In D.P., Shin Hye-yeon becomes a manager at the Center for Soldiers’ Human Rights and files a lawsuit against the government after losing her brother, Woo-suk. Lee Seol plays the role of Hye-yeon.
Shin Hye-yeon is first introduced in the first season of D.P.; she is Shin Woo-suk’s sister. Woo-suk’s death leaves a deep impact on Jun-ho as well as Hye-yeon.
In the second season, Hye-yeon decides to make the government take responsibility for the deaths of other soldiers like her brother and get them to compensate the families of the victims.
Hye-yeon’s question
Hye-yeon’s brother, Woo-suk, becomes a deserter after getting beaten up for forgetting words to military songs. Jun-ho, along with Park Sung-woo, is sent to bring him back. However, it is Jun-ho’s first job as a D.P. soldier, and Sung-woo is in no hurry to catch the deserter.
Instead of going to Woo-suk’s motel immediately, the two of them enjoy their time outside the base. That night, Woo-suk kills himself. Sung-woo and Jun-ho could have saved his life if they had taken their job seriously.
In fact, Jun-ho later finds out that the man he had earlier ran into was none other than Woo-suk. Jun-ho had given him his lighter, which Woo-suk had used to kill himself. Jun-ho then has to witness Hye-yeon and her mother grieving Woo-suk’s death.
Jun-ho is haunted by Woo-suk’s death. He lives with the regret of not saving him when he could have. At the end of the first season, Jun-ho goes to the columbarium to pay his respects to Woo-suk, where he runs into Hye-yeon.
He lies to her and tells her that he was Woo-suk’s junior. He also tells her that her brother was kind to his juniors in the military, which makes her question him about not doing anything to help her brother when he was getting bullied.
Jun-ho is unable to answer her and cannot forget this question. So when in the second season he gets his hands on the USB that contains classified information about the cases that General Gu has manipulated, he decides to bring the truth to light.
Hye-yeon’s efforts to make a difference
Hye-yeon hopes that no one will have to suffer the way her brother did. However, other cases like that of Ru-ri’s indicate that nothing has changed and that bullying is rampant in the military.
Hye-yeon is an admin manager at the Center for Soldiers’ Human Rights. The center files a lawsuit against the government, demanding compensation for the victims of the military.
Hye-yeon believes that since all of this has been happening within an institution of the government, the government should be held responsible. She requests people to send her tips that would help the center win the case. Jun-ho sees her on TV and decides to give the USB to her.
Hye-yeon is not scared to openly question the officials; she asks General Gu about the response team’s arrival after the mass shooting. Seo Eun warns her, but Hye-yeon is not deterred, as she thinks that her questions will leave a mark.
Jun-ho contacts her and tells her about the USB, which can become the center’s biggest weapon against the government. He asks her to meet him at the columbarium.
Jun-ho gets caught and never reaches there, but Hye-yeon finds the lighter, which her brother used to kill himself, sealed in an evidence packet with an apology note stuck to it. She then decides to go to the base to demand answers from Jun-ho.
Since Jun-ho is not there, she speaks with Beom-gu, who tells her the truth about Jun-ho’s relation to her brother’s death. Hye-yeon cannot hear Beom-gu talk about how one cannot do much here, as she is sick of hearing that.
Beom-gu gets a call from Jun-ho when he is with Hye-yeon, and it is Hye-yeon who speaks to him. Jun-ho apologizes to her, but she tells him that he does not need to be sorry, as it is the trial that matters now. Beom-gu asks Jun-ho and Hye-yeon to create a distraction while he takes the USB to court.
Although the court only accepts the claim for compensation in some cases, the result is still better than losing the case entirely. Hye-yeon, along with the others, is able to make a difference.
Also Read: Seo Eun: D.P. season 2 character explained
