Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area Season 1 Episode 5 Recap – Episode 5

Inspector Woojin is facing another problem aside from the heist. She is in court with her ex-husband after she accused him of domestic violence. Her husband, Kim Sangmin, is a well-known politician and is a very strong candidate for the presidential election. Sangmin has denied all the accusations in front of the media.

When Woojin returns to work, she receives a call that her mother is missing. Together with her daughter, Woojin searches for the old woman. When she finds her, her mother admits that she forgot how to get home. Woojin tells her that it’s time to go to the doctor so they can ask for a cure. But, Woojin’s mother says that if Sangmin finds out she is going to the doctor, Sangmin might use it against Woojin in court. Woojin’s mother is supposed to testify against Sangmin to help Woojin prove that there was, in fact, domestic violence.

While Woojin is away, Captain Cha Moohyuk is visited by his superiors. They urge him to do something about the heist instead of waiting.

The officer tells Captain Cha Moohyuk that a few months before the heist, the enemy hacked into the profiles of South Korean officers that could have been part of the negotiation team, then released information about the corruption of these people to the media. This means that Woojin, the main negotiator, was part of the robber’s plan.

The officer reminds Captain Cha Moohyuk that Woojin is probably a traitor. When the officer finds out that Captain Cha Moohyuk’s agent has managed to infiltrate the Mint, he asks him to just keep it to himself. If Woojin finds out about the agent, the mission might fail. Woojin sleeps with the Professor again, not knowing that she had already let her emotions get in the way.

After meeting with his superior, Captain Cha receives a call from the agent inside the Mint. He tells the agent to find the Professor and kill him. Once they get the signal, the other soldiers will raid the Mint to attack the robbers. Captain Cha initially intended to stick to their plan to put the hostages’ safety first. However, after getting his orders, he tells the agent that they should just accept whatever consequences there will be. 

The next day, Captain Cha also gets suspicious of Woojin’s boyfriend. But, Woojin refuses to answer personal questions. She calls the Professor to ask him about the hostages. She tells him they can help if they run out of food.

Inside the Mint, Berlin is sweating, and his hands are shaking. When Rio brings him food, he asks Rio to get his medicine. But Rio doesn’t believe him. Even when Berlin says he is terminally ill, Rio just mocks him before leaving the room.

Berlin throws his food tray to the floor after failing to hold the cup properly because he’s shaking too much.

Nairobi gathers the hostages in the lobby and helps Tokyo tell the hostages the good news and the bad news. Under Tokyo’s supervision, Misun is taken out of hiding and back to the lobby with the hostages. Nairobi also tells them that Berlin won’t be around for some time.

Denver regularly changes Misun’s wound dressing. Because the two of them are getting closer, Misun tells Denver that he is still a robber and she is a hostage. The director gets even more suspicious of the two when he sees how Denver cares for Misun.

While following the two, he meets a man he doesn’t recognize. It’s the agent. The daughter of the US Ambassador, Anne, helps the agent. She acts as if the agent is their bus driver and she needs his help. Anne saw him blend in with the hostages and figured out he was a cop. The agent asks her who the Professor is, but since she doesn’t know, Anne brings the cop to Misun.

They find Misun in the ladies’ room. She says she hasn’t seen the Professor and doesn’t know who he is. The director barges in after thinking Denver is inside the ladies’ room with Misun. When he finds out the man inside is a cop, he suggests they should take the dumbest among the robbers to get information from him. Misun is against this at first because Denver saves her life. But the director reminds her that the robbers are the reason they are stuck there in the first place. 

While preparing the food they will bring inside the Mint, Woojin learns that there are no sandwiches inside the Mint. That is a big clue. Because that morning, the Professor told her that he had a sandwich for breakfast. Woojin now suspects that the Professor is giving orders from the outside. Woojin asks her team to look for the car that was used by Rio and Nairobi when they went to the store outside the Mint. She asks them to trace the route it took.

The Professor is worried that the car will be traced, so he immediately contacts his team. He asks Oslo if he disposed of the car they used. Oslo says he did, but he also admits that he didn’t see it get crushed. He says he paid the junkyard extra so that they would destroy the car immediately. But Tokyo knows that something else could have happened.

Because of the demand for cars, some groups repair the exterior of scrapped South Korean cars just enough to sell them as used. After finding out where the car could be, Woojin sets out with some of her team. The Professor also leaves his cafe to ensure the car is already destroyed.

Inside the Mint, Denver receives a letter he thinks is from Misun asking to meet him. When he comes inside the room, the agent attacks him. When he opens his eyes, a plastic bag is over his head, making breathing difficult. He refuses to say anything about his team, so the director beats him. With the help of the director, the Agent finds out the nicknames of the robbers. The director points to Tokyo as the leader because he saw Denver salute her earlier and call her leader. After hearing this, the agent leaves to kill Tokyo. He pushes the fire alarm, so the soldiers outside know he’s about to do his mission. 

The hostages had a more relaxed day after Tokyo took the position as the leader. Nairobi even let the hostages sleep in two rooms, not in the lobby. The vice director warns Anne to be careful. He says that if they don’t do anything they’re not supposed to, the robbers won’t do anything to them.

When the fire alarm sets off, all the hostages panic. Rio checks on Berlin and removes his handcuffs when he finds him on the floor. Berlin attacks Rio and chokes him until he loses consciousness.

Meanwhile, Tokyo goes to the exhibition hall, where the fire alarm is set off. At the same time, the Professor arrived at the junkyard and took the car key from inside the office.

When the employees walk in, the Professor throws hot water into their faces before running away. He hears the police sirens and knows that Woojin is coming to get the car. When he finds the car, he goes inside to remove their fingerprints quickly. However, he is not yet done when Woojin and her team arrive.

To escape, the Professor starts the car and drives away from the scene. A car chase ensues. Back in the Mint, the agent waits patiently for Tokyo, his rifle pointing in her direction. After being released by Misun, Denver runs to the exhibition hall and warns Tokyo of the intruder. He says they should notify the Professor immediately. When the agent hears this, he tells Captain Cha Moohyuk that the Professor is not inside the Mint. The call ends, and the next thing they hear is gunshots coming from inside the Mint. 

Our Thoughts: 

We don’t know how Woojin can still have fun with her boyfriend when she knows there are hostages inside the Mint. As the lead negotiator, everyone depends on her to make the right decisions. We can’t blame Captain Cha Moohyuk for giving the order to his agent and his men.

His superiors were right to suspect Woojin. She isn’t a traitor, and the characters don’t know what the audience knows. But, the Professor’s job indeed became easier because of Woojin. Everything was finally going as planned, except they didn’t prepare for an intruder. We hope Tokyo wasn’t shot in the last part of the episode. It’s dark in the exhibition hall. Even if Tokyo had military training, the agent sent in was already at an advantage. He was waiting for her.

And we thought the Professor would only think, aside from the regular meet-ups with Woojin. We are quite surprised to see him go to the junkyard himself to make sure the car gets destroyed. Maybe he was already really desperate. He doesn’t look like the type to get into fights, so he just decided to drive the car away from there. But we don’t think that Woojin will let him go.