Everyone has a motive but who killed Tae Minho?
At the central of TV Chosun’s drama “Babel 바벨” is murder. Murder of one man that gave rise to a whole series of incidents and revelations.
And practically everyone has a motive to kill this man, Tae Minho.
A scoundrel of the worse kind, a devil hiding behind the face of a mild gentleman. Deep down, he was an ambitious man plotting to usurp and own the vast Geosan chaebol empire. No act was beneath him. From worming his way into his father’s trust, seducing his sister-in-law and convincing her he only loved her then using the taped video of their sexual affair to extort shares in Geosan from her. Resorting to domestic violence on his wife. Incurring the wrath of his “stepmother” and his elder brother by becoming the top man, after his father, to lead the group.
Charismatically evil!
His “stepmother” held a grudge against him as reminder of her husband’s unfaithfulness and that he was a threat to her own son’s succession. From young, he had been mistreated by her and when he grew up and was appointed by her husband as the new President of Geosan Electronics, a red flag was raised. Worst, he had the gull to confront her after escaping the helicopter accident that had her husband in coma. So, to ensure her ambition is not derailed, she had motive to get rid of him, this obnoxious being who was a threat to her well laid plans!
His elder brother Tae Suho is not only worried about succession and was upset that he leapfrogged him in the organisation hierarchy. Worst, because Tae Minho cuckolded him by carrying on an affair with his wife, he has ample motives to kill him. But then, he and his wife have a window dressing marriage and they agreed to lead their own respective lives to do as they please. So was he cuckolded in the first place?
Cuckolded Tae Suho is losing a battle as heir to Geosan
And his sister-in-law Na Yeungeun. She whom he has been cosying with and believed that he only loved her! Yah! In your dreams! The next thing she knew, her so called love showed her a video of them in the act and started blackmailing her! His goal, to have her transfer her shares in Geosan to him! So for blackmailing her and putting her under stress, he had to go! Motive enough?
Tae Minho’s wife Han Jungwon had plenty of reasons to do him away. She was the recipient of his persistent domestic violence from beating, kicking, lashing with his belt and even rape! Not only that, he and her sister-in-law were carrying on an affair right under her nose and in her bed! And her sister-in-law was devious enough to leave pieces of jewelry lying around for her to find! And now that he has found out that she was having an affair herself, she might be subject to even more violence! Can she live with such a man? What with a gentle, loving man waiting at the wings for her? What should she do? Divorce! But then he vehemently refused and threw the divorce papers right back at her, telling her in no uncertain terms that she was his forever! Then he went on to pull yet another violent attack on her! Kill, kill, kill! She has ample motives!
His viciously abused wife has reasons enough to kill!
And Cha Woohyuk? His motive would be because of his lover Han Jungwon. He could possibly have killed him out of jealousy and that he wanted her all to himself. Or that he wanted her to get out of her marriage to be with him. Or he wanted to remove all traces of his affair with her since her husband has now found them kissing in the stairwell. If the idea that he killed Tae Minho because she had been subject to domestic violence, let me dispel the notion as he had no idea of her suffering until he started his investigation after he was murdered!
Everyone, and I believe many among the audience except maybe the fans of the actor, wants Tae Minho dead! Says a lot about his character! Charismatically evil!
So who killed him off? Well, super sleuths, continue your investigations!
Everyone has a motive!
通天塔（哑铃）：每个人都有动机
朝鲜电视TV Chosun的电视剧“通天塔（哑铃）Babel 바벨”的核心是谋杀。一名男人被谋杀，引发了一系列事件和启示。
几乎每个人都有杀死这个男人泰民浩的动机。
他是恶棍一个，戴着温和绅士面具的魔鬼。在内心深处，他是一个雄心勃勃的人，正在密谋争夺庞大的巨山财阀帝国。为了夺权，他什么事情都可以做得出。有计划的，一步步的赢得父亲的信任，诱惑嫂子，对她示爱，然后用他们偷情的视频勒索她。用家暴诉诸妻子。他的“继母”和哥哥愤怒他夺权巨山。
Mummy dearest hated him since the day she set sight on him!
