Shin Sung Han is a lawyer who specializes in divorce cases. He used to be a pianist and a music professor abroad, but for some reason, he returned to Korea and studied to become a lawyer. In “Divorce Attorney Shin,” Sung Han runs a small law firm with his friend Hyeong Geun and helps his clients win the case in any way possible. However, he has a motive for returning to Korea and working as a divorce lawyer that is connected to his past.
Spoilers Ahead
How Does Seo Jin Get Into A Scandal?
Sung Han is having breakfast while watching a drama on TV and talking to himself about how the female lead should divorce her husband and how it would benefit her. He finishes the breakfast and heads straight to court, winning the divorce case for his client. It is nothing new for Sung Han, and he celebrates the win by listening to his favorite music on his way to work. His friend, paralegal Jang Hyeong Geun, congratulates Sung Han on winning the case, but Sung Han notices the sadness on his face. As much as Sung Han needs to watch a drama in the morning, Hyeong Geun needs to hear the radio show of his favorite host, but the host has dropped out of the show because of a scandal. Just when they are talking about her, the radio jockey, Lee Seo Jin, comes to Sung Han’s office to file for divorce against her husband. Seo Jin got into a humiliating scandal recently after her boyfriend leaked their sex tape. Based on these grounds, it is difficult for Seo Jin to win the divorce case in her favor, so Sung Han is skeptical about accepting the case. However, Seo Jin then tells him that she doesn’t want money or property but just custody over her son. It is going to be difficult as well, but when Sung Han is convinced that Seo Jin is desperate for her child, he accepts the case. He seems to have made that decision emotionally.
Seo Jin returns to live with her husband and son, Hyun Woo because Sung Han advised her to do so. Hyun Woo doesn’t talk with her and only plays video games in his room. Her husband, a businessman named Kang Hui Seop, doesn’t like that she is living with them again and starts to beat her. Hyun Woo gets scared of their loud screams and turns up the volume of his game. Seo Jin needs to get herself and her son away from her husband as soon as possible. She meets Sung Han and explains the whole situation to him. She met her boyfriend, who was a chef, at a restaurant. He was a fan of hers, and she felt happy getting attention from him. They started dating eventually, and she was aware that she was going to get caught by her husband. The reason is that her husband has a creepy habit of checking her innerwear every morning and night. He keeps tabs on the smallest details of her life. Seo Jin was tired of being treated in such a humiliating way and got a boyfriend to make herself feel better. During the mediation, her husband, Kang’s lawyer, calls Seo Jin an irresponsible mother who didn’t attend Hyun Woo’s PTA meeting because she was with her boyfriend. It was true, and Seo Jin regretted not picking up Hyun Woo’s teacher’s call. However, it isn’t something to make a big deal out of when Sung Han has evidence of how Kang tortured Seo Jin.
Kang would write notes for Seo Jin every day in which he degraded her and called her a slut, accusing her of flirting with men on her show. Moreover, she had to send him a picture of herself with people around her every thirty minutes, which made her workplace uncomfortable. She couldn’t even hang out with her friends without causing them discomfort. This led to Seo Jin being cut off from the friend group, and in general, she had no social life left. When everything seems to go against Kang, his lawyer puts forth the fact that Seo Jin’s video is still surfacing on the internet, and if Hyun Woo is to find out about it someday, it will be a shock to him. Even though police have already taken down the video, the lawyer claims that it is still online, and that’s the reason Seo Jin can’t have custody over Hyun Woo. Hyun Woo studies in the third grade but is too mature for his age because of his parents. He goes to a therapist but says only what his father tells him to say. When Sung Han meets him, Hyun Woo tells him that he hates his mother and wishes to erase her from his memories. It somehow reminds Sung Han of his childhood. He thinks it is really going to be difficult for Seo Jin, but he gets a call from her late that night, and she says that she wants to drop the case. Hyun Woo started throwing a fit suddenly at night and was hospitalized. Seo Jin cannot be selfish and see her son suffer more.
What Evidence Works In Favor Of Seo Jin?
Mediation doesn’t work, and Seo Jin’s case goes to the judge. Kang’s lawyer uses Hyun Woo’s dignity as the reason against granting custody to Seo Jin, but Sung Han has solid evidence as to why Hyun Woo’s dignity is more in danger with his father. Sung Han had met Hyun Woo before coming to the court, and Hyun Woo told him that he’d rather stay with his mother. He saw her in pain, and it pained him too. Moreover, he reveals the real reason why he doesn’t want to live with his father. First of all, Sung Han reads Hyun Woo’s diary, in which he writes that his mother never spends time with him, which makes him unhappy because then he has to be with his father, whom he doesn’t like. Then, Sung Han calls Kang for questioning and asks him if he showed Seo Jin’s video to Hyun Woo. Kang could lie, but he was overwhelmed by the sudden question and said that he showed him the video because Hyun Woo needed to know what kind of person his mother was. Hyun Woo was begging his father to let him live with his mother, and Kang had to stop him. Hyun Woo was traumatized after seeing the video and got hospitalized. Seo Jin is shocked and enraged. She doesn’t care if she is in court and slaps Kang. There is no way Kang is going to get custody of Hyun Woo now. Hyun Woo lives with Seo Jin now and is starting to open up to her slowly. He is definitely happier than he was with his father.
Sung Han again celebrates his win by playing music at home, and his friends Hyeong Geun and Jung Sik join them. His neighbors think that their music choices and the way they dance are the reasons all of them are still single at their age. The next day at his office, the janitor suddenly asks Sung Han if it is expensive to get a divorce. The janitor, Park Ae Ran, works multiple part-time jobs to pay off her husband’s loan while her husband sits at home doing nothing. Moreover, his mother tortures Ae Ran and her two daughters daily. Ae Ran wants it to end, but she doesn’t see a way out. She has told her husband many times to talk to his mother about it, but he is of no help. When she cannot tolerate it anymore, she beats her mother-in-law in the same way her mother-in-law beats her daughters. Ae Ran has called for more trouble herself.
‘Divorce Attorney Shin’ Episode 2: Ending
Sung Han gets a chance to meet his student from Germany, who is performing in Korea. She still calls him professor, but he doesn’t want her to address him that way because he is a lawyer now. He returns to his office after getting wine as a gift from her, only to get another bottle of wine from Seo Jin. Seo Jin thanks him for his help in winning the case. Seo Jin brought him wine because she saw the drawing of grapes in his office. Sung Han doesn’t like wine, and the grapes indicate something else for him. It indicates the number of cases he has won, and after coloring the entire picture, he is going to confront someone. That someone seems to be Jin Yeong Jin, who is seen talking to her lawyer about Sung Han. Sung Han is a half-brother to someone she knows, and she doesn’t like it. She wants Sung Han to be far away from them.
“Divorce Attorney Shin” is off to a great start and Sung Han as a mysterious lawyer who still misses being a pianist, raises curiosity. His love for music is evident throughout, and it must have been something huge that pushed him to pursue a whole new career. He is a genius who passed the bar exam in less than average time and at an age when most have already settled into their careers. His life is intriguing, and it’s going to be fun watching it unfold.
