Actor Ha Seok-jin wins Netflix reality show 'The Devil's Plan'

Actor Ha Seok-jin wins 250 million won ($184,400) on Netflix reality show "The Devil's Plan," proving his intelligence against younger contestants.

Actor Ha Seok-jin, the final winner of the Netflix reality game show ″The Devil's Plan″ [NETFLIX]

Actor Ha Seok-jin may be the smartest celebrity in Korea. The actor became the final winner of the Netflix reality show “The Devil’s Plan,” which came to an end on Oct. 10, and won 250 million won ($184,400) in prize money by competing against 12 other celebrity contestants in a series of “brain games.”

“I honestly didn’t think that I had a chance of becoming the final winner,” said Ha during a group interview with local reporters at a cafe in Jung District, central Seoul, on Monday. “I decided to appear on ‘The Devil’s Plan’ because I wanted to test how much of my intelligence I've held on to having reached my 40s. I wanted to show that if you maintain yourself well, you can still compete with people in their 20s using your brain.”

“The Devil’s Plan” reached No. 1 on Netflix’s show rankings in Korea last week, with more than 2.3 million views within the first week of its release and reaching third on the streaming services’ non-English language show charts.

A scene from ″The Devil's Plan″ [NETFLIX]

Ha says he needed some time at the beginning of filming “The Devil’s Plan” to get acquainted with the setting and the rules of the show, and feels that the contestants who fell out of competition in the first few episodes, including pro-gamer and broadcaster Guillaume Patry, television presenter Lee Hye-sung and university student Kim Dong-jae, were simply “unlucky.”

“I think anybody could have fallen out in those first couple of episodes,” said Ha. “I didn’t mean to ferret out my fellow contestants during those early episodes, but it ended up like that. To put it metaphorically, I felt like I was running the eleventh or twelfth out of 20 runners in a 5000-meter race, and during the race, I felt that I had the chance to perhaps finish in the leading group.”

Ha has been a regular on another cerebral quiz show “Problematic Men” (2015-present) for five years, and that experience taught him the skills necessary for solving difficult quizzes and games on the show, he said.

A scene from ″The Devil's Plan″ [NETFLIX]

“You can’t ignore all the hours I spent pondering over questions on ‘Problematic Men,’” said Ha. “And the experience of doing so in front of the camera and under flashing lights has also prepared me for filming ‘The Devil’s Plan.’”

Regarding a season two for “The Devil’s Plan,” Ha was skeptical whether he would be invited back because the creators of the show would want contestants who have not experienced game shows before.

“I think I could be invited back as a cameo or a play a part in the quests or something like that, but not as one of the contestants,” said Ha. “I do hope for a season two because it’s such an interesting setup and premise for a game reality show.”

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]