Koo Gi-ho: The Frog character explained

Koo Gi-ho decides to take revenge on the man responsible for his family’s downfall. In The Frog, Choi Jung-hoo and Chanyeol play Gi-ho.

Koo Gi-ho, Sang-jun’s son, lives with his aunt because his parents are busy managing their motel. His father promises to bring him to live with them soon.

Gi-ho looks forward to living with his parents, but when he finally moves in with them, he witnesses something that will haunt him for the rest of his life.

Struck by tragedy at a young age

Gi-ho, a quiet boy who keeps to himself, sees Ji Hyang-cheol, a serial killer staying at his parents’ motel, bring an unconscious woman to his room one night. 

Ji Hyang-cheol asks Gi-ho to act like a ghost, and a terrified Gi-ho does just that; he goes home without saying a word to anyone. 

If he had told his parents what he saw, they might have saved Ji Hyang-cheol’s victim and prevented their own future suffering.

After the woman’s body is discovered, Gi-ho’s parents’ business collapses, as no one wants to stay at a motel where a murder occurred. They are forced to take on jobs to make ends meet. 

Gi-ho’s mother turns to alcohol and pills while his parents struggle to sell the motel to start afresh. Amidst their struggles, Gi-ho’s parents fail to notice he is being bullied at school. 

His bullies insult him, beat him up, and force him to bring them his mother’s alcohol and pills, threatening to set the motel on fire if he refuses. 

Gi-ho is also coerced into consuming the pills and alcohol with them. Eventually, one of the boys goes into shock, and while everyone else flees, Gi-ho is the only one who stays behind. 

Despite being forced to take the most pills, the bullies blame Gi-ho. Gi-ho’s father is angered by the false accusations and gets into a fight with the bullies’ parents.

This results in the sale of the motel falling through. Gi-ho’s mother, who has lost all hope and is haunted by the murder, then takes her own life. 

Avenging his family

By the time Gi-ho becomes an adult, his father is in a nursing home, mentally ill and unable to move on from the family’s tragic past. 

One day, Gi-ho learns that Ji Hyang-cheol is writing a memoir and feels angry that the man who destroyed his family can move on while his father is still suffering, so Gi-ho decides to take action. 

He visits Ji Hyang-cheol in prison, posing as a publisher. Ji Hyang-cheol sends him to meet his ghostwriter, but Gi-ho finds the writer dead when he goes to his house.

Gi-ho takes Ji Hyang-cheol’s letters and leaves without reporting the writer’s death. The letters remind Gi-ho of everything his family lost because of Ji Hyang-cheol, and he resolves to seek revenge. 

With the help of his father’s friend, Jong-du, and Jong-du’s mother, he plots to murder Ji Hyang-cheol during his visit to his mother in the hospital.

On the same day, Yeong-ha visits Gi-ho to make a decision about selling his house. Gi-ho mistakes Yeong-ha for a police officer. He holds him captive and goes to execute his plan. 

The Frog Koo Gi-ho
Gi-ho kills Ji Hyang-cheol

When things do not go as planned, Gi-ho sacrifices his escape route to kill Ji Hyang-cheol. He then returns home, frees Yeong-ha, and prepares to take his own life before the police can find him.

However, Yeong-ha understands Gi-ho’s reasons and stops him. He convinces Gi-ho to live by calling Sang-jun and offers to be Gi-ho’s alibi to keep him out of prison. 

Yeong-ha helps cover up Gi-ho’s crime and continues to protect him. Captain Yoon, the only one who figures out Gi-ho’s involvement in Ji Hyang-cheol’s murder, chooses not to expose him, like Yeong-ha.

Gi-ho gets away with killing Ji Hyang-cheol. After avenging his family, he no longer feels helpless in the face of his misfortunes and can finally move on from his past. In the end, he reaches out to Yeong-ha, wishing to befriend him.


Also Read: Koo Sang-jun: The Frog character explained

Muskan Chhatwani
Muskan Chhatwani
Muskan is an editor at The Envoy Web. Her name translates to smile in English, but she likes shows and films that do anything but make you smile. She believes that analyzing and interpreting the tiny little things on-screen can reveal a story that is not visible to everyone, a story of your own.

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