''War of Money'' (; also known as ''Money's Warfare'') is a 2007 South Korean television drama series adaptation of Park In-kwon's

comic a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

of the same name. Starring

Park Shin-yang Park Shin-yang (; born November 1, 1968) is a South Korean actor. He majored in acting at Dongguk University in South Korea and studied at the Mikhail Shchepkin Higher Theatre School in Russia. From 1996 he won a number of acting awards in ...

and

Park Jin-hee Park Jin-hee (born January 8, 1978) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her leading roles in the television series ''Please Come Back, Soon-ae'' (2006), ''War of Money'' (2007), and ''Giant'' (2010), as well as for the film ''Shadows ...

, it aired on SBS from May 16 to July 19, 2007 on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55 for 20 episodes. Originally scheduled for 16 episodes, due to its popularity it was extended to 20, but only Park Shin-yang starred in the four-episode "bonus round."

Plot

Geum Na-ra was once a top-ranked investment banker, until his life falls apart when his debt-ridden father commits suicide after constantly being harassed by

loan shark A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and generally operates outside the law. Description Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot reasonably ...

s. Traumatized, his mother collapses and is rushed to the hospital. Na-ra applies for a bank loan but is flatly denied, and his disgruntled boss takes advantage of Na-ra's troubles and uses them as an excuse to fire him. His mother eventually dies, despite his and his sister Eun-ji's (

Lee Young-eun Lee Young-eun (born August 9, 1982) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for starring in Korean dramas such as ''Likeable or Not'', ''Obstetrics and Gynecology Doctors'', '' While You Were Sleeping'', and ''Can't Stand Anymore''. Persona ...

) desperate efforts to obtain cash to pay for her hospital fees. Newlywed Eun-ji had become a room salon hostess, while Na-ra agreed to break up with his longtime girlfriend Lee Cha-yeon (

Kim Jung-hwa Kim Jung-hwa (born September 9, 1983)is a South Korean actress. She rose to fame in the 2002 sitcom ''Nonstop (South Korean TV series), Nonstop 3'', and has since played leading roles in the television series ''Something About 1%'' (2003) and ' ...

) in exchange for cash from Cha-yeon's disapproving grandmother Madam Bong (

Yeo Woon-kay Yeo is a Chinese, English, and Korean surname. Origins As an English surname, Yeo is a toponymic surname meaning "river", either for people who lived near one of the Rivers Yeo, or any river in general. The word comes from Old English , via sou ...

). Believing that it's the source of all evil, Na-ra declares war on money and becomes obsessed with avenging his parents' deaths. However, realizing the only way to defeat his enemy is to understand the enemy, Na-ra decides to become a loan shark himself, and begins working as a ruthless money collector for the notorious loan shark Ma Dong-po (Lee Won-jong), while learning the trade secrets along with life's philosophies from the old and legendary pro Dokgo Chul (Shin Goo) who reluctantly takes Na-ra under his wing. Na-ra enters into a rivalry with Ha Woo-sung (

Shin Dong-wook Shin Dong-wook (born Shin Hwa-shik on September 14, 1982) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his leading roles in ''Soulmate'' and ''Cloud Stairs'' (both in 2006), and his supporting role in ''War of Money'' (2007). Career In Novembe ...

), another moneylender who works for Madam Bong and has secretly loved Cha-yeon for years. Then Na-ra meets Seo Joo-hee (

). Joo-hee was supposed to marry a divorced man to solve her family's financial problems, but on the day of the wedding, Na-ra showed up to collect the debts and ended up ruining her plans. Joo-hee vows to take her revenge on him but she falls in love with him instead. When Na-ra learns that his gangster boss Ma Dong-po was the very man responsible for his father's death, he keeps his cool, waiting for the right time and the right place to seek his revenge. Meanwhile, competition between

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

s and loan sharks is getting tense and a war over money threatens to erupt.

Cast

Main characters

as Geum Na-ra *

as Seo Joo-hee *

as Ha Woo-sung *

as Lee Cha-yeon

Supporting characters

Shin Goo Shin Goo (; born Shin Sun-gi, ; August 13, 1936) is a South Korean actor. Filmography Film Television series Variety show Theater Awards and nominations State honors Notes References External links Shin Goo Fan Cafeat Daum ...

as Dokgo Chul *

Lee Won-jong Lee Won-jong (born January 1, 1966) is a South Korean actor. Filmography Film Television series Variety shows Theater *''Blind'' (2010) *''The Masked Hut Murder Case'' (2022) - Nobuhiko Awards *2002 SBS Drama Awards: Best Supporting Act ...

as Ma Dong-po *

as Geum Eun-ji *

Jung Jae-soon Jung Jae-soon is a South Korean actress. She is known for her roles in dramas such as ''Homemade Love Story'', '' My Only One'', ''House of Bluebird'' and ''Three Bold Siblings ''Three Bold Siblings'' () is a 2023 South Korean television ser ...

as Lee Kyung-ja *Nam Il-woo as Geum Sang-soo * Park In-hwan as Seo In-chul *Jung Soo-young as Kim Hyun-jung *Jang Dong-jik as Kang In-hyuk *

as Madam Bong *

Kim Roi-ha Kim Roi-ha (born November 15, 1965) is a South Korean actor. Notable roles include a detective in '' Memories of Murder'' (2003), and a gangster in ''A Bittersweet Life'' (2005). Kim won Best Actor at the 2001 Dong-A Theatre Awards for his por ...

