Divorce Attorney Shin (신성한 이혼) is a Korean courtroom drama series, co-directed by Lee Jae-hoon and Lim Jun-hyuk. The screenplay is written by Yoo Young-ah and it has been adapted from the webtoon of the same name by Kang Tae-kyung, which was published from 10 September 2019 to 31 August 2021 by Kakao.
The K-drama follows Shin Sung-han who majored in piano and became a professor at a music university in Germany. However, something tragic happens and he is urged to come back to South Korea and starts working on becoming a lawyer. And not just any lawyer but especially a divorce lawyer, due to the reasons that are related to the tragedy. He is also joined by his childhood friends – Jang Hyeong-geun and Jo Jeong-sik who call themselves 40-year-old youths.
The cast of the series includes Cho Seung-woo as Shin Sung-han, Han Hye-jin as Lee Seo-jin, Kim Sung-kyun as Jang Hyeong-geun, Jung Moon-sung as Jo Jeong-sik, Kang Mal-geum as Kim So-yeon, Jeon Bae-soo as Park Yu-seok, Han Eun-seong as Choi June, Cha Hwa-yeon as Ma Geum-hee, Noh Susanna as Jin Young-joo, Kim Tae-hyang as Seo Jeong-guk, Lee Eun-jae as Yoo Sae-bom, Park Jung-pyo as Kang Hee-seob, Jang Sun-yul as Kang Hyun-woo, Kim Jun-eui as Seo Ki-young and Kang Hye-won as Seo Ha-yul.
Divorce Attorney Shin Ending Explained
In the show, Shin Sung-han comes back to South Korea & changes his profession from a Piano professor to a Divorce Lawyer, all because of his sister, Ju-hwa’s death. She dies in a car accident after her failed divorce lawsuit where she loses her son Gi-yeong’s custody. Soon after the lawyer that defended Ju-hwa, Park Yu-seok, finds a high paying job at the ex-husband’s owned law firm & which makes Sung-han suspicious of his conspiracy to help the husband from the start.
With no evidence at hand, Sung-han decides to stay in Korea & become a lawyer to face Park Yu-seok one day & to take care of his nephew, in what so ever way he can. But things are not so easy with the new stepmother, Jin Yeong-ju wanting to destroy Sung-han & to get Gi-yeong out of the family, like she did with the mother.
Does Shin Sung-han Win Gi-yeong’s Custody?
In the last episode, we see that Sung-han has filed for the termination of parental rights over Gi-yeong. During the first trial, Sung-han gives evidence that Gi-yeong is actually suffering from severe child depression, which his parents neglected even though the driver, Mr Jung told them about his overeating at the convenience store. Mr Jung testifies the same and tells how he was fired a week after sharing the boy’s situation with the stepmother.
From the defence, the new lady driver testifies and brings up Jeong-sik’s stalking in the court. To counter that, Sung-han brings up how Gi-yeong wouldn’t have tried to run away from his academy to come to his office if the new driver was actually caring for his wishes & taking him to places he requested for. He shows CCTV footage of the academy & how he hid his bag in the classroom & sneaked out.
Even the cook testifies from the parent’s side that the nephew is a picky eater & often has indigestion due to overeating his favourite junk foods. Once again, the CCTV footage of him forcing himself to eat food counters the claim that he has no issues. Finally, even Park Yu-seok come to get questioned by Sung-han, where he brings up how he got a job at Keumhwa after losing Ju-hwa’s divorce case & even received a cafe as his severance pay from them.
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He tries to show that Yu-seok secretly worked for Seo Jeong-guk instead and that would be considered an illegal & corrupt act. He asks him about the psychiatric medical records of Ju-hwa from when she was in the US – which was the crucial information that led to Ju-hwa not getting custody. He asks if he knew about it & whether Yu-seok was the one to give Jeong-guk those records in exchange for a high-paying job at Keumhwa firm. But Yu-seok refuses all.
During the second trial, the defendant’s attorney puts up the argument that termination can only be an option if the child is being abused, starved or not being given the basic necessities – which isn’t Gi-yeong’s case. Sung-han counters it by bringing up the emotional well-being & of what would happen to a child whose emotional needs are not being met. Even if he is well-fed, he is not cared for or loved then he’s just a shell of a human with no emotions.
Somewhat moved by Sung-han & his emotions speech, the father agrees to testify. It’s like giving Sung-han a free chance to take the guardianship, as the first question he asks is how he got Ju-hwa’s medical reports. While the father says that he went to the hospital himself to collect but he got the lead about it from Park Yu-seok, proving Yu-seok conspired with him.
Keeping the unfair play in mind & how the father himself doesn’t seem sure if his son’s all needs are being met in his house, the judge gives the verdict in Shin Sung-han’s favour. He gives him full custody with limited rights to the father, like facilitated visits on Guardian’s approval. Thus, Shin Sung-han finally wins the custody of his nephew, Gi-yeong.
Also, in the show Sung-han seems to have given up on everything that he cherished earlier like playing the piano and drinking wine. Once the guilt and burden of not helping his sister before are slowly let go of, Sung-han revisits the convenience store where Ju-hwa died & has his first glass of wine in years.
What Happens to Park Yu-seok and Jin Yeong-ju?
Since it was proved that Park Yu-seok actually breached the law by helping Ju-hwa’s ex-husband & even received monetary reward & a job for it, according to the law he is suspended & fined for it. Unfortunately, Yeong-ju in her spite, also takes the cafe away, which she had given as severance pay and to help in the custody lawsuit again.
While Yeong-ju’s reality is exposed to her husband, who was shocked to hear how cruel she was being to Ju-hwa & her words might have been a reason for her unfortunate accident. Realising that Gi-yeong must have been subjected to the same, he decides to help Sung-han by testifying and gives Yeong-ju a cold shoulder, if not a divorce.
Does Hyeong-geun & Jeong-sik Get a New Start?
Hyeong-geun finally got separated from his wife Ji-eun, who cheated on him & started a new family with another man. But he found a connection with the noodle shop owner, So-yeon & they slowly get to know each other. In the last episode, she tells him that she plans to close the shop & take a long vacation in Europe as a break. While he is not sure at first but eventually decides to go with her after Gi-yeong’s trial goes well.
Meanwhile, Jeong-sik is able to let go of his guilt of introducing Park Yu-seok to Ju-hwa in the first place. He does his best to help Sung-han in every way possible and even cares for Gi-yeong dearly.
Does Lee Seo-jin Makes Her Comeback on the Radio?
In the last episode, even though she gets the offer to host the 4 PM radio show, she hesitates to take it since Sung-han was going through a hard time & the hate comments on her live broadcast made her fearful. But her former producer comes asking Sung-han to convince her to take the job before it goes away & he thinks the same. She does return to the radio with her popular show but not before showing a hate commenter their place, on her live stream.
Does Ma Geum-hui Goes Back to Hawaii?
Even though Sung-han tries to settle the divorce when he sees that Geum-hui is doing everything for Gi-yeong’s sake. He initially proposes the Daenam Chairman give her the shares and drop the case, to which he readily agrees as he wanted to keep his grandson’s custody.
But when Geum-hui goes to reconcile with him, the chairman’s remarks about how everything is about money, make her reconsider her decision and take the divorce regardless. Looking at how corrupted and rotten the person is in his power & money, she decides her peace over everything and that’s the next case Shin Sung-han will be working on again.
Divorce Attorney Shin is currently streaming on Netflix.
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