![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
« « « COLD-BLOODED » » »
Name: Cho Cheol-gang Door: Door Pass - TDM #22 Canon: Crash Landing On You Canon Point: Toward the end of E06. He's just been released from the interrogation room of the Investigations Department (relatively) unscathed after blackmailing his interrogator, the Director. Age: 37 Appearance: Cheol-gang is 5'8, lean and in generally good shape without being overly muscular. He keeps a neat appearance and generally looks like you'd expect an officer to look: clean-shaven (albeit often with a shadow of stubble on his upper lip), with thick, simply styled black hair bearing deep auburn undertones and sideswept bangs he can easily conceal under his cap. He keeps his shoes unscuffed, gig line in order, collar symmetrical - and, in the single instance he's seen in civilian attire, his shirt and overcoat are similarly immaculate. Even out of uniform, he carries himself in a way that makes it apparent that he had some kind of power back home - Cheol-gang habitually stands and walks with his hands clasped behind his back, stares people directly in the eye when he talks to them unless they significantly outrank him, and walks with a very purposeful stride. In his rare uncertain moments, he tends to keep his hands in his pockets and shift his weight forward onto the balls of his feet, and he has the habit of working his jaw or rubbing the fingers of one hand together when he's thinking. Cheol-gang's smile, the few times it appears, is usually strikingly asymmetrical - if it's anything other than a laugh, the right corner remains stationary, and a similar, less dramatic effect can be seen when he speaks. Characters who have a reason to notice may pick up on the fact that he has a North Korean accent and speaks with the dialect native to the DPRK, although he knows and uses more foreign loanwords - one of the major differences between the two dialects - than your typical speaker thanks to his dealings with South Korean clients. History: Cheol-gang spent his childhood and early adolescence as one of North Korea's countless kot-jebi - a homeless orphan who begs for food and wanders freely within the country, largely overlooked by the authorities who would normally restrict free movement and ask for internal travel documents. He had no siblings and both parents were deceased, which adds to the picture that likely explains his brutal, calculating, and self-serving worldview - to some extent the traits that he has continued to harbor as an adult would have been necessary for survival on his own. His luck changed in his teen or young adult years when Colonel Se, now his immediate superior, intervened in his life and "helped him get to where he is now", though canon does not specify how that happened. From that point onward, however, Cheol-gang began to climb through the ranks of the State Security Department, trading antiques, harboring criminals, collecting blackmail-worthy information on those above him, and "giving" money to his superiors to put them in a position of debt to him. It's stated that he went to college, which, given his background and the difficulty of ascending socially in the DPRK, implies that Col. Se likely had a hand in making that happen. This is a significant change from the social status he was born into - he has by this canonpoint spent over a decade as a very powerful, very respected, very feared man in North Korean society, and can effectively do whatever he wants and talk back to whoever he wants with minimal fear of retribution. That having been said, his position isn't yet an invincible one. When Ri Mu-hyeok, the elder brother of the protagonist and one of Cheol-gang's only close friends, began to unearth information on his illegal activities 7 years prior to this canonpoint, the two had a confrontation that ended with Cheol-gang refusing to stop. Once Mu-hyeok made it clear that he intended to take his knowledge to the authorities, Cheol-gang ordered a wiretapper to bug him, offering to ensure that the wiretapper's consumptive mother, who had just been caught illegally crossing the border, didn't get sent to a labor camp that winter in exchange—and threatening to have her killed outright if he refused. When the tapes confirmed that Ri Mu-hyeok had damning evidence against him, Maj. Cho arranged for his murder by car accident (rammed from the side by armored trucks outfitted with ramming spikes) and the subsequent coverup. The case was declared an accident and his father didn't request any further probe, but as of his canonpoint, Ri Jeong-hyeok, the victim's brother, has become determined to unearth the truth and see that Cheol-gang is tried for his crimes and sentenced. At the same time, however, Cheol-gang has caught wind of the fact that Captain Ri, the greatest threat to the world he's created for himself, is harboring Se-ri, a South Korean woman who accidentally crossed the border - a crime punishable by a lifetime of hard labor or outright execution for both of them. Proving that she's not who they say she is and using her to take Jeong-hyeok down has become his obsession, resulting in a dual-sided game of cat and mouse between them. Personality: — CLEVER (+) From the outset, Cheol-gang is characterized by his wits and foresight. He constructs a virtually impenetrable network for himself by giving bribes and doing "favors" long before he needs to call on these allies to help him, and it's stated in canon that only a few people in North Korean high command haven't taken money from him. He manages to conceal serious crimes for at least a decade, and matches Ri Jeong-hyeok, who is stated to be exceptionally intelligent himself, stride-for-stride for the duration of the plot. Cheol-gang also reads people well and successfully anticipates what Captain Ri will do on multiple occasions - he's ready for him when he crosses