Song Joong-ki plays the title character in the 2021 South Korean television series Vincenzo, which also stars Jeon Yeo-been, Ok Taec-yeon, Kim Yeo-jin, and Kwak Dong-yeon. After airing on television, each episode was made available on Netflix in South Korea and other countries.
The series was also successful with overseas viewers via Netflix, where it has been in the top ten TV shows on the platform from its inception, rising to fourth place on April 26. In 2021, it scored fourth on Forbes’ list of the most-watched Korean series on Netflix.
Park Joo-hyung (Song Joong-ki) was adopted by an Italian family when he was eight years old. Later, he joins the mafia and is adopted by Don Fabio, the Cassano Family’s patriarch.
He is renamed “Vincenzo Cassano” and becomes a lawyer, a mafia consigliere, and Don Fabio’s right-hand man. After Fabio dies, Paolo, Fabio’s biological son and the new Cassano Family leader, attempts to murder Vincenzo.
He escapes to Seoul and sets out to reclaim 1.5 tonnes of gold that he assisted a recently deceased Chinese businessman in surreptitiously stashing under Geumga Plaza’s basement.
However, a Babel Group subsidiary has illegally taken ownership of the building, and Vincenzo must use his skills to reclaim the building and reclaim his fortunes.
Among the oddball tenants of Geumga Plaza is the Jipuragi Law Firm, managed by Hong Yoo-chan (Yoo Jae-myung), with whom Vincenzo shares mutual interests.
Initially, he clashes with Hong Yoo-chan’s daughter, Hong Cha-young (Jeon Yeo-been), an attorney for a rival firm, but after her father’s death, she takes over the practise and teams up with Vincenzo and the other tenants to fight Babel Group.
Vincenzo – Season 1 – Summary
Vincenzo Cassano, a Korean-Italian mafia consigliere, returns to Seoul after a power struggle forces him to flee Italy. His goal is to retrieve hidden gold bars buried beneath Geumga Plaza, a rundown building filled with quirky tenants resisting eviction. There, he meets Hong Cha-young, a clever but unscrupulous lawyer, and her father, Hong Yoo-chan, who is fighting against the corrupt Babel Group.
When Yoo-chan is murdered by Babel’s seemingly innocent intern, Jang Jun-woo (later revealed to be the ruthless Jang Han-seok), Vincenzo joins forces with Cha-young for revenge. Using his underworld skills, he begins systematically destroying Babel’s empire while pretending to help the tenants. The duo employs clever legal tactics and brutal methods, blurring the lines between justice and vengeance.
As Vincenzo grows closer to Cha-young and the Plaza’s tenants, his cold mafia demeanor begins to soften. However, Jang Han-seok escalates his violence, leading to a deadly game of cat and mouse. The fight culminates in a brutal showdown, with Vincenzo using fire—his signature method—to eliminate his enemies.
In the end, Vincenzo recovers the gold but chooses to leave Seoul, his fate uncertain. Cha-young takes over her father’s law firm, now committed to fighting corruption. Though they part ways, their bond remains, leaving the door open for a possible future reunion. The season closes with Vincenzo walking into the shadows, his past and future still shrouded in mystery.
Vincenzo – Season 1 – Trailer
