Actors Seol Kyung-gu (from left) and Ryu Jun-yeol, director Kim Hong-sun and actor Lee Kyu-hyung on Aug. 20 pose for a group photo at a news conference for the original Netflix series "Mousetrap" at Hotel Naru Seoul M Gallery in Seoul's Mapo-gu District. (Park Dae Jin)

By Margareth Theresia
Video = Official YouTube channel of Netflix K-content

"Prove I'm real or I'm the imposter."

A mouse that eats the fingernails and toenails carelessly discarded by its owner Moon-jae transforms into the latter. His entire family, and even the county magistrate, mistakes the imposter for the owner while Moon-jae is driven out of his own home.

This is based on a folktale handed down over generations about a shapeshifting rat.

"Mousetrap," a 10-episode original Netflix series premiering worldwide on Aug. 28, is a mystery thriller based on the eponymous Kakao webtoon that reinterprets this folktale in a modern setting.

Director Kim Hong-sun on Aug. 20 called his K-drama "a thriller about someone whose entire life is instantly taken away and sets out to reclaim his identity" at a news conference for the series at Hotel Naru Seoul MGallery in Seoul's Mapo-gu District. 

Scenes from "Mousetrap" (Netflix)

Moon-jae, a novelist who has lived in seclusion for three years, suddenly loses everything -- his name, identity and wealth -- to a mysterious "field mouse." Determined to reclaim his life, he teams up with Noja, a loan shark who has been hounding him, to track down the rodent.

Playing Moon-jae -- who is forced to prove his identity -- is actor Ryu Jun-yeol, who described playing dual roles for the first time in his career.

"I wanted to portray the characters by only focusing on subtle details such as personality and eyes," he said. "The most distinctive difference is voice."

Ryu added that he put in extra effort in scenes in which the two characters converse by voice so that viewers could easily distinguish them.

Seol Kyung-gu plays Noja, a loan shark seeking to recover his money. The veteran actor described his character as "part of the last generation of organized gangsters, a mid-level boss instead of the top leader."

"An ironic situation unfolds in which Noja hates Moon-jae enough to want to kill him, yet he becomes Noja's hope," he said in highlighting one of the series' key plot points.

On playing Sun-yong, a detective who receives an anonymous letter and begins probing the case, actor Lee Kyoo-hyung said, "I was drawn to the realistic sense of fear that someone could steal my life in a society flooded with personal information nowadays, so I took on the role."

If someone's face, name and even social relationships can be stolen, what methods could prove one's identity? This weighty question posed by "Mousetrap" echoes the anxiety of modern society, where personal data is exposed everywhere, evoking a sense of real-world fear and intense tension.

The director said, "This story might be more realistic than thought since similar things are happening and more people are living alone."

margareth@korea.kr