Description
In 1983, the South Korean president and his delegates are visiting Burma when a bomb planted by North Korean agents explodes, killing some high-ranking officials
This historical event is called the Rangoon bombing (also known as the Rangoon incident)
To strike back, five South Korean officials plan a covert operation, codenamed "Operation Cleansweep," to enter North Korea and kill several top members of the North's high command
Lee Jin-pyo and Park Moo-yul, two Presidential Security Service bodyguards and best friends who were present at the bombing, organize a 21-man team for the mission
However, as the team wreaks havoc in Pyongyang, the five officials abort the plan to avoid an international crisis if the mission is discovered
Their major concern is that the United States will withdraw its nuclear protection if the mission is made public, in light of Seoul's official declaration that it will not retaliate
The operation is successful, but as the troops swim out from Nampo to an ROK Navy submarine assigned for their extraction, snipers aboard the submarine open fire on them
An already injured Park sacrifices his life to save Lee
Lee swims back to shore and returns to South Korea, where he finds out that the assault team's service and personal records have been erased
Promising to avenge his fallen comrades, Jin-pyo kidnaps Moo-yul's infant son, and names him Lee Yoon-sung
He flees to the Golden Triangle to raise the child as his own and trains the boy intensively in combat
Following an attack on a village they are living in, Jin-pyo confesses his long-term plan for revenge to a teenaged Yoon-sung
Seven years later, after successfully finishing his education and attaining a doctorate in the United States at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Yoon-sung returns to South Korea to fulfill his adoptive father's plan for revenge
He enters the Blue House as an IT expert under the National Communication Network Team
He is warned by Jin-pyo not to trust anyone and never fall in love, as doing so will put the people around him in danger
While working at the Blue House, Lee meets bodyguard Kim Na-na
Eventually Na-na participates in his revenge plan, as they discover that they have the same goal in mind
Problems occur as Jin-pyo's revenge plot unfolds
Especially when Lee defies his surrogate father at several occasions as they try to identify and kill the officials, known as the "Council of Five."
Each member of the Council have achieved significant wealth and political influence since 1983, and are engaged in various levels of corruption
Jin-pyo and Yoon-sung's conflict stems primarily from Jin-pyo's wish to murder each official, and Yoon-sung's wish to teach them a lesson and expose their corruption without killing them
As Yoon-sung exposes the officials' corruption, the citizens of Korea sense an unseen force of justice that they dub "City Hunter."