The Kidnapping Day
🎬 Prime Video
⭐ 8.3 / 10 MDL
🔞 15+
Drama Overview
Kim Myung-joon is a warm-hearted but desperate man who accepts his ex-wife’s proposal to kidnap Choi Ro-hee — the 11-year-old daughter of a wealthy family — to cover his daughter’s medical bills. But before he can even execute the plan, Ro-hee collapses in front of his car, loses her memory in the incident, and wakes up believing Myung-joon is her father. Stuck with an amnesiac genius child he never actually abducted, Myung-joon attempts to demand ransom anyway — only to call and call with no answer.
When Myung-joon eventually discovers that Ro-hee’s parents have been murdered, everything changes: he’s now the prime suspect in a double homicide while simultaneously on the run with a sharp, perceptive child who quickly suspects he’s not who he claims to be. Based on the novel by Jung Hae-yeon, The Kidnapping Day is equal parts comedic and genuinely tense — a rare ENA drama that delivers both laughs and real stakes.
12 / 12 ✅ Completed
⚡ Quick Verdict
One box. Everything you need to decide.
· MDL Score · 14,371 ratings
▶ Official Trailer
Cast & Characters
The full lineup — from leads to scene-stealers.
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Supporting
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Antagonist
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Episode Guide
All 12 episodes — spoiler-light recaps with key moments.
🏁 Ending Explained
Full spoilers — the finale broken down.
Spoiler Warning — This section covers the full finale of The Kidnapping Day. Stop here if you haven’t finished the series.
The murderer was hiding in plain sight. The finale of The Kidnapping Day reveals that the mastermind behind the murder of Ro-hee’s parents was not an outside enemy but someone embedded in her family’s inner circle — motivated entirely by greed over the hospital inheritance. The revelation reframes much of the show’s earlier misdirection: all those red herrings about fund managers, lawyers, and shady business dealings were true enough to keep the audience (and the investigators) looking the wrong direction. The real killer had both motive and proximity the entire time.
Myung-joon is cleared — but the moment is earned, not convenient. Detective Sang-yun, who spent most of the series building a case against Myung-joon, is the one who ultimately proves his innocence. The reversal works because the show gave Sang-yun a genuine investigative arc — he doesn’t just stop chasing Myung-joon, he actively puts himself on the line to present conclusive evidence of the real killer to the authorities. The wrongful-suspect resolution lands with weight because it wasn’t handed to anyone easily.
The found-family goodbye is the emotional core of the finale. Ro-hee — now with her full memory restored — knows exactly who Myung-joon is: a desperate man who stumbled into her life through an almost comically wrong-footed kidnapping attempt. But she also knows what he gave her: warmth, protection, and the uncomplicated sense of being someone’s priority. Her goodbye to him is bittersweet and quietly devastating. The drama closes on a hopeful note — Myung-joon’s daughter’s surgery is a success — but never wraps things up too neatly. Two people found each other in the worst possible circumstances, and that’s enough.
✍️ KDramaWorlds Editor’s Take
Our honest read on why this drama is worth your time — and who it’s for.
The Kidnapping Day is genuinely funny in ways that should not work alongside a double-murder investigation — and that tonal balance is where the show earns its reputation. Yoon Kye-sang plays Myung-joon as a man for whom absolutely nothing goes right, a walking disaster navigating a situation he created but cannot control. The comedic beats come from his helplessness, not from the crime itself. And alongside him, Yuna as Choi Ro-hee delivers one of the most quietly remarkable child performances in recent K-drama history — a girl so sharp and perceptive that she flips the dynamic completely. This is not a story about an adult protecting a child. It’s about two people with wildly different skill sets, both running from the same danger, figuring out how to cover for each other.
Where the show is occasionally uneven is in its supporting conspiracy — the web of fund managers, hospital heirs, and shady lawyers can feel crowded in the middle stretch, and the series occasionally loses track of which subplot it’s prioritizing. Park Sung-hoon as Detective Sang-yun is excellent throughout, but his arc gets squeezed by the third act as the focus narrows back to Myung-joon and Ro-hee. These are minor complaints about an otherwise well-constructed thriller, though, and the finale’s viewership record (5.245% nationwide — ENA’s highest at the time) tells you this one connected. If you’ve already seen A Shop for Killers and want something that uses a similar odd-couple energy but grounds it in domestic stakes, this is the natural next watch.
The drama understands something that a lot of crime thrillers miss: it’s the emotional logic of the relationship at the center that keeps audiences invested, not the mystery mechanics. The whodunit here is satisfying, but the real question the show answers in its finale is what happens to two people thrown together by terrible circumstances when those circumstances finally resolve. The answer is moving without being saccharine. Start it for the premise, stay for the found family that neither character saw coming.
Anyone who loves an unexpectedly brilliant child character running circles around the adults
Viewers who want their crime drama to leave them with warm feelings as well as solved mysteries
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