Cast of The Price of Confession: Actors & Roles (2025 K-Drama)

Jeon Do-yeon doesn’t choose projects by genre — until she does. The Korean actress, known for her restrained performances in Shield of Straw and The Day After, committed to The Price of Confession specifically because it’s a thriller built around two women. That casting instinct shaped everything: Kim Go-eun joined three weeks later, and by April 2024, Park Hae-soo was in. What arrived on Netflix on December 5, 2025, is a mystery drama assembled with uncommon precision — and this guide maps every key role behind it.

Lead Actress: Jeon Do-yeon as Ahn Yoon-soo ·
Co-Stars: Kim Go-eun, Park Hae-soo, Jin Seon-kyu ·
Genre: Mystery Thriller ·
Release Year: 2025 ·
Director: Lee Jung-hyo

The production team assembled sixteen named roles across main cast and supporting characters, with each actor tied to a character whose decisions drive the central mystery. The table below consolidates the essential production and cast details for quick reference.

“I don’t usually choose projects based on genre,” Jeon Do-yeon told Chosun, “but What intrigued me was that it’s a thriller and a story about two women, two characters.”

— Chosun interview with Jeon Do-yeon

“The plot hinges on a ‘deal’ between two women, which complicates any simple suspect-victim binary.”

— Korea Times review

Who’s the real killer in Price of Confession?

No mystery thriller reveals its killer in promotional material, and The Price of Confession follows that tradition. What the confirmed cast list does show is which actors play the characters most likely to be suspects in a story where a high school art teacher stands accused of murdering her husband.

Suspect roles from cast

The two actors most frequently connected to suspect-adjacent roles are Park Hae-soo and Jin Seon-kyu. Park Hae-soo plays Baek Dong-hun, a former detective turned prosecutor — a character with investigative access and, by definition, knowledge of how crimes are committed (Wikipedia). Jin Seon-kyu portrays Jang Jung-gu, Yoon-soo’s defense attorney, which places him at the center of every courtroom development (Wikipedia).

Actor portraying the killer

Neither Wikipedia nor Rotten Tomatoes confirms the killer’s identity in advance summaries — a deliberate choice that preserves the series’ central twist for viewers (Rotten Tomatoes). The Korea Times review notes that the plot hinges on a “deal” between two women, which complicates any simple suspect-victim binary (Korea Times). Viewers who prefer plot clarity may find the ambiguity frustrating; those who enjoy being genuinely uncertain will likely appreciate the restraint.

Who is the lawyer in The Price of Confession?

The Price of Confession features multiple characters with legal roles, and Choi Young-joon plays the one audiences most frequently ask about.

Role details

Choi Young-joon portrays Jin Yeong-in, a lawyer and law professor who represents Mo-eun (Kim Go-eun’s character) (Wikipedia). This places him in direct opposition to Jang Jung-gu (Jin Seon-kyu), who defends Ahn Yoon-soo. The dynamic — two defense attorneys representing two women whose fates become intertwined — gives the series its central tension.

Actor background

Choi Young-joon joined the project in June 2024, several months after the core cast was assembled (Wikipedia). His casting came as part of Netflix’s formal cast confirmation in June 2024, alongside Jin Seon-kyu (Asian Drama Wiki). Audiences familiar with Korean legal dramas will recognize the character type: an academic with courtroom polish, drawn into a case that exceeds professional boundaries.

Is Price of Confession worth watching?

For viewers weighing whether to commit six to eight hours to a mystery drama, the answer depends heavily on what they want from the genre.

Pros and cons

Cast appeal

Jeon Do-yeon told Chosun she was drawn to the project because “it’s a thriller and a story about two women” (Chosun). That dual commitment — to genre entertainment and character study — defines the series’ strengths and weaknesses simultaneously. Viewers who want star-driven prestige drama will find it here; viewers who want plot-driven urgency may need to adjust expectations.

Main Cast of The Price of Confession K-Drama

The four core cast members who anchor the series have a combined range that spans independent film, blockbuster television, and stage work — a casting mix that gives The Price of Confession unexpected depth.

Jeon Do-yeon as Ahn Yoon-soo

Jeon Do-yeon plays Ahn Yoon-soo, a high school art teacher accused of murdering her husband Ki-dae (Wikipedia). Her character is the series’ emotional center — a woman whose guilt or innocence becomes inseparable from her relationship with the mysterious Mo-eun. Jeon Do-yeon was cast in December 2023, the first confirmed addition to the project (Wikipedia). Kim Ji-won was in final talks in December 2023 but declined the role before Jeon Do-yeon’s involvement was finalized (Wikipedia).

Kim Go-eun as Mo Eun Witch

Kim Go-eun portrays Mo-eun (also known as Kang So-hae, nicknamed “the Witch”), a former medical professional operating under an assumed identity (Wikipedia). Kim Go-eun was cast on January 17, 2024 — three weeks after the original lead was confirmed (Wikipedia). Her character’s backstory as a medical professional gives her a clinical detachment that contrasts sharply with Ahn Yoon-soo’s artistic sensibility.

Park Hae-soo as Baek Dong Hun

Park Hae-soo plays Baek Dong-hun, a former detective turned prosecutor who becomes central to the investigation (Wikipedia). Park Hae-soo was cast in April 2024 and had already worked with Jeon Do-yeon in The Cherry Orchard stage play on May 6, 2024 — giving the two leads an existing creative rapport before filming began (Wikipedia). That prior collaboration shows in their on-screen dynamic: a comfort level that reads as genuine rather than constructed.

Cast Roles: Grandfather, Husband, and More

Beyond the four leads, the supporting cast fills the specific character functions that give the series its texture — from courtroom observers to cellblock companions.

Grandfather actor

Lee Kyu-hoe portrays Ko Dong-uk, a retired colonel and the grandfather of Ko Se-hun (played by Nam Da-reum), a teenage boy whose parents were murdered (Wikipedia). This grandfather-grandson pair connects directly to the inciting crime of the series — the murder of Yoon-soo’s husband is entangled with, but distinct from, the earlier killing of Se-hun’s dentist parents.

Husband character

Lee Ha-yool plays Lee Ki-dae, Yoon-soo’s deceased husband — the man she stands accused of killing (Wikipedia). His presence in the narrative is primarily through flashbacks and testimony, not active scenes. The mystery of what he did, and whether Yoon-soo’s act was justified, drives much of the early-series tension.

Episode 1 cast

Rotten Tomatoes confirms the full cast credits for the series, including several characters who appear primarily in early episodes: Seo Eun-young as Oh Seo-won (Ki-dae’s former student and mistress), Lee Sang-hee as Bae Sun-deok (a pregnant probation officer), and Jung Woon-sun as Choi Su-yeon (a cellist and Jin Yeong-in’s wife) (Rotten Tomatoes). These smaller roles shape the world around the central characters without competing for focus.

Related reading: Moon Chae-won: Age, Height, Husband, K-Dramas and Bio

Frequently asked questions

For K-drama fans who prize acting precision over plot spectacle, The Price of Confession delivers something harder to find: two of Korea’s most technically gifted actresses given room to build characters from silence as much as dialogue. The question of who killed Ki-dae matters less than the question of what two women will do when the system offers them no clean way out. Kim Go-eun’s Witch delivers the series’ most unsettling moments precisely because her motives remain opaque until the final act — rewarding patience with one of her most complex performances.