What is the significance of the Hahoe masks used in 'Money Heist: Korea - Joint Economic Area'?

If the original Spanish version of "Money Heist" made use of Dali masks, the Korean adaptation made use of Hahoe masks.

In a mediacon on Friday, the cast of the upcoming "Money Heist: Korea - Joint Economic Area" explained the significance of the mask, which is used by the characters to cover their faces during their big-scale robbery.

Park Hae Soo, who plays Berlin, said the mask came from the Andong area in Korea.

"That is a mask that is sending a lot of messages in the show. In Spain, the Dali mask was used to send the message of freedom, and in Korea, we used the Hahoe mask from Andong area, and the Hahoe mask has some significance to it. It is embodying the criticism of the powerful, and it has a sense of humor in it as well," he said.

"And when the mask was first brought to me, I actually felt this sense ofoverwhelming power when the mask was worn by every member of the cast. It has different angles from the center and from the side as well. I mean, the look that the mask is portraying from different angles may seem quite different, so that is something that I was intrigued [with]," he added.

"And when we heard that the Hahoe mask was chosen, and when we saw the mask in reality, I was really surprised because it is not a plain-looking mask, it is having a big smile on it and sends a sense of humor and at the same time sends a sense of mystery as well," she said. "So it has multi-layered meaning to it and I was feeling really intrigued by the mask."

"Money Heist: Korea - Joint Economic Area" is set in a Korea that is on the brink of unification. North and South Korea establish the Unified Korea Mint and are printing one common currency as the groundwork to build a stable joint economy.

Despite people’s expectations, “only the rich got richer,” leading to severe inequality. Against this unfair world, a crew of thieves unite under the leadership of a mastermind known as the Professor to plan an unprecedented heist – stealing money yet to exist.

Part 1 will premiere on Netflix on June 24. —JCB, GMA News