Karma (2025) character relationship network mapped with AI analysis. Explore the connections, alliances, and conflicts between characters.
Characters
Kim Beon-jun
(played by Park Hae-soo) — protagonist
A con artist and prison friend of Gil-ryong who stages a car accident using Park Dong-sik's corpse. He coerces Han Sang-hoon into helping bury the body for money. When Sang-hoon discovers the truth, B...
Lee Joo-yeon
(played by Shin Min-a) — protagonist
A doctor who treats the severely burned Beon-jun after he assumes Jae-yeong's identity. She recognizes him as one of the teens who gang-raped her in their youth and follows him to exact revenge. Her f...
Jang Gil-ryong
(played by Kim Sung-kyun) — supporting
A Korean Chinese coworker hired by Jae-yeong to stage his father's death. He actually murders Park Dong-sik and is later seen at the scene killing a pursuing police officer. He blackmails Jae-yeong fo...
Han Sang-hoon
(played by Lee Kwang-soo) — supporting
A traditional medicine doctor who accidentally strikes Park Dong-sik's corpse with his car. Believing he committed murder, he coerces witness Kim Beon-jun into helping him bury the body. After reviewi...
Lee Yoo-jeong
(played by Gong Seung-yeon) — supporting
The girlfriend of Han Sang-hoon who secretly runs a conspiracy with Kim Beon-jun. After Sang-hoon discovers their plot, she and Beon-jun kidnap him. She is killed by Sang-hoon during the confrontation...
Park Dong-sik
(played by Choi Hong-il) — supporting
Park Jae-yeong's father, who is murdered by Jang Gil-ryong as part of an insurance fraud scheme. His corpse is later hit by Han Sang-hoon's car and buried in the mountains. His death and subsequent di...
Hwang Cheol-mok
(played by Park Ho-san) — supporting
A private detective hired by Han Sang-hoon's wife to investigate his suspected infidelity. His employees secretly photograph the murders of Sang-hoon and Lee Yoo-jeong, providing crucial evidence that...
Baek Ji-hun
(played by Lee Seo-jun) — supporting
Canonical Relationships
Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.
Baek Ji-hun → Hwang Cheol-mok
(Professional Employee) — Works for Cheol-mok
Hwang Cheol-mok → Han Sang-hoon
(Professional Investigator) — Hired to investigate infidelity
Kim Beon-jun → Lee Yoo-jeong
(Romantic Partner) — Con partners working together
Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.
Lee Yoo-jeong → Lee Joo-yeon
(Conflict Antagonist) — Hated Joo-yeon and arranged her rape
Lee Joo-yeon → Kim Beon-jun
(Conflict Target) — Seeks revenge for past rape
Kim Beon-jun → Han Sang-hoon
(Conflict Blackmailer) — Staged accident and blackmailed
Han Sang-hoon → Lee Yoo-jeong
(Conflict Victim) — Kidnapped and killed by Yoo-jeong
Kim Beon-jun → Jang Gil-ryong
(Social Friend) — Friends from prison
Jang Gil-ryong → Park Dong-sik
(Conflict Victim) — Killed Dong-sik for money
Story Analysis
The season interweaves debt, staged death, accidental exposure, blackmail, and unresolved history into a cycle of escalating consequences.
Plot Progression
Season 1: Debt And Recruitment
— A debtor faces imminent danger from a loan shark and seeks a drastic solution. Jang Gil-ryong is enlisted for a task involving the staging of a father's death.
Season 1: Violence Escalates
— The planned staging turns into an actual killing. Jang Gil-ryong then blackmails the debtor and demands immediate payment while trying to flee the country.
Season 1: The Witness Problem
— A distracted man causes a car accident and discovers that someone witnessed it. Panic drives him to erase traces of his involvement.
Season 1: Buried Questions
— The witness demands more money while inconsistencies in the accident begin to surface. Separately, a woman is drawn back toward unresolved questions from her past.
Season 1: The Karmic Cycle
— The debtor confronts Jang Gil-ryong, but the plan collapses into chaos when the witness tries to exploit the situation. The witness later suffers setbacks and faces pursuit connected to the karmic cyc...
