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If you're watching Made in Korea, there's one thing that can be confusing if you don't know modern Korean history.
Baek Ki-tae works for the KCIA.
But he doesn't seem like an ordinary intelligence officer.
He moves through worlds of politics, business, crime, and power—and by Season 2, he's risen even higher.
So you may find yourself wondering:
What exactly was the KCIA?
And perhaps more importantly:
Why did it have so much power?
The short answer is:
The KCIA was South Korea's central intelligence agency during much of the country's authoritarian era. It handled intelligence and national security, but its influence also extended deeply into domestic politics and the protection of the government in power.
Understanding that changes the way you watch Made in Korea.
What Does KCIA Stand For?
KCIA stands for:
Korean Central Intelligence Agency
In Korean, it was called:
중앙정보부
Jungang Jeongbbu
The name becomes easier to understand when you break it apart:
중앙 (jungang) = central
정보 (jeongbo) = information / intelligence
부 (bu) = department
So 중앙정보부 can be understood literally as the Central Intelligence Department.
English-language audiences usually know it by its abbreviation:
KCIA.
And yes—the organization was real.
It isn't an intelligence agency invented for Made in Korea.
Why Does the KCIA Matter So Much in Made in Korea?
The KCIA isn't simply background decoration.
It's central to the entire world of the drama.
Disney+ describes Baek Ki-tae as living a double life in 1970s South Korea: a KCIA agent by day and a dangerous businessman by night. Season 1 even has prosecutor Jang Geon-young uncovering suspicious KCIA activities.
Then Season 2 jumps forward nine years.
It is now 1979, and Disney+'s official episode description says Ki-tae has become deputy director of the KCIA and is enjoying considerable power.
That's not a random promotion inserted to make the character look impressive.
For a Korean audience familiar with the history, KCIA + 1979 + deputy director immediately carries enormous significance.
We'll come back to 1979.
First, we need to understand how the KCIA became so powerful.
The KCIA Was Created in 1961
The story begins before the 1970s.
The KCIA was established in 1961, the same year Park Chung-hee came to power following a military coup.
Its role included intelligence and national security at a time when South Korea faced a very real security threat from North Korea.
That context matters.
The Korean Peninsula was divided.
The Korean War had ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
Cold War tensions were intense.
And anti-communism became an extremely powerful force in South Korean politics.
An intelligence agency therefore had an obvious national-security role.
But the KCIA became much more than that.
Why Was the KCIA So Powerful?
Here's the key to understanding it.
The KCIA was concerned not only with threats coming from outside South Korea.
It became deeply involved with what happened inside the country as well.
That meant intelligence and surveillance could intersect with:
politics
anti-communism
opposition movements
national security
government power
and the maintenance of the existing political system.
Director Woo Min-ho describes the 1970s world of Made in Korea as one in which powerful people could exercise enormous influence while ordinary people often paid the price. He deliberately chose the decade as the setting for his examination of power and ambition.
That historical atmosphere is essential to Ki-tae's character.
He's not simply:
a spy.
He's operating within an institution positioned close to the center of political power.
KCIA vs CIA: Are They the Same Thing?
For American viewers, this comparison is almost inevitable.
KCIA
looks like:
K + CIA
So it's tempting to think:
“Okay. It's basically Korea's CIA.”
That's useful as a starting point.
But don't stop there.
Both were intelligence organizations, but their political histories and institutional roles were not identical.
When watching Made in Korea, the biggest difference to keep in mind is the KCIA's historical involvement in domestic political affairs.
That's why translating KCIA simply as:
“Korea's CIA”
can help an international viewer identify the type of organization—but doesn't explain the whole story.
The historical context matters.
Why Was Anti-Communism So Important?
To understand 1970s Korea, you also have to understand one word:
반공
bangong
반 (ban) = anti-
공 (gong) = communism/communist
So:
반공 = anti-communism
For many international viewers today, this can sound like an abstract political concept.
For South Koreans living during the Cold War, it was much more immediate.
The Korean War was recent history.
North and South Korea remained divided.
Military confrontation was a constant possibility.
And the competition between the two Koreas was political, military, economic, and ideological.
This environment gave national security enormous political importance.
And when national security becomes powerful enough, another question appears:
Who decides what counts as a threat?
That's one of the historical tensions sitting behind the world of Made in Korea.
Then Came the Yushin Era
The KCIA becomes even easier to understand when you know another Korean word:
유신
Yusin
In 1972, President Park Chung-hee introduced what became known as the Yushin system.
The period was characterized by increasingly centralized presidential authority and tighter restrictions on political opposition.
This is exactly the Korea in which Made in Korea begins.
So when you watch powerful officials moving between politics, intelligence, business, and law enforcement, remember:
you're not looking at contemporary South Korea.
You're looking at a fictional story set during an authoritarian period when political power was structured very differently.
This is also why the academic book we connected to Part 1, Cultures of Yusin: South Korea in the 1970s, fits this mini-series so well—it examines the society and culture surrounding this exact period.
What Does “Jungang Jeongbbu” Tell Us in Korean?
There's a small language detail worth noticing here.
정보 — jeongbo
usually means:
information
But in certain contexts it can mean:
intelligence
For example, an intelligence organization gathers information that is important for national security.
So when 정보 appears inside:
중앙정보부
the English translation isn't simply:
Central Information Department.
It refers to an intelligence agency.
