We can already see in Netflix ‘The paper house: Korea’, Asian remake of the very popular Spanish series created by Alex Pina. As I already told you, it is a rehash with little personality, since they have chosen to be very similar to the original work, but that does not mean that there is Certain changes worth noting.
Next we will review The 14 biggest differences between ‘The Paper House’ and ‘The Paper House: Korea’. They are not the only changes, but they are the ones that have caught my attention the most. If you think I left something out, do not hesitate to highlight it through the comments. Without further ado, let’s go with them:
The dystopian scenario
It is the most obvious change and the title itself tells you so, but beware, it goes far beyond moving from Spain to Korea, since the remake proposes a scenario in which the two Koreas have resolved differences and are in the process of union, for now focused on politics. That leads to it having a dystopian undertone that, unfortunately, it doesn’t explore too much either.
The past of the robbers (especially Tokyo and the Professor)
In general, the past of all the robbers changes, but the most striking cases are those of Tokyo and the Professor. In her case, she has a past in the North Korean military and only turns to crime after seeing her hopes of prospering in the south come to nothing. That also leads to her personality changing and appearing less sexualized.
For his part, the Professor has a past… as a professor. And he is not a stranger, but they even propose him at the time to have a weighty role in the unification process.
The inspector’s companions in the negotiation
It could be said that the Korean series marks, at least, a 2×1 with Prieto’s characters (John Fernandez) and Angel (Fernando Soto), eliminating in the process everything related to the romantic interest of the second towards her. Here we have Captain Cha played by Kim Sung Oh.
He can’t be Arthur’s son
The Korean Arthur
Here Arturo becomes Cho Young-min, who also had an affair with Yoon Mi-seon, the equivalent of Mónica Gaztambide, who would later end up being Stockholm. The point is that the character in ‘The paper house: Korea’ reveals that he had a vasectomy, so he cannot be the father of her alleged son, who admits that he has lied about it, to the point that the feeling like you’re not even pregnant.
The ambassador’s daughter and her importance
In ‘The paper house’, Alison Parker (Maria Pedraza) is the daughter of the English ambassador, while in the Korean remake she becomes the United States ambassador.
In addition, the equivalent character in ‘The paper house: Korea’ has much less presence. For example, there is no trace of the flirtation with Rio that was present in her original or that despicable “boyfriend” who uploaded an image of her with her bare breasts carelessly on the Internet.
The Professor’s First Hoax
A bit of a direct consequence of the previous one, since here the Professor does not use the ambassador’s daughter as protection when the security forces want to enter the Mint the first night, here he pretends to be careless so that they believe that they are only four robbers and to back down when they see in situ that this information is false.
mask change
If in the original version the robbers used a Dalí mask, in ‘The paper house: Korea’ it is chosen to be taken as a reference to Yangban, one of the twelve characters of a Korean dance known as Hahoe. Yangban’s great characteristic feature is his empty smile.
the amount stolen
From 2.4 billion euros to an amount of won that is equivalent to almost 3 billion euros. And is that inflation has been very important lately!
The Professor meets the inspector BEFORE the robbery
The peculiar relationship that arose between the Professor and Raquel did not begin until the robbery had already begun in ‘La casa de papel’, but in this new version it has already begun before. A good way to cultivate trust between the two.
The political aspirations of the inspector’s ex
The relationship of the inspector in charge of the negotiation with her ex is also one of the most complicated, but here a striking change is added in relation to his profession, who is one of the great contenders to be the president of this new Korea reunited. There is no trace of the ex’s relationship with his sister either.
Let us remember that in the original he was an agent of the scientific police and came to participate in the case.
Much less flashbacks
One of the great axes of ‘The paper house’ was the use of flashbacks, something that is greatly reduced here, usually being limited to being a note at the beginning of each episode. In this way, the protagonists lose depth both individually and in relation to the relationship that arises between them.
From a mobile to a smartphone
Here Berlin also orders the execution of the character who aims to end up becoming Stockholm, but the details around how he discovers his “betrayal” of the robbers are different. Apart from the fact that the particular Arturito is even more despicable, everything here revolves around a smartwatch instead of a mobile phone, and the way to discover him also changes. In the Spanish one a call sounds and that gives her away, while here she falls to the ground when it seemed that she had managed to fool Berlin.
From there, his plot with Denver is quite similar, including everything related to his faked death.
Checking of the hostages by the inspector
In the Korean version, the inspector played by yunjin kim also comes here to check that all the hostages are unharmed, but it does so by broadcasting it live – the possibility is mentioned in the original but it is never done – in order to try to exert pressure on public opinion, an issue that is basically left aside until that moment.
Also, the “trick” to turn people against muggers is different. In the Spanish one, the ambassador’s daughter tries to hide, while here the idea of the death of a policeman who had infiltrated is played with … only to discover at the last moment that he is actually still alive.
This is also used by the Korean to introduce the detail that the ambassador’s daughter manages to sneak a fragment of a bill into the inspector’s pocket, something that promises to be key in the next batch of six episodes of ‘The paper house: Korea’ .
Berlin’s sexual relationship with one of the hostages
In ‘La casa de papel: Corea’ the plot of the Spanish series in which Berlin (Peter Alonso) had sex with one of the hostages (Clara Alvarado). In fact, the most despicable side of the character is somewhat reduced.
By the way, I have preferred to ignore that this first installment of ‘The paper house: Korea’ ends at a different point than the Spanishhence also that it has left out certain possible changes that in reality could simply come later.
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