他的“继母”对他怀有怨恨，因为他提醒她丈夫的不忠，并且对自己儿子的继承构成了威胁。从年轻时起，他一直受到她的虐待，长大后，丈夫任命为他为巨山电子的社长时，就亮了红灯。直升机事故导致成丈夫陷入昏迷状态，但他竟安然无事，还开始跟她对抗。因此，为了确保她的野心不会脱轨，她有动机把他给干掉，这个令人讨厌的人会对她精心策划的计划有威胁！
他的哥哥泰苏和不仅担心继任，而且对于他一下上任为巨山电子的社长感到不安。最糟糕的是泰民浩与妻子发生了暧昧关系。他有足够的动机杀死他。但他和妻子婚姻其实是挂名夫妻，他们同意过各自的生活，随心所欲。所以事实上，可以说他没有戴绿帽！
Who needs a blackmailer?
他的嫂子哪英恩，一直被骗，认为他只是爱她！呀！在做梦吧！后来，醒悟了，因为他竟然把他们的偷情给录像，拿来勒索她！他的目标是让她将巨山的股份转让给他！他的勒索使她处于压力之下，所以他必须得消失！够动机的吧？
泰民浩的妻子韩贞媛有很多理由把他给干掉。她是持续家暴的受害者，殴打，腿踢，腰带鞭打，甚至强奸！他和嫂子不仅在她的鼻子下搞婚外情，还在她的床上滚！狡猾的嫂子还故意留下耳环的痕迹，让她晓得！现在他发现她也有外遇，她可能会遭受更大的暴力！她能继续和这样的男人住在一起吗？或与等着她的那位温柔，有爱心的男人过快乐的生活呢？她该怎么办？离婚！但他强烈拒绝了，还毫不含糊地告诉她，她会永远属于他的！然后继续对她采取暴力！杀，杀，杀！她有充足的动机！
Did he off the man for his woman?
还有车宇赫？他的动机是因为他的情人韩贞媛。他可能会因为嫉妒而杀死他，并想全部占有她。或他希望她离开她的婚姻与他在一起。或者因为她丈夫发现他们在楼梯间的接吻，知道了他们的关系，他想要除掉所有的痕迹。如果大家想着他是因为她遭受家暴而杀死了泰民浩，让我打消这个想法。他并不知道她受了家暴，是在他被谋杀之后，他开始调查这案子才知道她的痛苦！
我相信每个人，除了这演员的粉丝之外，希望泰民浩死了！很明显的，他的角色具有魅力，但是是邪恶的魅力！
谁杀了他？侦探们，继续调查！
So who struck the lethal blow?
Credits – Many thanks! TV Chosun, ParkSihooSsi.com, ParkSihooHongKong.com
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19 Comments
CWH cannot be the murder and has
no motive reasonably . l disagree with Nance this time.
If you were there in the Geosan Chairman’s office and you see the woman you care about being raped. What would you do? That could have been the motive. The question then is, was Cha Woohyuk there?
El profesor es el mejor actor
☺☺☺
So there are 5 main suspects! ☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️ How intriguing when it finally gets revealed whodunnit! Meanwhile putting on my thinking cap as to whose baby is Han Jungwon carrying in her womb!🤰
👏
Why didn’t you talk about Yu shi zang ? He is much more like the main suspect than CWH. In the drama thread, CWH & Tae Yola are the main roles out of the suspects. It’s wrong issue to set CWH could be the murder to kill Tae Minho. It’s unreasonable.
