The Defects Ending Explained: Directed by Oh Ki-hwan, 아이쇼핑, or I Shopping, is a chilling webtoon adaptation of Child Shopping by Eum Se-yun. The series features the following cast: Yeom Jung-ah as Kim Se-hee, Won Jin-ah as Kim Ah-hyun, Choi Young-joon as Woo Tae-sik, DEX as Jung Hyeon, Ahn Ji-ho as Ju-an, Lee Na-eun as So-mi, and Oh Seung-jun as Seok-su. The drama is a blend of dystopian science fiction and unflinching social commentary by way of its ensemble cast, laying bare the ruthless implications of an overemphasis on “perfect” children at the expense of morality and humankind.
Korean Drama The Defects Recap
In The Defects kdrama, South Korea’s low birth rate is a profitable but ghastly enterprise: producing and selling bioengineered babies. Such “designer” babies, engineered from eggs and sperm of the nation’s elite, are offered for sale to affluent parents as perfect commodities. But when a baby is “defective” — either because he is sick, less smart, or simply because he is not living up to his parents’ expectations — he can be “returned” as a defective product.
At the centre of the narrative is Ah-hyun, one of the “returned” children, who survives only because she is saved by Tae-sik, a man himself who had once worked for the syndicate when he was young but who later adopts a few abandoned children as his own. Dwelling in the underground, Ah-hyun and adopted family members — So-mi, Ju-an, Seok-su, and later Si-woo — live in the perpetual risk of being discovered and killed by the dominant syndicates who “created” them.
Behind the scenes, SH Medical Foundation mastermind Kim Se-hee builds her empire with Jung Hyeon, who himself was once a “defective” child. Se-hee’s influence extends into politics, business, and even the presidential palace, making her virtually invincible. She sells the idea of “perfect humans” as mankind’s destiny, killing anyone who stands in her way of achieving it.
As the children grow older, they begin to put together the facts about where they were from and the scope of the operation. Their mission turns from survival to vengeance, to expose the organisation that humiliated them and stop the sinister business deal of Se-hee from being legalised. It is a thrilling ride with betrayal, tragic losses, and ethical dilemmas that push each character to the limit.
Kdrama The Defects Ending Explained
How Did the Younger Ah-hyun Get Help from Madam?
In the series, it is Ah-hyun who gives the finishing blow in dismantling her mother’s dynasty. Brought up by Kim Se-hee as the president’s wife’s stand-in (Madam), Ah-hyun learns of the conspiracy to use her to carry what Madam desires to have as her own genetically perfect child. Ah-hyun thwarts the process and confronts Madam herself, announcing that she is not pregnant and never was.
With her encounter with Ah-hyun, Madam is appalled at Se-hee’s real motive: the “ideal” children sold are not the offspring of the preferred donors of the buyers in any way. Instead, Se-hee has been inseminating her own eggs with the sperm of men who possess the desired characteristics to bear children in numbers, discarding the ones that are not qualified. Madam realises that her alleged “child” would have been one of Se-hee’s products with no biological relation to her and her husband.
Above all, Ah-hyun records this interview. This blackmail tape is her ace: if Madam doesn’t help, she’ll release the tape, destroying her reputation. Cornered by undeniable proof of Se-hee’s deception and the political fallout, Madam joins sides with Ah-hyun. This alliance becomes crucial in the finale, as Madam’s influence calls in the police and SWAT teams at precisely the right moment, tipping the children’s odds into victory.
How did Jung Hyeon Die in The Defects Drama?
Jung Hyeon’s demise within The Defects is as tragic as it is abrupt. Having himself been bullied at one point, he had become the most reliable enforcer of Kim Se-hee, following her orders with merciless effectiveness. Over the years, he was feared by most of the defectives, but his interactions with the younger Ah-hyun revealed him to have a gentle core. He addressed her by name with a very unusual softness, as if she were part of his own family, and she came to view him herself as not so much a faceless terror but a multifaceted character bound by loyalty.
In the last raid on Se-hee’s camp in The Defects episode 8, a scramble ensues when Madam’s intervention involves bringing in heavily armed police. With gunfire ringing out in the compound, Jung Hyeon automatically flings himself in front of Se-hee to protect her from the attack. In that moment, he is struck by several bullets. The impact sends him falling instantly, and Se-hee is left standing over the man who had guarded her for so long, lifeless at her feet.
