The Kidnapper

"Do you really want to save him? Do you really want to save his life?"

- Kidnapper to his victim's parents.

The Kidnapper is the antagonist in the 2007 thriller film Voice of a Murderer.

The Kidnapper is a cold-hearted and cruel criminal who kidnaps a 9-year-old boy, Han Sang-woo, from a Seoul playground, and makes relentlessly cruel phone calls to his victim's parents demanding a ransom and is smart enough to elude capture by the police, only to call the parents again to make further demands.

The Kidnapper was portrayed by Kang Dong-won.

Role
The Kidnapper kidnaps 9-year-old Han Sang-woo - the only son of DBC news anchor Han Kyung-bae - from the playground in front of his apartment complex late at night and later makes the ransom call to his parents: 100 Grand, no calling police or their child dies.

Han's wife secretly reports the kidnapping to the police when her husband goes to the drop-off point, and he unwittingly blows the assigned undercover officer's (Detective Kim) cover and the kidnapper changes the ransom drop to another day while making a subtle threat towards the boy. After the botched arrest of the kidnapper and rescue of Sang-woo, the police start to the investigate the kidnapping with Kim assigned to lead the investigative unit, also staying close to Han alongside his protege Officer Cha.

The detectives on the case know the kidnapper is not your average kidnapper but a well-prepared and intelligent one, but don't keep that in mind, tapping of phones and surveillance only for show and not in catching the criminal aside from recording his near emotionless voice. As the chances of arresting the kidnapper and saving his victim get slim as the culprit keeps eluding arrest and even toys with the victim's parents and cops, always knowing to elude capture at ransom drops, the cops start to lose focus and bicker with another and the parents.

When things turn for the worst, and the kidnapper actually gets his 100,000 grand, the Hans start to crumble and with the shortage of suspects, the kidnapper only seems to get started, starts extorting another 100,000 grand from the Hans. One the final day of the hellish journey, Mr. Han rushes to the ransom drop praying he'll see his boy again, the kidnapper on his tail and takes the money before disappearing with it, and his victim's body is discovered 44 days after his kidnap.

Trivia

 * The Kidnapper is based on the suspect of the Kidnapping of Hyung-ho Lee in 1991.