the border, he realizes how he ultimately plans on getting Se-ri out, etc etc. He also looks for and notices details that might not occur to other people - for instance, he realizes that Captain Ri's parents are lying in saying that they're the only ones home simply because the dust cover of the keyboard of a piano in one room is in the raised position, not closed. — COLD-BLOODED (-) Across the entire series, Cheol-gang never once shows genuine compassion or remorse; he's violent on a moment's notice, and although he doesn't seem to derive any gratification or enjoyment from the acts of killing and torture themselves, he doesn't hesitate in the slightest to harm or kill other people if they get in his way. In the show's first episode, he has three graverobbers who work for him killed in addition to the civilian hitchhiker who just happened to witness their murder - simply because they were all loose ends that might have compromised his operations. Most tellingly, however, he has a very close friend - perhaps his only close friend - killed in a staged car accident when he makes it clear that he intends to take what he knows of his crimes to the authorities. Cheol-gang actually seems to have some level of genuine distress about losing the friendship (when the wiretapper he's chosen to bug Mu-hyeok's house expresses confusion and asks, 'Aren't you close friends?' Cheol-gang immediately breaks eye contact—the only instance of this in the series—then tells him it's none of his business and changes the topic), but he never demonstrates any regret or guilt. Maj. Cho mentions or makes direct threats alluding to torture multiple times across the series, always in a tone that makes it clear he has no problem harming others; on one occasion, he claims that making people talk is his specialty. There are also instances in canon in which he threatens to kill a wiretapper's 10-year-old son and elderly mother as a means of coercing him into cooperating with his illegal activities. — AMBITIOUS (-) When offered money in exchange for the offerer's life, Cheol-gang utters the telling line, "I'm not interested in money. I just wanted things I could only get through money. For instance, I want the power to be able to kill whoever and whenever." Virtually everything he does can ultimately be traced back to the desire to gain more power, authority, or control - he states outright that the reason he followed a woman all the way into South Korea is because he'll attain a higher position if he brings her back (though it's likely a mix of that and the fact that he cannot return to his own country without bringing her). This trait is also implied in his backstory - for someone with social status as low as one of the kot-jebi, it would take an incredible amount of ambition and willpower to A) become an officer at all and B) reach a rank as high as Major/O-4. — MANIPULATIVE (-) Cheol-gang is masterful at deceiving and emotionally manipulating other people, and he's convincing when he pretends to care. Despite his crimes—and his high rank in an organization that routinely administers torture—he behaves very normally and is superficially pleasant company. He's polite to the superiors he doesn't have firmly under his foot, even flattering (when he meets one higher-ranking officer at a cafe in Pyongyang, the man orders an iced caramel macchiato, to which Cheol-gang breaks eye contact almost bashfully and says, 'I see, locals in Pyongyang are indeed sophisticated,' as to emphasize the difference in power between them, and the comment has exactly the desired effect). In the scene in which Eun-dong, the youngest of Captain Ri's men, is interrogated, he's shown huddled against the wall in the fetal position, weeping with fear. Cheol-gang crouches down to be on eye level and offers him a handkerchief, speaking in a soft and reassuring tone the entire time he tries to convince Eun-dong to inform (even saying "talk when you are ready", as though it's his choice) - until Eun-dong works out that the other three detained men haven't informed and likewise refuses to disclose anything, at which point Cheol-gang punches him across the face while calling him a "sly motherfucker". He also feigns benevolence here and there in the presence of the wiretapper he routinely manipulates - on one occasion, Cheol-gang randomly shows that he "remembers" his son's name and age, then gives him a few dollars (stronger currency than won) and tells him to go get some meat for his son, seeing as 'kids his age eat like a horse'. This clearly isn't for any purpose other than to keep Man-bok loyal to him - later, when he runs out of metaphorical carrots, Cheol-gang outright threatens to kill the same child. Powers and Abilities: — MARKSMANSHIP. Cheol-gang is shown to be a good shot, and as a member of the SSD, he has further training with firearms on top of what he learned in basic training upon his mandatory enlistment. — HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT. There are multiple scenes in which he shows himself to be quite able to hold his own and then some when fighting without a weapon - toward the end of the series, he manages to disarm and drop several MPs with his wrists shackled together. At one point, a character says of him, "from martial arts to shooting, he's good at everything." — FIELD MEDICINE, MINIMAL. First aid is a part of every soldier's rudimentary education, and in the series, Cheol-gang is shown tending his own wound and correctly self-administering an injection. — STEALTH. Cheol-gang knows how to operate without getting caught and successfully keeps a low profile in South Korea long enough to attempt what he's there to do. He knows how to cover his tracks and has been doing so for over a decade. Inventory: — 1 × North Korean Type 68 pistol, loaded — 1 × box of FESKO matches — 1 × pack of cigarettes Samples: Communication & Introspection |
