“The First Responders 2” Ending Explained- Did Ho Gae Die?

SBS’s “The First Responders 2” has concluded its run a couple of hours ago, let us go through its finale and explain its ending as well as answer the question of whether Ho Gae died or not in episode 11.

“The First Responders 2” episode 12 recap

The episode begins with the another police force reinvestigating the last whereabouts of Ho Gae before his death concluding he stole data. Se Jin talks to Song Seol who says she’d like to catch the person who did this to him.

He’s a bit excited hearing talk like this.

Ho Gae’s team is trying to clear his name, they’re given 24 hours to find why he stole the database and why so many suspicious deaths around him occurred. The forensic team also joins in.

The detective’s team goes to the wife of Im Sungyeol’s house to ask her for his whereabouts, she says where he is and when they go there, they find out he’s dead. He was shot with Ho Gae’s gun, thus, the team is forced to step out as now the case involves one of their own.

Regardless of this judgement, both teams continue to work hard trying to identify the killer’s identity using camera footage and analyzing soil.

They figure out through CCTV that Ho Gae had a camera on him and then go retrieve it. They work hard to restore it.

At Ho Gae’s funeral place, Se Jin shows up while Seol is making origami. He reveals he’s the killer and asks her to kindly come with him or else. She asks if he killed him, he says he died too easily which was boring.

We find out that Ho Gae is not dead and he’s left the morgue, he had faked his own death. He sprints after the killer using all his might.

Gongmyung Pil and Kang Do-Ha take a car to go after Seol after learning she’s been kidnapped but they fall into a bomb trap. They cannot move. Then Ho Gae shows up and he’s alerted not to go that way.

As Se Jin is about to kill Seol, Ho Gae shows up and beats him up. Se Jin is shocked he’s alive and said, “I came from hell” and that he will “catch and kill scum like you.”

After a lot of struggle, he manages to subdue Se Jin and handcuff him. he checks on Seol who is alive and well. Meanwhile, Gongmyung Pil and Kang Do-Ha try to disable the bomb but some debris falls on them.

We find out that the forensic team orchestrated this with Ho Gae. He couldn’t tell anyone what was happening because he knew Se Jin would go after them until he killed them, so he had to hide it. Seol is less than thrilled hearing this, she leaves the hospital room.

At the rooftop, Seol scolds him but she’s happy he’s ok, he says he tried his best to make sure he comes back to her safely. They hug and kiss.

The police then go visit Bong Do-Jin’s grave and salute him. Kang Do-Ha tells him everything is fine and he misses him.

At his trial, Se Jin is sentenced to death by the Korean courts, however, the U.S. shows up and extradite him to the U.S. for 10 murders they suspect him for. He’s going to the U.S. where he’ll be sentenced to death for sure.

At his disciplinary hearing, Ho Gae broke some laws so he tries to justify his actions and apologize, but at the hearing, he says Se Jin was crazy and dangerous and needed to be caught. It ended with a disciplinary action for him.  

Baek Cham and Dokko Soon hold their wedding but in the middle of the service, everyone gets a message for a joint investigation, everyone sprints to action.

The end.

“The First Responders 2” ending explained- FAQ

Did you like the ending of “The First Responders 2”?