New World (2013) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

After Chief Kang erases Ja-Sung's police profile, trapping him in the syndicate, Ja-Sung decides to stop fighting the criminal world and instead seize power within it. He consolidates Jung's faction, wins over Su-Ki's men, and has his subordinates eliminate all his rivals, including Chief Kang, Police Director Ko, and Lee Joong-gu. With no one left to expose his true identity and all competitors removed, he ascends to the chairman position.

Foreshadowing: Jung's dying words about choosing loyalty hint at Ja-Sung's impending transformation from cop to criminal leader.

• ja-sung chairman
• goldmoon takeover
• undercover cop
• power struggle

After Ja-Sung's wife is attacked and suffers a miscarriage, he pleads with Chief Kang to let him disappear and be reassigned. Kang refuses, revealing he never intended to free Ja-Sung. By destroying his police dossier, Kang ensures Ja-Sung has no official identity to fall back on, forcing him to remain embedded in Goldmoon as a pawn in Kang's ongoing manipulation of the syndicate.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, Kang threatens to expose Ja-Sung's identity if he tries to quit, showing Kang's long-term strategy of total control.

• chief kang
• police dossier
• ja-sung identity
• betrayal

At the hospital, Jung tells Ja-Sung to decide where his loyalty lies, revealing he knows about the undercover identity. Despite this knowledge, Jung chooses not to expose Ja-Sung because their bond, forged over eight years of partnership, has become more genuine to him than police or criminal affiliations. Jung protects the friendship they built, even accepting death rather than betraying that connection.

Foreshadowing: The flashback reveals Ja-Sung and Jung started as partners six years ago, explaining the deep trust that persists despite their opposing worlds.

• jung
• ja-sung friendship
• undercover identity
• dying words

Joong-gu's men storm Ja-Sung's home intending to kill him, though he isn't there. His wife survives the attack but goes into shock from the assault, causing her to suffer a miscarriage. This tragedy shatters Ja-Sung emotionally and becomes the pivotal moment that pushes him toward abandoning his police identity entirely.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, Ja-Sung's life is constantly threatened, establishing that his family is always at risk of becoming a target.

• ja-sung wife
• miscarriage
• home invasion
• joong-gu

After Ja-Sung consolidates power within Jung's faction and wins over Su-Ki's followers, Su-Ki attempts to have Ja-Sung executed to eliminate this rising threat. However, Su-Ki's men have already shifted their loyalty to Ja-Sung. When Su-Ki orders the hit, his own subordinates kill him instead, clearing the path for Ja-Sung's takeover.

Foreshadowing: Ja-Sung's strategy of winning over Su-Ki's followers while appearing loyal creates the conditions for this betrayal.

• su-ki
• goldmoon coup
• betrayal
• ja-sung power

Ja-Sung's transformation happens gradually through repeated betrayals. After eight years undercover, he loses his promised escape, his wife is attacked causing a miscarriage, his police identity is erased, and even his friend Jung dies protecting him. These experiences erode his commitment to the police while the criminal world offers him actual power and survival. He ultimately chooses to rule Goldmoon rather than return to a life with nothing left.

Foreshadowing: Jung's dying request for Ja-Sung to choose his loyalty marks the turning point where Ja-Sung stops pretending to be caught between two worlds.

• ja-sung loyalty
• undercover
• police
• goldmoon
• transformation

Chief Kang engineers the power struggle between Jung and Joong-gu specifically so they would destroy each other, leaving a vacuum. He positions Su-Ki, nominal vice president, as the ideal puppet because Su-Ki appears weak and easily controllable. Kang plans to manipulate Su-Ki from behind the scenes, effectively running Goldmoon through a figurehead while using the syndicate's power for his own purposes.

Foreshadowing: Kang's strategy of pitting factions against each other while keeping a backup puppet reveals his long-term manipulation tactics.

• chief kang
• su-ki
• puppet chairman
• kang's plan

When the Goldmoon chairman dies in an accident, the succession immediately becomes contested. Two powerful factions emerge: Jung Chung backed by the Northmoon clan with Chinese roots, and Lee Joong-gu commanding the Jaebum faction. Both want control of the syndicate, and Chief Kang exploits this rivalry by manipulating both sides, triggering the violent power struggle that follows.

Foreshadowing: The chairman's death is mentioned early, establishing that his absence is the catalyst for all subsequent events.

• goldmoon chairman
• succession
• jung
• joong-gu
• power vacuum

Ja-Sung visits Jung after Joong-gu's men attack him, knowing Jung is dying. This visit serves multiple purposes: Ja-Sung wants to understand why Jung protected him, and he seeks guidance on what to do next. Jung's final words, asking Ja-Sung to decide where his loyalty truly lies, force Ja-Sung to confront the choice he's been avoiding between his police duty and his criminal identity.

Foreshadowing: The hospital visit is the culmination of their complicated relationship, where the truth finally surfaces between them.

• ja-sung hospital
• jung dying
• final conversation

Chief Kang manipulates both factions by blackmailing Jung into providing evidence that exposes Joong-gu's crimes, leading to Joong-gu's arrest. Kang then informs Joong-gu that Jung betrayed him. Enraged by this treachery, Joong-gu's men attack Jung, intending to kill him for the betrayal, though Jung was actually coerced by Kang's blackmail.

Foreshadowing: Kang's manipulation of Jung into betraying Joong-gu creates the exact conflict he needs to weaken both factions.

• joong-gu
• jung betrayal
• kang manipulation
• revenge

After eight years of living under constant threat of exposure within Goldmoon, Ja-Sung reaches his breaking point. The relentless pressure of maintaining his cover, combined with Chief Kang's endless delays on the promised reassignment, drives him to threaten quitting. However, Kang counters by threatening to expose Ja-Sung's identity to the syndicate, which would mean certain death, forcing Ja-Sung to remain trapped.

Foreshadowing: This moment establishes the toxic dynamic where Kang uses Ja-Sung's dual identity as permanent leverage.

• ja-sung quit
• chief kang threat
• undercover stress