as Kim Dong-goo *

Lee Moon-sik Lee Moon-sik (born November 13, 1967) is a South Korean actor. Lee Moon-sik debuted in Jang Jin films of the late 1990s after an illustrious career in Daehak-ro (considered the "Korean Broadway"), where he learned great comic timing, ad-lib pr ...

as boss of securities company *Kim Hyung-bum as Jo Chul-soo * Lee Jae-yong as Oh Jae-bong *Choi Sung-ho as Lee Young-suk *Kim Kwang-sik as Soo-pyo * Kim Hee-jung as Dong-po's wife *Jo Sang-ki as wayward son *Lee Ki-yeol as insurance examiner *Min Ji-young as Eun-joo *

Lee Byung-joon Lee Byung-joon (; born January 27, 1964) is a South Korean actor. Active in film, television and theater since 1985, Lee is best known for his supporting roles in '' A Bloody Aria'' (2006), '' Highway Star'' (2007), and ''Eye for an Eye'' (2008) ...

as Kim Min-goo *Lee Dol-hyung as homeless person *Im Sung-eun as swindler *Choi Min as inspector of So-Mang bank *Park Seung-jae as the CEO *Kim Yong-il as the CEO's right-hand man

Awards and nominations

Ratings

*In the table below, represent the lowest ratings and represent the highest ratings. *NR denotes that the drama did not rank in the top 20 daily programs on that date.

''War of Money'' Bonus Round

Because of the series' high viewership ratings of over 30%, SBS filmed an additional four episodes featuring new characters and a new plot not found in the original

, titled ''War of Money Bonus Round''. Park Shin-yang was the only main cast member who reprised his role (Park Jin-hee and Shin Goo were unable due to scheduling conflicts). Among his costars were

Kim Ok-bin Kim or KIM may refer to: Names * Kim (given name) * Kim (surname) ** Kim (Korean surname) *** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties **** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948 ** Kim, Vietnamese ...

, who played Geum Na-ra's girlfriend, and

Park Hae-mi Park Hae-Mi (born January 28, 1964) is a South Korean actress. She is best known as a musical theatre actress, starring in stage productions of '' Mamma Mia!'', '' 42nd Street'', and ''Really Really Like You''. Park rose to mainstream popularit ...

, who portrayed a physically-challenged moneylending tycoon. Under the theme "poetic justice" or "dilemma," the bonus round did not focus on revenge, but on Na-ra's new challenges as an ingenious debt collector. Ratings were also successful, recording over 25%.

Cast

as Geum Na-ra *

as Lee Soo-young *Jung So-young as Kang Hye-won *

as Chairwoman Jin *

Seo Jun-young Seo Jun-young (, born Kim Sang-gu, 김상구, April 24, 1987) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his roles in award-winning indie ''Bleak Night'', period drama ''Deep Rooted Tree'', coming-of-age film Coming of age is a young p ...

as Kim Byul, Chairwoman Jin's son *

Chae Min-seo Chae Min-seo (born Jo Soo-jin; March 16, 1981) is a South Korean actress. Chae made her acting debut in 2002 with ''Champion'', and has since played leading roles in horror film '' The Wig'' and the indies ''Loner'' (2008), ''Vegetarian Veg ...

as beautiful lady (cameo) *

as ex-secretary of a corrupt congressman (cameo, ep 4)

Controversy

According to his contract,

was paid per episode for the original 16 episodes. But to appear in the four extra episodes, he negotiated a fee of per episode. The producers agreed, but later reneged on the deal, alleging that Park tried to capitalize on the drama's high popularity by asking for too much money. Park took legal action, and in November 2009, he won the lawsuit, with the Seoul District Court ruling (upheld by the Seoul High Court) that "although the guarantees promised in the extra contract were three times higher than those paid for Park's appearances in the original contract," the two contracts were independent of each other, and the second contract was legal and binding. Consequently, the Corea Drama Production Association (CODA) banned Park from appearing in any dramas produced by members of the association for an indefinite period. Calling Park's per episode fee higher than the fee paid to an outsourcing production company by a broadcaster, CODA said such exorbitant actor's salaries shouldn't be tolerated since it adversely affects the drama production industry, from writers and producers to technical staff. Following CODA's announcement, about 5,600 overseas fans issued a joint petition to denounce the decision. After a three-year absence on television, the ban on Park was lifted in 2011.

Remake

A Japanese drama

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...

also titled , starring

Tsuyoshi Kusanagi is a Japanese actor, singer, television host, and a former member of SMAP, one of the best-selling boy bands in Asia. Early life Kusanagi grew up in Kasukabe, Saitama, Japan. Career Music In 1987, at age 13, Kusanagi auditioned to enter John ...

and

Yuko Oshima is a Japanese actress and former member of Japanese idol girl group AKB48, of which she was the captain of Team K. She was also a member of the AKB48 subunit Not Yet. In addition to the singles that involved the rock-paper-scissors tournaments ...

, will air on

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network Sys ...

in January 2015.

References

External links

''War of Money'' official SBS website
* * {{Works by Victory Contents Seoul Broadcasting System television dramas 2007 South Korean television series debuts 2007 South Korean television series endings Korean-language television shows Television shows based on manhwa South Korean thriller television series Television series by Victory Contents