You have your opinion and I have mine. In my view Cha Woohyuk definitely have motives and other than “love” for Han Jungwon, there could be other reasons that neither you nor I may be aware of. Another motive to consider is that since he rewrote the will of Chairman Tae who probably made Tae Minho the heir to Geosan, by killing him, he get rid of a favored son as revenge? I will not rule out Yu Shizang as murderer but does he have a motive? I doubt. He acts according to instructions. Maybe he had a pact with Han Jungwon to do this? Then it is Han Jungwon’s motive, not his. I have stated my rationale why Cha Woohyuk could potentially be the killer. As you disagree, maybe you could share your reasons why he doesn’t have a motive. Afterall, this is the platform for sharing of views. Neither you nor I nor the audience can read the mind of the writer, we only have our views, right? 🙂
Just my two cents. The murderer might be MinHo’s secretary who knew about the domestic violence and since he and Jungwon made a deal regarding most probably a kidney’s donation for his relative if he’ll help her then he did his part in the rough circumstances of that night. I think was him who helped her to leave the building safely if nothing more.
Definitely, he could be a suspect, but he has no motive so to speak.
The detective in me says:
For Han Jung Won, at the beginning of marriage, there was love and tenderness as a thin layer of ice that cracked at the first step more pressed of their conjugal life. Can she be the killer? I think not. The hell of his marriage made her want to run as far as possible and dare to ask for divorce. But only that. The idea of murder I do not think could have sprouted into her mind. But being at the crime scene in the time it happened, she might be suspected of witnessing it.
Tae Su Ho, with his lean nature and with mind at drug only, is incapable of taking a single decision, and I think he can be just a witness or a manipulated man, behind whom the assassin entered the office.
Their mother, who has a special power and people who execute her orders without blinking, I think she is most involved in killing Tae Min Ho. But still, if she wanted his death, she could have done it over the years, from childhood. And I think too, when she sent her man in the footsteps of Cha Woo Hyuk, she did not order him to kill him, but only to beat him because his son was still alive. The fact that the prosecutor was on the brink of death is due to the fact that bully had overacted.
But there are other characters whose role is still not well defined in the story. Who is Riki, what is the connection between him and the assistant of Tae Min Ho and what mysterious object he is hiding and why? Whom wants to blackmail? They are connected with murder? Who is the woman who was beaten by her drunk husband and who had the key to the mysterious object in Riki’s hand? Did the killer act alone or could have accomplices? But the woman in the cage who she is? My head starts to be in pain. 🙃😌
And another thing: Cha Woo Hyuk knew beforehand Tae Min Ho. In what circumstances did they know each other and what kind of collaboration they had? Did TMH know from the beginning the relationship between the prosecutor and his wife ( if we remember the nasty smile when he saw their kiss)? Because he could always find it through his men who were always on the trail of his wife. And how consistent was the relationship between CWH and HJW, because I do not think they could be seen too often, even though she had his apartment’s key.
Dana, excellent analysis of the motives for Tae MinHoo to be killed. His savage and chameleon-like behaviour, his cynicism, his hypocrisy, his disrigard towards all the members of the family, have made him to be hated by all of them. But , as you say and I agree, none of them has killed him, but could have hired a professional killer to do this job. Who is this person, that’s the big dilema.As for Ricky, also a dubious person, who knew Cha Woo Hyuk’s father:”Your walking style even takes after your father’s a lot.”, knows who killed CWH’s father. And he wants to sell this secret to the person who pays more. What’s the secret? As for the woman in the cage, she is the pilot’s wife, who was caught on the moment she prepared her run. Has she been the accomplice of those who have prepared the aviatic acident, kiling her husband too? And now she was kept in a cage not to uncover the truth? I’m waiting the episodes tomorrow with much eagerness.
Daniela Maria Miricescu Many thanks for sharing your profound view and as always, I love to hear different viewpoints. I think Tae Minho first meeting with Cha Woohyuk was in the hospital room at the time he saved Han Jungwon. That could possibly be the only time they met (I might be wrong). That was the help he gave Tae Minho, I believe. I don’t think Han Jungwon can be the killer as she would not have the strength to do it. Likely it is a man but who? We don’t know yet. Could be the secretary of Tae Minho who has a pact with Han Jungwon. Speculation is that she asked him to keep one eye close on her (maybe her whereabouts and her affair with Cha Woohyuk) or it could also be that he was accessory to murder – either premeditated or not. He could have saved Han Jungwon and killed her husband so they both have an agreement to keep it secret. Stefania Lupu Yes, that is the pilot’s wife.
