired primarily by Professor and had no association with any of the robbers. Berlin did have a group, but they were introduced in the second heist with city names, i.e., Palermo, Marseille, Bogota.

This changed in Money Heist: Korea-Joint Economic Area, as the mercenaries were Berlin’s mates/gang members. They were introduced as Park Sun-ho’s torturers in the scene where Professor went to find his long-lost brother. 

Berlin and Professor were real brothers

.Berlin and Professor were revealed as half-brothers in La Casa de Papel. However, Money Heist Korea- Joint Economic Area presented them as real brothers. It was revealed when Professor went to recruit Berlin and was pressured into revealing why he wanted to meet the boss. Flashbacks also showed that Professor and his father were the two individuals who made it across the river, while Berlin and his mother didn’t.

Berlin, while sharing a drink with Professor, said he didn’t blame him as he did what he had to (didn’t come back) to survive. 

Part of the motivation for the heist came from Professor’s father being shot as he attempted to raise funds. This was precisely the same as the Spanish Money Heist, except that funds were being raised for Professor’s recovery in La Casa de Papel. In Joint Economic Area, Professor’s father was trying to raise funds to get his Song Jung-ho out of the North Korean concentration camp and across the border to the South.