‘Made in Korea’ Highly Anticipated Final Episode Released and Music Director Jo Young-wook's OST Released!

In the 1970s, a time of chaos and leap in South Korea, the story of ‘Baek Gi-tae’ (Hyun Bin), a man trying to rise to the peak of wealth and power by making the country a profit model, and the prosecutor ‘Jang Geon-young’ (Jung Woo-sung), who relentlessly pursues him to the edge, faces monumental events that penetrate the era. 〈Made in Korea〉 has released its OST following the final episode, revealing the behind-the-scenes work of music director Jo Young-wook, who elevated the quality of the drama with music.

〈Made in Korea〉 captivated global viewers with its overwhelming scale of direction, vivid recreation of 1970s South Korea through art and costumes, and the addition of music that intricately elevated the emotional density. Jo Young-wook, the music director, expressed, “I felt a great charm in being able to express the historical air and fashion of that time in South Korea through music,” and infused breath into every scene of 〈Made in Korea〉, adding persuasiveness to the characters' narratives and situations. He also added, “Since each episode is composed of different stories, I focused on maintaining a light texture while clearly capturing the era, using songs with a jazz feel and rhythm,” drawing attention to the musical details of the work.

Having collaborated multiple times with director Woo Min-ho through various genres and eras in works like 〈The Spy〉, 〈The Insider〉, 〈The Chief of Namsan〉, and 〈Harbin〉, music director Jo Young-wook stated, “Unlike the previous methods that emphasized the narrative or expressed the emotional state of the characters, this work was composed with music that highlights the characters, working in a new way with jazz-style music as the main focus,” emphasizing the uniqueness of 〈Made in Korea〉. In particular, regarding the setting where Bach's 'Goldberg Variations' plays every time ‘Hwang Guk-pyeong’ (Park Yong-woo) appears, he explained, “I chose classical music to establish the ironic image of ‘Hwang Guk-pyeong’ and aimed to expand it into a more bizarre and tense atmosphere by adding contemporary melodies to Bach's music.” Additionally, about the jazz music that flows during the scene where ‘Bae Geum-ji’ (Jo Yeo-jung) has a conversation with ‘Baek Gi-tae’ before meeting her end in episode 3, he shared, “While the scene itself might have needed music to maximize the thrill, I wanted to approach it in a more interesting way, using music that paradoxically resembles a serenade for a lover,” drawing attention.

As the fierce confrontation of characters stained with desire and madness reaches its peak, the original series 〈Made in Korea〉 on Disney+ is raising viewers' expectations with the news of the OST release alongside the final episode, available exclusively on Disney+ to enjoy all episodes 1-6.