Money Heist: Korea – Season 1 Episode 12 Recap, Review & Ending Explained

Race to Freedom

Episode 12 of Money Heist: Korea starts with a flashback as the Professor learns about his father’s plans to free Berlin and bring him back. It turns out a young Professor was the one who drew the picture we saw before of people being handed money, clearly inspired by his father’s ideals.

In the present, the Professor looks at his gun with regret before heading down to the basement and finding the others, clawing away at his side of the tunnel as they look set to escape to safety. All of our characters are reunited, with the Professor even meeting Misun, who’s now known as Stockholm.

Is Woo-Jin still alive?

Anyway, the Professor is led to the vault where he sees all of the stacks of cash firsthand. Unfortunately, this is short-lived given Captain Cha has been re-awoken in hospital. As for Woo-Jin, she too is still alive but has been shot in the side and not outright killed.

Given she’s wearing a bulletproof vest, it doesn’t have much effect. She immediately begins hitting the pipes she’s handcuffed to, desperate to get out.

What happens during the assault on the Mint?

The assault on the Mint takes place, with the officers led forward on Yun Chang-Su’s command. A helicopter slams overhead with soldiers dropping to the main atrium, causing the place to immediately come under siege.

Tokyo and Rio do their best to hold them off but it’s a tiny force in truth and no match for the sure number they have to go up against. Denver arrives to try and given some cover and drive the soldiers back, while most of the hostages head down to the underground waterway to escape with the money.

Denver takes out a guard that immediately comes for Tokyo, hitting her in the back, while Nairobi and Berlin provide additional cover.

Do the soldiers find the underground tunnels?

When gas is eventually thrown by the soldiers, that provides a cue for the robbers to leave but the soldiers are close behind, deciding to head underground. Once there, they find the tunnels and immediately head inside. However, all they find are the hostages, who have clearly led them to a dummy underground path. The real one is actually inside the vault, which our robbers have locked from the inside.

Our group reconvene with the Professor and immediately begin to get away, while Woo-jin manages to inform the team what’s happening, still at the original hideout. She finds an underground route and decides to follow it down, intent on discovering what the Professor may be hiding.

Are the hostages safe?

While the hostages escape out the front door, taken to safety and treated as victims, officers arrive at the Professor’s hideout and immediately head down the escape hatch Woo-Jin earlier uncovered. Unfortunately this puts part of the Professor’s plan in jeopardy. In particular, the part for the truck to arrive and move the cash securely.

Berlin rings the Professor in the midst of this and decides to give his final goodbye, determined to sacrifice himself in order to buy the others some crucial time to escape. He immediately sprays the door with bullets, but before he gets a chance to reload, the officers throw a grenade inside and immediately catch him off-guard.

Berlin is still alive though after the blast, as it turns out Seoul head back up and saved him, pointing out he doesn’t have permission to die just yet. Another explosion in the tunnel though engulfs them in smoke and debris.

Does The Professor lead the group out to safety?

Off the back of this, the Professor rings Kim Sangman and decides to hand himself in and promises to give up the funds but only if he lets everyone else live. However, the call cuts out thanks to Tokyo who throws away the phone and chucks it in the water. She encourages him to get a grip and to focus on what’s important here. In doing so, the Professor drops his map and it gives him an idea over how to get out of this in one piece.

With the escape route sealed up and the officers no longer able to get through, the Professor decides to enact their final play. At the same time, Sangman orders the group to capture Woo-Jin and keep an eye on her, believing she’s in collusion with the Professor and the gang.

Woo-Jin is brought straight to Kim Sangman, who brings up the corruption around this reunification and questions his motives. Just before she’s taken away, Sangman learns from his officers that there are bombs rigged to explode near the square.

What are the bombs in the square for?

Woo-Jin is convinced that the Professor and the others wouldn’t let anyone be killed. Sangman though wants to test that theory and is prepared to let all these protestors die if it means capturing the criminals. Sangman’s plan is risky, jeopardizing the lives of innocent civilians and police officers alike.

Captain Cha has heard enough and knows Sangman intends to cover the whole thing up and make himself look better politically. He hurries after Woo-Jin and confirms as much, while the Chief takes control and decides to evacuate the square, unwilling to let innocent people die.

As the timer counts down to 0, the bombs explode all round the square but they’re placed in strategic spots to blow the tops off sewer grates. It eventually paves way for inflatable red pigs to head up into the air. Just like the blimps we saw in the original Money Heist, these ones pop and unveil stacks of money inside. This was all part of the Professor’s plan, intending to get the people on their side and draw the attention away from the caves momentarily.

Does the group make it to North Korea?

The Professor leads the group out to a secure area where the trucks are waiting for them at the end of the line. This tunnel is the same one that we learned about in the previous episodes, with the Professor using his knowledge of how it’s close to the train lines in North Korea to send Woo-Jin out. As she does, the group pay off the train driver and manage to commandeer a train in North Korea.

Berlin is still alive too, as we soon learn, and he managed to get out the tunnels with Seoul in one piece. Donning masks and joining the protestors, they ring the Professor to let him know the good news. As the train starts to take off, Woo-Jin arrives and catches up with him, holding a gun up and intent on arresting him.

The Professor makes her choose what to do and eventually she lets him go, watching as the train leaves the station and heads off deeper into North Korea. The robbers are gone and with them now blending into the common folk onboard the same train, the robbers part ways and go about their business as usual.

How does Money Heist: Korea end?

News of this spreads across the pond through various different news outlets, but the people use the masks as a symbol in both North and South Korea, with the congressmen and officials still continuing to try and cling to power.

As the episode closes out, Woo-Jin decides to head over and meet the Professor after all, with the pair flirting and discussing coffee just like they did the first time they met. The Professor though also has a plan up his sleeve, deciding it’ll be a big revolution.

The Episode Review

So Money Heist: Korea bows out with a conclusion that pretty much mirrors what happened in the Spanish version, with a few deviations along the way. Seeing everyone make it out in one piece, with the exception of Oslo and Moscow of course, is a nice touch and the show does well to keep things interesting throughout, with a bombastic final action set piece.

At the same time though, there’s the slight contrivances and issues involving the narrative, especially with the tenuous political issues that haven’t really been well developed through the show or given that much weight. We don’t really see the fall-out that much from Sangman’s actions beyond a few news reels, which is disappointing.

However, the series does bow out on a high and there’s a conclusive enough finish to all this that if Netflix do decide to give this one the axe then we at least get a good send-off for our characters!