Train to Busan 2 Peninsula Ending Explained: Who Comes to Save Joon-i?

The Zombie horror film ‘Peninsula,’ a sequel to the critically acclaimed ‘Train to Busan,’ takes the story into a post-apocalyptic nightmare landscape. It follows the narrative of Jung-seok, a former soldier who lost his family alongside his country as it crumbled under the weight of the zombifying virus. Four years into his life as a refugee, living in Hong Kong, he decides to once again return to his doomed homeland to pull off one final mission. However, soon enough, Jung-seok and his teammates realize they’re outnumbered by the dozen in the reality of the peninsular wasteland. Confronted with new horrors and slivers of hope, it’s up to the soldier to find his way back home and save the lives of a family of unexpected survivors. SPOILERS AHEAD!

Peninsula Plot Synopsis

When the zombie virus initially arrives, Jong-seok manages to get his sister and her family on a safe refugee vessel out of the country, even if it’s at the cost of turning a blind eye to the suffering of others. However, his efforts end up being for naught when he has to watch his sister and nephew fall victim to an outbreak while on the ship anyway. Four years later, he’s barely hanging on to life as a jaded refugee in Hong Kong. However, his brother-in-law, Chul-min, brings a peculiar offer his way that might just promise him a shot at a better life. There’s a local crime boss who is trying to hire a team to send to the Korean peninsula in order to retrieve a truck with millions of US dollars inside it. If they can pull off the job, they’ll receive a significant cut of the findings.

Even though Jong-seok is reluctant at first, he ends up accepting the mission, especially when Chul-min refuses to listen otherwise. As such, the duo, alongside two other strangers, are put on a boat to the Icheon Port, instructed to call for pickup within three days using their satellite phones. In the dead of the night, when the zombies lose most of their vision, the team is able to locate the truck with relative ease. Nonetheless, unbeknownst to them, a group of survivors, Unit 631, is on their tail, ready to snatch their loot from under their hands. In the ambush that follows, Jong-seok loses half his team while Chul-min gets accidentally abducted along with the truckful of money. On the other hand, the former soldier himself manages to escape with his life, thanks to Joon-i, a teenager, and her younger sister, Yoo-jin, certified survivors of the wasteland.

Thus, while Chul-min gets taken back to Unit 631, where he’s forced to participate in a sadistic survival game, Jong-seok finds himself in the company of survivor Min-jung and her family. Once he reveals the nature of his mission, the mother decides to steal the truck from under Unit 341’s noses to bring it to the harbor and secure safe passage for her, her girls, and Old Man Kim. Simultaneously, the Captain of the barbaric survivor Unit, Seo, realizes that the latest loot is actually a truck full of money rather than food. Therefore, once he realizes the cash can get him passage off the island, he also begins devising a plan to make off with it. This results in a showdown at the Unit’s base, wherein Jung-seok loses the last of his family as he’s unable to save Chul-min. Nonetheless, in the end, he and Min-jung manage to drive away with the truck, on their way to the harbor, with Joon-i and the others following behind.

Naturally, the leader of the Unit’s hunter group, Hwang, doesn’t let Jung-seok and his team escape without a fight. Thus, an epic chase ensues through the apocalyptic streets of the peninsula. Ultimately, Jung-seok and the others arrive at the harbor, where they are met with their final adversary: Seo. With a few careful moves, the Captain manages to steal the truck from the group in the nick of time, escaping onto the ship. As such, things seem bleak for Joon-i and her clan, who are already distraught by the fresh wound of Old Man Kim’s sacrifice. Nonetheless, when all hope seems lost, unexpected saviors arrive in the form of helicopters in the sky.

Peninsula Ending: How Does Joon-i and Her Family Escape? Who Saves Them?

Early on in the story, it becomes evident that the Hong Kong crime boss’ vessel, which requires the truck of cash as an entry-level requirement, is perhaps the only way out of the apocalyptic peninsula. By now, most of the world has turned its back on the land that once was South Korea. As a result, chaos and mayhem reign supreme in the city of Icheon, ruled by the bloodthirsty Unit 631 survivors. However, where no aid was going to come for these survivors, at least a criminal’s greed promised some salvation, however conditional. Therefore, when Seo ends up stealing the truck from Jong-seok and the others, it almost spells out their doom. Nonetheless, shortly afterward, help arrives from the most unexpected places, in the form of the United Nations.

Throughout the years, while Min-jung and her daughters fended for their survival beside Old Man Kim, the latter continued working on a project. He had a handy radio with him that could be used to reach out with cries of help in the hopes that someone might hear them on the other side. Kim firmly believes that help will inevitably arrive for him and his family, claiming to be in contact with someone called Major Jane. Although it’s easy to brush this off as the delusions of an aging man, it turns out to be a final saving grace. As it turns out, the older man was indeed in contact with outside help and had managed to share details of his family’s location at the Icheoan Port.