This is a good example of something you'll encounter often while learning Korean through K-content:
the dictionary meaning isn't always enough.
Context determines what the word really means.
Why Doesn't the KCIA Exist Today?
Here's another question viewers often have once they learn the KCIA was real.
Does South Korea still have the KCIA?
No—not under that name.
After the political upheavals surrounding the end of the Park Chung-hee era, the organization was reorganized and renamed.
The intelligence agency later became known as the Agency for National Security Planning, and eventually today's National Intelligence Service (NIS).
In Korean:
국가정보원
Gukga Jeongbowon
Often shortened to:
국정원
Gukjeongwon
So if you're watching a modern Korean spy drama, you're much more likely to hear:
국정원
than:
중앙정보부.
That's an easy way to tell which historical world you're in.
1970s political drama → 중앙정보부 / KCIA
modern Korean spy drama → 국정원 / NIS
Why 1979 Changes Everything
And now we reach the date that makes Season 2 especially interesting.
1979.
Season 2 officially begins with Ki-tae as KCIA deputy director in 1979.
Director Woo Min-ho had already said before the season premiered that the story would jump nine years to 1979 and show how the characters' pursuit of power begins to break down.
More recently, he explained that Season 2 takes place immediately before the 1979 military rebellion, while Made in Korea approaches that historical moment through fictional characters rather than recreating the real figures at its center.
That makes the year much more than scenery.
Something enormous is approaching.
And the KCIA will be right at the center of the historical turbulence.
That's why Part 3 of this series needs to answer one final question:
Why Is 1979 So Important in Made in Korea Season 2?
There we'll connect the drama to the real events that transformed South Korean politics.
Real History vs Made in Korea
One distinction is important throughout this series.
Made in Korea is not a documentary about the KCIA.
Ki-tae's actions should not automatically be interpreted as:
“This is exactly what a real KCIA officer did.”
Instead, think of it this way:
REAL HISTORY
KCIA existed
↓
It wielded substantial political influence
↓
1970s Korea was under authoritarian rule
↓
Cold War and anti-communist tensions were intense
FICTION
Baek Ki-tae
↓
His criminal activities
↓
His personal relationships
↓
The drama's central conflict
Director Woo has explicitly described the series as using real historical events while telling its story through fictional characters.
That distinction lets you enjoy the thriller without confusing drama with historical record.
Quick Korean Tip 🇰🇷
The next time you hear 정보 (jeongbo) in a Korean drama, don't automatically translate it as just “information.”
Look at the context.
정보 → information
정보기관 → intelligence agency
중앙정보부 → Korean Central Intelligence Agency
국가정보원 → National Intelligence Service
One Korean word can tell you a lot about the world of the drama.
FAQ
What was the KCIA?
The Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) was South Korea's central intelligence organization during much of the country's authoritarian era. In Korean, it was called 중앙정보부 (Jungang Jeongbbu).
Was the KCIA real in Made in Korea?
Yes. The KCIA was a real institution. Made in Korea, however, uses fictional characters and storylines within a historically grounded setting. Disney+ identifies Ki-tae specifically as a KCIA agent and later its deputy director.
Why was the KCIA so powerful?
Its influence went beyond foreign intelligence. During the authoritarian era, national security, anti-communism, intelligence gathering, surveillance, and domestic politics could overlap closely, giving the organization significant political influence.
Is the KCIA the same as the CIA?
No. The CIA comparison helps explain that the KCIA was an intelligence agency, but their histories and roles were not identical. The KCIA's involvement in South Korean domestic politics is particularly important for understanding Made in Korea.
What does 중앙정보부 mean?
중앙정보부 (Jungang Jeongbbu) was the Korean name of the KCIA. 중앙 means central, 정보 means information or intelligence, and 부 means department.
Does the KCIA still exist?
Not under that name. South Korea's intelligence organization was later reorganized and renamed. The country's current intelligence agency is the National Intelligence Service (NIS), 국가정보원.
Why is 1979 important in Made in Korea Season 2?
Season 2 begins in 1979, a pivotal year in modern South Korean history. Disney+ confirms the season opens with Ki-tae serving as KCIA deputy director that year, while director Woo Min-ho has connected the season's setting to the political turmoil surrounding 1979.
Recommended Resources
If the KCIA and Yushin-era Korea are the parts of Made in Korea that fascinate you most, the book we introduced in Part 1 becomes even more relevant here:
Cultures of Yusin: South Korea in the 1970s
Edited by Youngju Ryu, this is an academic resource rather than a casual K-drama guide.
It explores South Korea during the Yushin period through politics and culture, helping readers understand the society surrounding the institutions and power structures depicted in Made in Korea.
[View Cultures of Yusin: South Korea in the 1970s on Amazon →]
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Once You Know the KCIA, Made in Korea Looks Different
At first, Baek Ki-tae can simply look like an unusually powerful fictional character.
Then you learn what 중앙정보부 was.
You understand the Cold War.
You understand 반공.
You encounter 유신.
And suddenly his position inside the drama means much more.
That's what we're trying to discover through this series.
Not just:
What happened?
But:
Why would this make immediate sense to a Korean viewer?
Continue the Made in Korea Series
Part 1 — Is Made in Korea Based on a True Story? The Real 1970s Korean History Behind the Drama
Part 2 — What Was the KCIA? Why It Had So Much Power in Made in Korea ← You are here
Part 3 — Why Is 1979 So Important in Made in Korea Season 2?
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