Yadang: The Snitch Turns Korea’s Criminal Underworld Into a Ticking Time Bomb

Kang Ha-neul plays a streetwise informant navigating betrayal and survival in Hwang Byeong-gug’s tense new thriller Yadang: The Snitch.

You’ll Be Forced to Pick a Side in Hwang Byeong-gug’s Gritty Thriller Yadang: The Snitch

What’s a Yadang, you ask? In Korea, it’s a term used for informants—those slippery middlemen navigating the shadows between the criminal underworld and the justice system, often working both sides for survival. In the U.S., we’d call them snitches. In Yadang: The Snitch, acclaimed director Hwang Byeong-gug (The Client) takes us deep into that murky space where law and corruption blur into one another.

Set against Korea’s shifting justice system, Yadang explores timely themes of power, survival, and moral compromise. It stars a powerhouse trio of South Korean talent: Kang Ha-neul (Squid Game S2), Yoo Hai-jin (Exhuma), and Park Hae-joon (When Life Gives You Tangerines)—all delivering raw, standout performances in a film that doesn’t flinch.

Kang plays Kang-suoo, a sharp, street-hardened survivor who’s falsely accused and sent to prison. But instead of doing time, he cuts a risky deal with ambitious prosecutor Kwan-hee (Yoo Hai-jin): become a Yadang—an informant—and walk free. As he embeds himself deeper into a world of drug lords, corrupt cops, and internal betrayals, Kang-suoo begins to realize he’s just a pawn in a much bigger, bloodier game. One wrong move, and he’s done.

The film boasts a heavyweight behind-the-scenes team too:

Cinematography by Lee Mo-gae (Exhuma)

Production design by Lee Mok-won (Train to Busan)

Costume design by Kwak Jung-ae (Decision to Leave)

Action by Heo Myeong-haeng (The Roundup franchise)

Produced by Hive Media Corp, the studio behind Korea’s recent Oscar entries The Man Standing Next and 12.12: The Day, Yadang: The Snitch looks primed for both critical praise and box office buzz.

You’ll be asking yourself whose side you’re on until the very last frame.

Yadang: The Snitch hits U.S. and Canadian theaters on April 25, 2025.