'Penthouse 3: War in Life': Who is Dan-tae? A look at the villain's dark past
For the fans of 'Penthouse 3: War in Life' there is one character that we all love to hate. If you guessed that it was Dan-tae (Uhm Ki-Joon), then you are absolutely right about that.
The main series villain, Dan-tae has a long list of people out to get his neck. And after the death of Yoon-hee (Eugene), that list has only become longer. With Su-ryeon (Lee Ji-Ah) nearly succeeding in killing him, Dan-tae is the big bad. Previously, in Season 3, it was revealed that Dan-tae's identity is actually stolen, seeing that his real name is Baek Joon-ki (On Joo-wan). Now, the real Dan-tae, who now goes by Joon-ki, is back thanks to Logan Lee (Park Eun-Seok). He wants to expose what was done to him -- Dan-tae killed his family while in Japan and stole all their money and his identity.
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However, apart from this information, Dan-tae was still a character shrouded in relative mystery so far. However, Episode 7 revealed some shocking twists and insight into what fuels Dan-tae to commit his crimes. So far, we know that he has killed people and has stolen an identity to get to the top. But it turns out that his motive behind it goes back to when he was a child. Dan-tae lived in a small family, with just his mother and sister. They were squatters and didn't have a real house, except for a makeshift one. Dan-tae and his family lived in the Cheonsoo district, in area 27, to be specific.
Back then, this land was to be taken over by Simoon Construction, the company that belonged to none other than Su-ryeon's father. Dan-tae's mother was served with an eviction notice, but she had nowhere else to go and stayed on the land. One night, one of Simoon Construction's men showed up with digging machinery and tore down Dan-tae's hut. Dan-tae escaped, but his mother and sister were trapped inside. In her dying moments, she held Dan-tae and told him to be successful.
This reveals his hatred toward Su-ryeon and wanting to destroy her family. However, there is also an interesting observation that many theories online state that the man who killed Dan-tae's mother that night was the real Dan-tae/Joon-ki's father. It's the reason why he probably killed him and his wife in Japan and took all their money, but let he let Joon-ki live, seeing that his father had once let him live.
There is also speculation that Dan-tae's sister is Yoon-hee, seeing that he calls out to his sister in his flashback and says the name 'Yoon-hee'. Drama Hyung on YouTube suggests that his sister survived the attack and got adopted only to grow up and cross paths with her brother in the worst way possible.
While this would make for a great twist, seeing that Dan-tae might be destroyed emotionally when he finds out he killed his sister. It could also complicate things seeing that Ro-na (Kim Hyun-Soo) and Seok-Hoon (Kim Young-Dae) were in a relationship previously and would technically be cousins. But then again, this is 'Penthouse 3: War in Life' where you can expect the unexpected!
Catch 'Penthouse 3: War in Life' on Fridays at 10 pm KST on SBS and can be streamed on Viki.