Younger Ah-hyun rushes to him, crying “uncle” in distress, a poignant reminder that, as bad as all the pain he had caused had been, there still remained a human connection between them. His final action was not one of redemption in the classical sense — he did not leave Se-hee or his sins behind — but it was a human one, one born of love for the woman who had nurtured him and the confused feelings that had clouded their relationship.
Did Ah-hyun Manage to Expose the Organisation?
Yes — but it was an effort that required concerted, high-stakes action. In The Defects episode 7, Ah-hyun, Tae-sik, and the children collect proof of SH Medical Foundation’s wrongdoing: the refund scam, the “healing camp” killings, and Se-hee’s manipulation of influential families. Ju-an’s computer hacking reveals parent lists, refund schedules, and signed gun delivery receipts proving premeditated intent to kill.
The ending of The Defects comes on “D-Day,” when Se-hee gathers refunded children and forces their parents to play a deadly game of hunting. In the midst of the chaos at the camp, Madam’s cooperation — elicited through younger Ah-hyun’s tape — ensures that the police raid the compound. The police burst in with warrants and the authority of the public to arrest Se-hee for kidnapping, murder, and human trafficking.
The scandal goes by the name of “Kim Se-hee Gate” in the media, sending shockwaves through politics and business. The scandal destroys not just the institution of Se-hee but also reveals the depth of corruption that enables it. While the entire parties are not brought to justice, the public record now has irrefutable proof, and the survival of the children ensures the story cannot be silenced.
Who Killed Kim Se-hee at the End of The Defects?
In an intense standoff, Ah-hyun holds Se-hee hostage in her lab as she tries to retrieve her cryogenically frozen egg samples. Ah-hyun breaks the storage case, telling Se-hee that a “perfect being” is a loving one who can thrive — the antithesis of Se-hee’s cold, commodity-oriented ideal. She accuses Se-hee of having acted out of a festering inferiority complex and not sheer vision.
It appears at first as though Ah-hyun is going to kill her, but in a moment of mercy, she saves her life in a flash of impulse, crying, “I love you, mom,” and then leaving. Se-hee, isolated and lost forever — spurned by Madam, hunted by the police, and robbed of her “flawless” past — shoots herself in the head. Her dying words, a curse upon herself as a “crazy bitch,” demonstrate her knowledge of her own monstrosity.
Thus, while Ah-hyun did not kill her in the literal sense, Se-hee’s death was a consequence of her daughter’s doing and the collapse of her kingdom. The Defects ends with her suicide as the ultimate proof of a woman vanquished by her own fixation.
Why Did Tae-sik Surrender?
Tae-sik then ultimately turns to taking the law into his own hands after the raid. Because he is aware that the majority of the parents who tried to kill their children would use their wealth and influence to evade punishment, he kidnaps them and locks them in barrels so they cannot harm anyone else. This vigilante justice is his way of saving the children in case the justice system fails.
But Tae-sik also knows that in order to win a lasting victory, the fight now must get to the courts — and that is to be a cooperating witness, not a fugitive. By surrendering to the police and turning in the arrested parents, he both has them prosecuted and keeps the children safe from further injury. His action stops being their secret guardian and starts a more lawful journey to justice.
For Tae-sik, surrender is not defeat. It’s a recognition that the children can now live without his omnipresent protection.
Did the Lives of The Other Kids Change In the End?
Yes — the conclusion of The Defects sees all the surviving kids entering a freer, brighter life. So-mi is reunited with her mother and begins to move towards her ambition to become a K-pop idol free of the stain of her awful past. Ju-an attends school and remains friends with Tae-sik, visiting him in prison and bringing him up to speed on his schoolwork.
They also go visit Seok-su’s grave, paying tribute to their dead friend and keeping their promise of experiencing freedom. The scene is used to emphasise the price of their triumph — they did not all make it, but their sacrifices are worth it. Even Si-woo, who did not know his parents were lying, now gets to experience the love of the people.
A final barbecue scene cements this change: the group smiles, dines, and embraces normalcy for the first time. Se-hee’s impending shadow of empire has faded. In The Defects Korean drama universe, the ending confirms that while trauma cannot be eradicated, it can be reworked as resilience, a testament to survival and dismantling of a system that treated them as commodities.
