General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

Flower of Evil

Flower of Evil (악의 꽃; also romanized Akui Kkot) is a 2020 South Korean television thriller romance series broadcast on the cable channel tvN, in which a man who has changed his identity to hide his dark past builds a family life with a police detective wife who later investigates an unsolved serial murder case that may be tied to him.¹ It stars Lee Joon-gi and Moon Chae-won and ran for 16 episodes from July 29 to September 23, 2020.²^•³ The series has since been remade in the Philippines and India and adapted for the stage in Japan.⁴^•²^•⁵

Key fact	Detail
Original title	악의 꽃 (Akui Kkot)⁶
Broadcast	tvN, South Korea, July 29 to September 23, 2020; Wednesdays and Thursdays at 22:50; 16 episodes of about 71 minutes³^•⁶
Creators	Directed by Kim Cheol-kyu, written by Yoo Jung-hee⁷
Lead cast	Lee Joon-gi as Baek Hee-sung / Do Hyun-soo; Moon Chae-won as Cha Ji-won; Jang Hee-jin as Do Hae-soo; Seo Hyun-woo as Kim Moo-jin⁸
Finale ratings	5.7 percent average nationwide rating with a 6.2 percent peak, the highest of its run; first in its time slot among viewers ages 20 to 49⁹
Audience scores	IMDb 8.5 from about 20,000 votes; JustWatch rating 75 percent⁸
Remakes	Philippine adaptation (2022, ABS-CBN/Dreamscape with Viu); Indian remake Duranga (2022, ZEE5); Japanese stage play (Studio Dragon and Avex Pictures)⁴^•²^•⁵

Spoilers

Premise and cast

The story follows a man who changes his identity to conceal his past and maintains the disguise by building a happy family with his wife, a police detective. When she begins investigating an unsolved serial murder case that might be tied to him, she must confront the possibility that her perfect husband is not who she thinks he is.¹ TVmaze describes the drama as a suspense series about a psychopath who changes his identity to conceal his cruel past, tracing the couple from harmonious family life to crime scenes.⁶

Lee Joon-gi plays the husband under two names, Baek Hee-sung and Do Hyun-soo, and Moon Chae-won plays the detective Cha Ji-won. The main supporting cast includes Jang Hee-jin as Do Hae-soo and Seo Hyun-woo as Kim Moo-jin.⁸ The series was directed by Kim Cheol-kyu and written by Yoo Jung-hee.⁷

Broadcast and reception

The series premiered on tvN on July 29, 2020 and aired Wednesdays and Thursdays at 22:50, with an average runtime of about 71 minutes per episode.³ According to Nielsen Korea, the final episode on September 23, 2020 scored an average nationwide rating of 5.7 percent and a peak of 6.2 percent, a significant jump from the penultimate episode and the highest ratings of the drama's entire run. Among viewers ages 20 to 49 it averaged 3.3 percent with a peak of 3.7 percent, taking first place in its time slot across all channels, including public broadcast networks.⁹

After its Korean run, the series became available internationally through streaming platforms and gained popularity abroad for its plot twists and performances.¹ As of recent listings it streams on Netflix and HBO Max in the Philippines, where it ranked 1335 on the JustWatch Daily Streaming Charts.⁸ In Japan it has remained in the Netflix series TOP 10 for nine consecutive weeks.⁵

Philippine adaptation

ABS-CBN Entertainment acquired the rights from CJ ENM and Studio Dragon in 2021 to produce a Filipino version, with Piolo Pascual and Lovi Poe in the lead roles originally played by Lee Joon-gi and Moon Chae-won.¹ Produced by Dreamscape Entertainment, the 32-episode series was directed by Darnel Villaflor and Richard Arellano and became the first Viu Original Adaptation from the Philippines, streaming on Viu in 16 markets across Asia, the Middle East, and South Africa, 48 hours before each domestic television broadcast.⁴^•¹⁰

The remake premiered on Viu on June 23, 2022 and became a top-rated show on the platform; it later aired on Philippine free television on Kapamilya Channel, A2Z, and TV5 from November 7, 2022, weeknights at 9:30 PM.¹¹ In this version Pascual plays Jacob, a metal craftsman married to the police detective Iris (Poe), who is assigned a 17-year-old unsolved murder case that may be tied to her husband's past.¹¹ Director Villaflor said the spine of the Korean original story was retained, along with its most memorable scenes.¹⁰ Pascual described the version as faithful to the original material from beginning to end while treating it in a distinctly Filipino way in approach and sensibilities.¹² The series ran through October 9, 2022.¹³

Other adaptations

Studio Dragon sold remake rights to the Indian streaming platform ZEE5, which produced Duranga, a nine-part series made with the Mumbai-based production company Rose Audio Visuals. This made Flower of Evil the first Korean series to be remade in India.²^•⁷ A Chinese remake is also listed under the title Yin Man Zhi Shi.⁶ In 2024, Studio Dragon and Japan's Avex Pictures announced a deal to adapt the drama into a Japanese stage play; Avex producer Yuka Higuchi described the work at its core as a story of deep love and human drama.⁵

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026