General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20266 min read

Song of the Bandits (도적: 칼의 소리)

Song of the Bandits (도적: 칼의 소리, Dojeok: Kalui Sori) is a South Korean action Western television series released on Netflix on September 22, 2023, set in the lawless 1920s border region of Gando, where, in the show's framing, China's land, Japan's money, and Joseon's people converge¹. All nine episodes dropped at once². The series stars Kim Nam-gil, Seohyun, Yoo Jae-myung, Lee Hyun-wook, and Lee Ho-jung³.

Key fact	Detail
Original title	도적: 칼의 소리 (Dojeok: Kalui Sori); the title's 도적 is written with the characters 刀嚁, "sound of the sword," rather than 盜賊, "thief"³
Release	September 22, 2023, all nine episodes on Netflix; TV-MA rating²^•⁴
Setting	Gando (Jiandao in Chinese), a border region in present-day northeastern China with a large ethnic Korean population, long disputed between Korea and China⁴
Main cast	Kim Nam-gil as Lee Yoon, Seohyun as Nam Hee-shin, Yoo Jae-myung as Choi Chung-soo, Lee Hyun-wook as Lee Gwang-il, Lee Ho-jung as Eon-nyeon³^•⁵
Creators	Co-created by writer Han Jung-hoon and director Hwang Jun-hyuk⁴
Reception	86% Tomatometer and 88% Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes; 7.2/10 on IMDb from about 2,900 ratings⁶^•⁷
Basis	Not based on a book or a true story, but draws on the history of Korean resistance to Japanese colonization in the 1920s⁴

Spoilers

Premise and setting

The story takes place in 1920s Gando, a region in present-day northeastern China that drew Korean settlers during the Japanese occupation of Korea. Netflix's logline describes it as a place with "China's land, Japan's money, and Joseon's people," where people come together to protect their loved ones and home¹. The region, known as Gando in Korean and Jiandao in Chinese, has long been an area of territorial dispute between Korea and China, and the characters refer to it as Gando throughout the series⁴.

Netflix has stated that the series is not based on a book or a true story, though it draws on the actual history of the Korean uprising against Japanese colonization during the 1920s⁴. Director Hwang Jun-hyuk described it as "a historical drama that combines a Western genre action [story] with an Asian hero to deliver a new kind of catharsis"⁴.

Characters

Lee Yoon (Kim Nam-gil) is the series' central figure, an enslaved person turned Japanese soldier turned resistance leader⁴. AsianWiki's synopsis describes him as a Korean serving under the Japanese military in South Korea who leaves everything behind, travels to Jiandao, and becomes a bandit to protect the settlement and its people⁵. Kim Nam-gil said he was drawn to the story of people who live to protect those around them rather than to reclaim the nation, and to how that thread would combine with the period setting³.

Nam Hee-shin (Seohyun) works as a section chief in the railway bureau of the Japanese-controlled government in Korea while hiding her real identity as an independence fighter⁵. Kakao Entertainment describes her as an activist disguised as the head of the Railway Bureau of the Japanese Government-General of Korea⁸.

Choi Chung-soo (Yoo Jae-myung), an army commander for the independence movement, now leads the Korean settlement in Jiandao and joins forces with Yoon as leader of the bandits to protect the townspeople⁵^•⁴. Lee Gwang-il (Lee Hyun-wook) is a Japanese military officer hostile to Lee Yoon; Netflix's character notes identify him as Yoon's former "owner" who serves in the Japanese military and unknowingly dates Hee-shin, his own fiancée, who is secretly an independence fighter⁵^•⁴. Eon-nyeon (Lee Ho-jung), called "Some Girl" in Netflix's materials because no one knows her real name, is a contract killer skilled with guns who is hired to kill Lee Yoon and heads to Jiandao to carry out the contract⁵^•⁴.

Season 2 status

The first season's finale left several storylines open, and Kim Nam-gil spoke publicly about wanting a second season, saying he had joined the project with that intention and hoped filming could begin the following autumn¹¹. Netflix has not officially confirmed a renewal¹⁴.

The Korean Western style

The series is built as a Korean Western, with dusty vistas, gunslingers, and horseback action in the lawless borderland⁹. Its action draws on weapons from both East and West: Lee Yoon's signature Winchester rifle, Choi Chung-soo's black horn bow and sword, and other characters' shotguns, double axes, and rifles¹⁰. Kim Nam-gil performed a "spin cocking" maneuver with a Winchester rifle weighing 15 kg, rotating it upside down to reload¹¹.

The title itself carries the genre's framing. Netflix's Korean announcement explains that the 도적 in the title is not the 盜賊 meaning "thief" but 刀嚁, meaning "sound of the sword"³.

Production

The series was produced by Baram Pictures, a subsidiary of Kakao Entertainment, with Studio Dragon handling production planning⁸^•¹². It was co-created by writer Han Jung-hoon and director Hwang Jun-hyuk⁴.

According to Kim Nam-gil, the series was originally planned as 20 episodes but was reduced to nine, which left out material on how the bandit group formed and the backstories of Lee Yoon, Lee Gwang-il, and Nam Hee-shin; he said he joined with a second season in mind¹¹. Netflix also gave the series an 18-and-under restricted rating in Korea because of the violence of its action scenes¹¹.

Release and reception

Netflix confirmed the September 22, 2023 release in August 2023, positioning the series for the Chuseok holiday period³. Two days after its debut, the series ranked first in the Korean TV show category on Netflix; on October 4 it reached second place in the non-English TV category on Netflix's Global Top 10, and it made the Top 10 in 26 countries including Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, and Vietnam⁸.

Critics generally responded to the action and craft. On Rotten Tomatoes the season holds an 86% Tomatometer from seven reviews and an 88% audience score⁶. Reviewers praised the choreographed fight sequences and cinematography; Pierce Conran, writing in the South China Morning Post, gave it three of five stars and found the execution good but unremarkable, noting that the show "feels like it ends halfway through"⁹. An NME review called it thrilling and cinematically stunning while observing that it is not entirely historically accurate and that its many subplots can feel overwhelming¹³. On IMDb the series holds a 7.2/10 weighted rating from about 2,900 users, with individual episode ratings between 7.7 and 8.3⁷.

References

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