If you’ve binged the second season of the Netflix hit, you know things got weird. Fast. We moved from the gritty, war-torn streets of 1945 Gyeongseong straight into the neon-soaked, high-tech chaos of 2024 Seoul. But the biggest shock wasn’t the time jump. It was the kid. Or, well, the "young man" who isn't exactly human. Seung-jo basically hijacked the narrative, and honestly, he's the most complex thing the show has given us yet.
He isn't just another monster. He’s the legacy of a nightmare.
Most people watching Gyeongseong Creature were waiting for the reunion between Chae-ok and Ho-jae (who we all know is just Tae-sang with a serious case of amnesia and a Najin in his brain). But then Seung-jo walks on screen with that cold, detached stare and those terrifyingly fast tentacles. He’s the son of Lady Maeda—sort of. If you remember the end of Season 1, Myeong-ja was pregnant when she was infected. Seung-jo is the result of that biological horror show. He was born with the Najin already inside him. He didn't have a choice.
The Tragic Origin of Seung-jo
Let’s be real for a second: Seung-jo is a victim who became a victimizer.
He was raised by Lady Maeda. Think about that. Being raised by the woman who essentially bankrolled the human experimentation at Ongseong Hospital is a recipe for a psychological disaster. He calls her "Mother," but there’s zero warmth there. It’s a relationship built on utility and fear. He’s her "perfect" creation because, unlike the first-generation creatures, he looks perfectly human. He can blend in. He can walk through a convenience store in modern Seoul without anyone blinking, right up until he decides to drop a tentacle through someone’s chest.
The show does this clever thing where it parallels Seung-jo and Ho-jae. Both have the parasite. Both have incredible strength. But while Ho-jae (Tae-sang) fights to keep his humanity, Seung-jo has never really known what being human feels like. He’s lived his entire life in the shadow of Jeonseung Biotech.
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He’s lonely. You can see it in the way he stalks Chae-ok. He’s fascinated by her because she’s like him, yet she possesses a moral compass that he was never taught to calibrate. He wants to know why she chooses to be "good" when being "bad" is so much more efficient for their kind. It’s not just a physical fight between them; it’s an existential one.
What Most People Get Wrong About His Powers
There is a lot of confusion online about how Seung-jo’s abilities actually work compared to the Season 1 monsters. Some fans think he’s just a "weaker" version because he doesn't turn into a giant, hulking beast.
That's actually wrong. He’s more dangerous because he has control.
The original creature (Chae-ok’s mother) was a blunt instrument of rage. Seung-jo is a scalpel. He can trigger his Najin abilities—increased healing, speed, and those lethal black tentacles—without losing his cognitive function. He doesn't go into a mindless feeding frenzy unless he wants to. In the 2024 setting, this makes him a top-tier predator. He’s the evolution of the experiment.
Interestingly, the show hints that his biology is slightly different because he was born with the parasite. It’s integrated into his DNA in a way that wasn’t possible for those infected as adults. This is why he doesn't seem to suffer from the same "memory loss" or identity crises that plague others who carry the Najin. He knows exactly who and what he is. And he hates it.
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The Lady Maeda Connection
We have to talk about Lady Maeda’s return. Seeing her in 2024, kept alive by the very monster she helped create, was a wild twist. But her relationship with Seung-jo is the real heart of the horror this season.
She uses him. She treats him like a loyal guard dog.
There’s a specific scene where the power dynamic shifts, and you see the flicker of resentment in his eyes. He knows he’s a freak of nature. He knows she’s the reason he can’t have a normal life. Yet, he’s tethered to her. It’s a classic "Frankenstein and his monster" trope, but flipped on its head because the monster is a handsome young man who just wants a reason to exist beyond killing people for a corporation.
Why Season 2 Changed Everything for the Character
The shift to modern Seoul allowed the writers to explore Seung-jo in a way that wouldn't have worked in 1945. In the past, he would have just been another experiment in a cage. In 2024, he’s a corporate asset.
He represents the way atrocity hides in plain sight. Jeonseung Biotech is just Ongseong Hospital with better PR and cleaner hallways. Seung-jo is the physical manifestation of that transition. He wears the suits, he follows the orders, but underneath, the 1945 nightmare is still pulsing.
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The ending of Season 2 leaves his fate somewhat ambiguous, but the impact he had on the story is massive. He forced Ho-jae and Chae-ok to confront the reality that the Najin isn't just a "curse" that can be cured—it’s a new branch of evolution that humans are trying to weaponize.
Key Takeaways for Fans of Gyeongseong Creature
If you're trying to piece together the lore after that finale, here is what you actually need to remember about Seung-jo:
- He is the first "Natural Born" Infected: This is why he is more stable and potentially more powerful than those who were turned later.
- His Motivation isn't Evil, it's Nihilism: He doesn't want to conquer the world; he’s just bored and miserable. He kills because he was taught that’s his only value.
- The Chae-ok Connection: He views Chae-ok as a mirror. His obsession with her isn't romantic—it's a desperate attempt to see if a monster can actually be a person.
- The Future of Jeonseung: As long as Seung-jo or his biological data exists, the threat of the Najin never truly goes away.
If you want to understand the deeper themes of the show, stop looking at the jump scares and start looking at Seung-jo's face during his quiet moments. The horror isn't the tentacles. It's the kid who was never allowed to be a kid.
To truly grasp the timeline, go back and re-watch the final ten minutes of Season 1. Look closely at the "baby" scene. Then, jump to Episode 3 of Season 2. You’ll see the parallels in the lighting and the framing that the directors used to signal his arrival long before he was ever named. Pay attention to the way he uses his environment; unlike the creatures in the basement of Ongseong, Seung-jo is a master of using the modern urban landscape to his advantage. It's a total shift in the predator-prey dynamic.