For the same reason, Major Jane, a UN operative, arrives just in time to save Kim and the others. Unfortunately, by then, the latter had lost his life by jumping in front of a bullet that was headed toward Yoo-jin. Even so, he manages to achieve his goal of getting his family safely away from the difficult life on the peninsula. In the end, Joon-i and her sister manage to signal their location to the UN helicopter by firing fireworks into the sky. As such, help finally arrives to rescue them from the wastelands. However, one complication remains. In the confrontation between them and Seo, Min-jung takes a bullet to her leg. Consequently, unlike the others, she can’t run away from the zombies on their tail and toward the helicopter that promises their safety.

Why Does Min-jung Try to Shoot Herself? Does She Survive?

Min-jung has been fighting for her and her family’s survival for the past four years. When the virus initially broke out, she and her husband were unable to escape or even secure passage for their daughter, Joon-i. In fact, Jong-seok was one of the many people who passed them by on the road, without stopping to help them out. Nonetheless, despite the brutal cards that she was dealt, Min-jung manages to carve out a safe haven for her family away from Unit 631 and their barbarism. Even so, the offer to leave the peninsula is too good to pass up, which is why she comes up with the plan to steal the truck. Even though that plan fails, she and her girls get a second chance to escape through the UN helicopters. Yet, by then, the mother knows she’s hurt enough to slow down the others.

For the same reason, Min-jung compels Jung-seok to corral her daughters to safety while she opts to use herself as a distraction bait to buy more time for her family. Locking herself inside a vehicle, she slams down on the car horn to attract all the bloodthirsty zombies to herself. Even though this helps Joon-i and Yoo-jin reach the helicopter in time, the eldest daughter refuses to abandon her mother. She even goes as far as to pull a gun on Major Jane. Once Min-jung sees what is happening, she realizes that her daughter’s fatal conviction would never let her leave the peninsula while there is still a chance to save her. For the same reason, the mother decides to pull the gun to her own throat, ready to take her life if she must. By killing herself in the truck, she would rob Joon-i of any hope to save her, leaving the young girl with no other option but that of escape.

Nonetheless, Jung-seok refuses to stand as an idle witness to the same. Throughout the story, over and over again, he allows himself to succumb to a feeling of helplessness in the face of tragedy. He’s unable to save his nephew or his sister from their cruel fates and can only leave them to their demises for the safety of himself and others on the ship. Afterward, a similar scene plays out with Chul-min, who finds the courage to fight for his brother-in-law, only to get gunned down for it. In the aftermath, Jung-seok has no option but to leave his dead body behind.

Even four years ago, the soldier had blatantly overlooked Min-jung and her family’s distress in favor of saving his own family. Therefore, Jung-seok refuses to repeat history. When Min-jung prepares to blow her brains out, he vows to do everything in his power to save her. In the end, he ends up throwing himself into the fight to pull the zombies away from Min-jung and toward himself. This allows her a window of precious time to make her escape while the soldier rains hellfire down on the infected. Ultimately, Jung-seok manages to save the mother, her daughters, and himself—in more ways than one. As the UN helicopter flies off to the horizon, the promise of a new tomorrow presents itself to the survivors.

Why Does Seo Laugh Before Dying? What Happens to the Money?

Upon stealing the truck, Seo is expecting to taste freedom after four years in hell. As the leader of Unit 631, he’s committed numerous inhumane acts and allowed even worse to happen under his reign. His guilt is so extreme that it often drives him to suicidal ideation. Yet, a different escape is presented to him with the cash truck. Finally, a life beyond the peninsula seems well within his grasp. Even just to get near it, Seo condemns Min-jung and her young girls to their deaths, stealing their chance at salvation. Nonetheless, something entirely different awaits him once he’s on the ship with the money.

When the Hong Kong gang offered the heist job to Jung-seok and the others, they had promised to give them a cut of the profit, which would set them up for life. However, they never planned on following through with that deal. Once they have the money, the leader of the group immediately shoots Seo down, without any fanfare. Nonetheless, as he’s dying, the Captain of the barbaric survivors laughs one last time. This is because, as unexpected as the turn of events have been, he isn’t surprised at the gang leader’s actions. After living in the wasteland, Seo had gotten used to needless cruelty. Consequently, he knows exactly how to exact his revenge, even in his final moments.

As he’s dying, Seo puts the truck in reverse, making it hang off the ship and toward the harbor. This creates a bridge to the vessel, robbing it of any separation from the zombie-infested lands. Thus, the zombies are able to storm the ship, leaving the gang members to a fatalistic demise. Meanwhile, the money, which had led to so much carnage in the past couple of days, is rendered meaningless, destined for the bottom of the sea. Ultimately, Seo dies with a laugh on his face because even in death, he at least receives the escape he had been craving for so long. Furthermore, he gets to give the evil gang members a taste of their own medicine, battling their cruelty with some of his own.