All 3 of you are terrific in detailing the many intrigues/motives/personalities. I won’t have more to add. Except that the woman in the cage (ie the pilot wife, who received phone call from Mrs Tae to pack and run) was watched on video surveillance by the hired man ie the barber who almost slained CWH like how we slaughter a chicken. So this part is total mystery to me, Mrs Tae told the pilot wife to pack and run, but caught and caged and watched by the same barber who is hired by Mrs Tae….so????
I should add that I agree with Daniela Maria Miricescu’s analysis that HJW wouldn’t have strong enough motive to kill TMH if she has, she would have done it long ago. Eldest son as I earlier said when he said to his mum that he didn’t kill TMH, it sounds to me he was telling the truth. What I said earlier that my take was HJW killed TMH was based on what Babel has revealed so far back then, it looked very much like she was the killer with the scene where her right hand almost touched the pen knife, and there are scenes that she is both right and left hander. Now that the PA who seems to have symphaty on her and the potential organ donation from her, my guess has now included the PA who came into the scene to help just as she grabbed the knife to finish TMH off. It was not a premeditated murder. There are certainly many more layers of stories which none of us have yet gone that far to analyse, the history that involved CWH’s parents and Chairman Tae or Mrs Tae and Ricky. Regarding the scene in the hospital after HJW was attacked by the prisoner being the 1st time TMH & CWH met each other, I think so too, but only 95% confident of this thought, the 5% I feel uncertain is if that is the very 1st time CWH met TMH, CWH’s body language and facial didn’t seem like it’s his 1st time meeting a woman’s husband , a woman who was rather much a stranger to him just a couple of days earlier, who other than his article 6 years ago (which he himself already not vividly remembering it at the point he met HJW at the Spanish restaurant). His eyes and face were rather avoiding/evasive when TMH walked in, as a gentleman I expect CWH to be more outwardly cordial (eventhough he has a private agenda against Chairman Tae) towards TMH there and then. Yes his hand was hurt and could not return the handshake, but before that, if I were him, I would at least stand up when this stranger woman’s husband entered her room…….but he just sat there and face down, not even a slight nod towards the closest kin of the patient on the hospital bed…….hmm….
Stefania Lupu Dear Stefania, it’s more logical that it is a hired killer who killed TMH, however Babel director and scriptwriter made sure viewers like us remember this detail as they said if it is professional killer, which pro will use a pen knife and not his own weapon. This point seems to be told with special efforts which will be one clue for guessing the identity of the killer. Unless again, just as the many wrong focus, this point is made to show even the investigators had it so wrong.
Chai Hua Loke I’m beginning to think too, that CWH and TMH did not meet for the first time in the hospital. In fact, CWH followed the whole Tae family for many years with the stubbornly of the man who wants to take revenge. In the whole drama, characters try to cover by appearances that they know each other better than they look.
Now that I read your comment and reread Nance’s article, I started to doubt HJW’s innocence, though she was so soft, silent and seems helpless. If at first she loved his husband (during the interrogation she responded elusively to CWH), throughout his long marriage, this love had all the time to turn into a mighty hatred, so that at the decisive moment gave her the courage to fight back violence husband through the instinct of self-defense.
Daniela Maria Miricescu It’s really really mind boggling and intriguing drama. That’s precisely why we all like it💪💪💪
We look for clues in the actions of the characters, but I think a key is also in events that apparently do not relate to the story. For example, why CWH and Tae Yu Ra met for the first time in court in a case where the accused was just a woman who killed her husband who abused her (why this case and not another?). And what reply gave CWH to Tae Yu Ra? That even dead, the husband has to pay for his sins. And it caught my attention also the woman who gave that key to Riki, who was beaten by her husband (domestic violence appears to be a leitmotiv in Babel). Riki gave her money and told her to leave her husband, but the woman said no, because he helped her raise her children.
And about CWH, if he had committed the crime, it would not have let HJW go home. He would have taken her with him, tried to calm her, and then think of a plan. But he looked surprised when the sister-in-law told him that HJW had arrived home at 4 o’clock in the morning.