MBC’s ‘Liar’ revealed the painful past behind Kang Ji-sun’s failed lie detector test in its November 7 episode, as Seo Hyun-jin’s character was shown to have been a victim of a sexual crime involving a former elementary school principal who was a friend of her late father.
According to Star News, the episode traced the threatening texts Ji-sun had been receiving — “You’re finished now” — back to the principal himself, and explained why she had answered “no” when asked whether she had ever reported a sexual crime before.
A reporter tracked down the principal of the elementary school where Ji-sun once worked. He admitted she had reported him to police, but insisted it was a misunderstanding, saying he had been treated as though he had tried something with “a friend’s daughter I’ve known since she was little.” He said her older sister had demanded the complaint be withdrawn, and that Ji-sun later knelt and apologized, after which he gave her 5 million won.
The principal also handed the reporter a photo of Ji-sun visiting a club, which was then published and put her in fresh trouble. The episode then revealed he was the one sending the threatening messages, taunting her with “Serves you right. Your father would be pleased.”
When Ji-sun confronted him, he claimed he had given her a chance. She shot back that she had withdrawn the report even though everyone tried to stop her, splashed water on him, and warned him never to appear in her life again.
The episode closed the loop on the lie detector thread. Ji-sun called detective Lee Hwa-young, played by Ok Ja-yeon, and confessed through tears that the false reading had come from that past case, saying she had been afraid people would think of her as someone who reports such crimes habitually.
The revelation reframes the drama’s central mystery. ‘Liar’ premiered on October 30 as a 12-episode thriller built on two conflicting accounts of a single night: Ji-sun, an elementary school librarian, reported Min Jun-ho, played by Yoo Yeon-seok, to police, and he was arrested at work at the end of the first episode. The series reunites Seo and Yoo nearly ten years after SBS’s ‘Dr. Romantic’ in 2016.
With the principal exposed and Ji-sun’s secret out in the open, the coming episodes will have to show how the truth about her past reshapes the case against Min Jun-ho.
