Ryu Si-O is the antagonist in the comedy KDrama, Strong Girl Nam-Soon. The character is played on-screen by Byeon Woo-Seok.
Strong Girl Nam-Soon follows the titular girl who goes missing in Mongolia as a kid and returns to Korea as an adult, in search of her birth parents.
In the midst of the search, she also gets involved in a fight against drugs that her birth mother is very passionate about.
As much as Nam-Soon’s invincibility helps her avert the risks that would scare and endanger ordinary men, she’s still not aware of the dangers that Ryu Si-O, the man at the center of the drug distribution ring, poses to her and others.
The Drug lord
Ryu Si-O is a sleek and devilishly handsome man of great wealth. His posture and physical movements all speak to his confidence that’s mostly borne out of his privileged status.
He’s also not a man of that many words. He can speak when he wants to, and he knows how to as well.
This is demonstrated when he addresses the people during the company meeting, rattling off his plan for the company’s way forward.
This plan focuses on making Korea get hooked on drugs again, and he’s invested in one very diabolically potent drug, which is shown to have been created by a scientist in a very expensive, high-tech lab using what looks like very advanced science and technology.
Ambiguous strengths & motives
Ryu Si-O drips with a mystique. However, for a wealthy man and owner of a drug creation and distribution institution that hides behind his logistics company, his motives can not be that far from an average sight.
Capitalism pops up far too frequently in the show and the protagonist is shown to be frequently critical of it. On the other side of the spectrum is Si-O, who’s not just the drug overlord but also a capitalist overlord.
Since the themes and commentary in the show are explored through absurd and creative ways, Ryu Si-O is not simply a capitalist end boss, he’s also a supervillain. Much like the protagonist Nam-Soon, Ryu has also been teased to have superpowers.
He’s also very much interested in Nam-Soon, showing a fascination for her powers. As to the source of his own powers, the show has kept that part ambiguous so far.
Also Read: Gang Nam-Soon: Strong Girl Nam-Soon character explained