Word Weave Web

At the end of the 11th episode, we saw President Park and Jeong Su-jin atop a hill with a mighty thrilling visual of Park sacrificing his life to save Korea’s future.

He plans on making the public believe that Su-jin pushed him from the cliff to secure her political future.

Did his plan succeed? Here’s the full Episode 12 recap and the ending of The Whirlwind.

The Whirlwind Series Ending Explained

The final episode starts with an anxious Yeon-sook running towards the Blue House while leaving a voice message for the President via her phone.

She enters his room, expecting to see him, but finds a letter on his table instead. It is titled, “Will.” Yeon-sook opens it to find the biggest shock of her life.

The letter, written by Park Dong-ho, contains information regarding the President’s sacrifice for the country.

Disturbed, she rushes outside towards the cliff but stops right at the gate in dismay as the Prez falls down the cliff in front of her eyes.

Park Dong-ho is rushed to the hospital in an aircraft while Jeong Su-jin is arrested for attempting to kill him.

Yeon-sook and Jeong-yeon meet in the hospital’s prayer room, where the former asks if the latter knew about the President’s plan.

Though Jeong-yeon didn’t know of it beforehand, she says he was determined to fight corruption till his last breath, which is what he did on the cliff.

Soon, President Park is declared dead by the doctors.

Yeon-sook goes to the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office, where Jeong Su-jin is held for questioning.

Inside the interrogation room, Su-jin calls her assistant and asks him to look at the Blue House’s security footage from all angles and somehow find evidence.

However, none of the cameras pointed in their direction on the cliff.

Yeon-seok meets Lee Jang-seok, the chief prosecutor, who tells his men to go out for lunch so that Yeon-seok can enter the interrogation room.

He then turns off the vision and cameras from the room to facilitate their meeting.

Yeon-seok tells the accused that her DNA was discovered on Park’s handkerchief. Plus, the buttons on the cliff show that there was a scuffle between the two.

In reality, all this was planted by the President to make Su-jin the prime accused.

Consequently, Yeon-seok plays a video of Park Dong-ho on her laptop. The video was made by him moments before he went ahead with his plan.

He addresses Su-jin in the video and gives her one last chance to either accept all her corruption charges and name others as well or face prosecution for his murder.

His will or the letter has all the information that can prove his murder was not Su-jin’s doing.

Therefore, if she accepts her misdeeds publicly, Park’s letter will prove that she didn’t kill him.

Su-jin now has to decide whether she would go down alone or fall from grace with everybody else.

When the video ends, Yeon-seok tells her that she only has time till his funeral to decide, which will be held the next morning.

It happens for the first time in the series that Su-jin doesn’t have any options left with her.

His assistant calls her and informs her that he has found footage of someone who witnessed the incident.

He shares the video with her but the witness is Yeon-seok, who will never go against Park.

Having lost all bets and time running out, Su-jin accepts the deal and tells Yeon-seok to secure the President’s will.

Later, Su-jin tells the names of all the corrupt assemblymen to the prosecutors. Everyone from the President’s camp heaves a sigh of relief upon hearing the news.

Standing in front of his coffin at his funeral, Yeon-seok tells Park that he did it and his whirlwind has begun.

Several raids are conducted at influential assembly men’s houses in the aftermath of which the general public demands the resignation of the National Assembly.

Moreover, the people want an early election.

How Was Su-jin Proven Guilty of Killing President Jang?

A few days later, Jeong-yeon goes to meet Man-gil at Su-jin’s office. She carries flowers and a vase as a present.

While talking to him, she sows a seed of doubt in his mind that Su-jin might try to put President Jang’s death on him.

This is because she has a history of making people scapegoats.

For example, her late husband’s business dealings, where she knew everything but denied the same in front of the detectives.

Moreover, she shows him an article on her phone that says Su-jin will be released soon, thanks to President Park’s will.

While talking to her, she puts the flower inside the vase and places it at the center of the table. The vase contains a hidden camera.

Before leaving, she tells Man-gil to watch out for himself as she doesn’t want him to become her next scapegoat.

