I recently came across City Hunter and the ending of this K-drama adaptation is absolutely remarkable 

Re-entering my K-drama phase, I recently came across Lee Min-ho's 2011 drama City Hunter, which is an adaptation of a Japanese manga of the same name.

While I have always admired Korean shows for their remarkable climaxes and finales, the City Hunter finale was the best I have seen in a long while.

The K-drama follows Lee Yoon-sung, who was kidnapped as a child by Lee Jin-pyo. Jin-pyo was one of the 21 soldiers assigned to "Operation Cleansweep," whose main aim was to infiltrate North Korea and kill their top officials responsible for a recent attack on Seoul.

However, the South Korean government betrayed its soldiers after they were ambushed and erased their personal records. Jin-pyo, the sole survivor of the mission, vows to avenge his comrades' deaths with aid from his surrogate son Yoon-sung, dubbing him as the City Hunter.

More on City Hunter's ending in our story.

I think the City Hunter finale is one of the best K-drama endings

Having seen many K-dramas reach their satisfying conclusions, it's safe to say that Korean creators know how to wrap up the series. But going into City Hunter's finale, I was worried because there were just too many loopholes to be addressed in one episode.

However, City Hunter not only addresses all these loopholes but also gives them satisfying conclusions while also setting the show up for a perfect new beginning (that I am still waiting on).

One of the biggest secrets revealed in the K-drama finale was about Yoon-sung's parentage. While Yoon-sung reluctantly aided his surrogate father in his revenge mission, deep down, he just wanted to live a normal life like any other person. Instead, he was forced into a dangerous life of the City Hunter, which had no future in the long run.

Still, as the K-drama progressed, Yoon-sung became invested in Jin-pyo's revenge plan, partly because he loved his surrogate father and also because he thought that he was avenging the death of his biological father and Jin-pyo's best friend, Moo-yeol.

However, Yoon-sung's life lost all meaning when the K-drama finale revealed that his biological father is actually President Choi Eung-chan. My mind was completely blown when I learned that Jin-pyo not only kidnapped Yoon-sung as an infant and forced him into a life as City Hunter, but he kept him in the dark and trained him to avenge his biological father.

While I understand and even sympathize with Jin-pyo's survivor's guilt, he was certainly not justified in playing God and making this monumental decision for Yoon-sung. While Eung-chan's methods were immoral and questionable, Yoon-sung should have been given a choice to see which path he would like to take.

Instead, Jin-pyo made that decision for him, which ultimately ruined his life. While Yoon-sung learns about his parentage, he realizes that Eung-chan is also a corrupt man. The finale really blurs the line between good and bad because even if Eung-chan is corrupt, he certainly has his reasons, and he tells his son that a presidential position comes with its limitations.

City Hunter's climax is how a thriller K-drama should be concluded

While Yoon-sung wants to understand his biological father's choices, he cannot help but justify that he is still corrupt. The City Hunter K-drama finale was a difficult moral dilemma for Yoon-sung as he had to choose between his surrogate and biological father.

The climax of this K-drama is truly memorable when Jin-pyo and Yoon-sung point their guns at one another. However, since Yoon-sung cannot kill the person who made him into the man he is today, he points the gun at his head instead.

But just at that moment, the drama takes a wild turn, and Jin-pyo instead aims for Eung-chan, but Yoon-sung gets in the way and takes the bullet for his biological father. Right at that moment, Jin-pyo is also shot by Na-na, who was trying to protect the President.

I knew Jin-pyo was doomed from the beginning, but he completed his redemption by taking the blame for his son. His parting words frame him as the City Hunter and absolve Yoon-sung:

“I am the sole survivor of 1983’s Operation Clean Sweep, Lee Jin-pyo. To avenge my comrades who were betrayed by our country, I killed Lee Kyung-wan and Chun Jae-man with my own hands, dropped Kim Jong-shik from the overpass, and sent Seo Yong-hak to the prosecutors. Now I will kill the last, President Choi Eung-chan. I am the City Hunter.”

His words set in motion a chain reaction, and Eung-chan's bodyguards take multiple shots at him, killing him in the process. He takes his last breath in front of his surrogate son, silently asking him for forgiveness, and the story draws to a conclusion.

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