On the other hand, upon her release, Jeong Su-jin reprimands the prosecutors, led by Lee Jang-seok.

She tells them that they should respect her since she now holds the key position after President Park’s death.

Her arrogance is visible in her behavior towards the prosecutors. However, Jang-seok remembers his final talk with President Park and calls for a press conference.

In the meeting with the reporters, he reveals the previously undisclosed contents from Han Min-ho’s diary.

The crucial information from the same happens to be about President Jang’s death.

According to the diary, the President did not die naturally and was instead assassinated inside the Military Hospital.

It also mentions the cause of death as asphyxiation and puts the blame on Lee Man-gil.

Mann-gil furiously watches this news on the TV. He feels that Jeong-yeon was right and Su-jin has made him the scapegoat.

This is when Su-jin enters her office and asks him to do something for her, but her expressions soon change when she notices the news on the television.

Man-gil turns the TV off and an argument ensues between the two. She tells him that the evidence has been fabricated.

His secretary returns by talking about how she fabricated Min-ho’s diary.

Meanwhile, their whole conversation is being telecasted via news channels across the country. Because their TV is now turned off, they are unaware of it.

An emotional Man-gil narrates everything that happened that day in the hospital room when she suffocated the former President.

He further requests her to save him by telling agencies the truth. Later, Su-jin accepts on camera that she was the one who killed President Jang.

Since she is also equally emotional, Su-jin goes on to detail how she committed the crime.

She mentions how she used the same handkerchief to kill President Jang, which only he had gifted her.

People watch the unbelievable live telecast at their homes, in restaurants, and on the roads, expressing shock.

Su-jin further states how Park Dong-ho’s funeral ceremony will be a golden opportunity for her political rebirth.

Once the admission of guilt is crystal clear, Jang-seok orders her arrest.

If not for her daughter’s phone call, Su-jin would not have known that she was live on TV.

She turns on the TV and is lost for words. Meanwhile, an equally stunned Man-gil breaks the flower pot.

The cops enter her office and arrest her and the series ends with visuals from Park Dong-ho’s public funeral with state honors.

Apparently, Jang-seok is lodged in the same jail on the walls of which she once wrote “Long Live Democracy,” while fighting during the war.

Who Knew About President Park’s Final Plan of His Own Death?

Nobody clearly knew what he was going to do. Had it been the case, they would have stopped him since his entire team loved him so much.

Still, for the sake of the argument, let’s try to be more precise.

It is clear that Yeon-sook did not know about his plan. She only learned it through his will.

Jeong-yeon also didn’t know. She said this to Yeon-sook in the prayer room.

The only person who may have been aware of President Park’s plan was Lee Jang-seok. I can say this because he was on a phone call with him when the President was on the cliff.

Moreover, Jang-seok knew what he had to do once his friend was gone.

The planning was so crisp and long-term that Jang-seok knew what he must do if or when Su-jin was released.

What is Whirlwind in the Series’ Context?

Just like the whirlwind, flushing away all the corruption plaguing the Korean Republic is the goal of the show’s protagonists.

Hence, “The Whirlwind” is used as a figure of speech for President Park who went on to fulfill his friend, Gi-tae’s dream of being a whirlwind.

What Was Park Dong-ho’s Plan in the End?

There were two plans. The first was to make Su-jin accept the bribery charges, which became easy after Park decided to sacrifice himself.

The second plan was to make Su-jin feel free once the murder charges of President Park were dropped, thanks to his will.

Once she felt free, the plan to install a secret camera caught her off-guard at the right time, which led to her final confession about killing President Jang.

What Were Gi-Tae and President Park’s Dreams in The Whirlwind?

Gi-Tae wanted to be like a whirlwind.

On the other hand, Park’s dream was to create a world where the corrupt feel ashamed of their crimes.

Did Park Dong-ho Really Die in The Whirlwind?

Yes, President Park Dong-ho made the supreme sacrifice for his country.

He threw himself off the cliff and did it in a way that made Jeong Su-jin the prime accused.

It helped him gain an upper hand and he used the leverage to bring out the confession from her mouth.