Netflix’s Mousetrap reached No. 1 on the Global Top 10 Non-English TV chart in its second week. It recorded 4.4 million views from August 31 to September 6 and entered the Top 10 in 45 countries.
The ranking does not prove that the show succeeded because it came from a webtoon. Cast, promotion, release timing and demand for thrillers may all have contributed. What the series clearly provides is a current example of a Korean story moving from folklore to webtoon and then to a global television production.
Korean rat folktale → Kakao webtoon Field Mouse → 10-episode Netflix thriller Mousetrap.
The story begins with a rat eating human fingernails
An old Korean tale describes a rat becoming human after eating someone’s clipped fingernails. Mousetrap turns that premise into modern identity theft.
Moon-jae is a reclusive novelist who discovers that his fingerprint no longer unlocks his phone and his passwords no longer work. A figure with his face, known as “The Rat,” has taken his name, money and place in society.
Ryu Jun-yeol plays both Moon-jae and the double. Sul Kyung-gu plays No-ja, a loan shark pursuing missing money.
The folktale gives the thriller a Korean starting point. A detailed history of the tale belongs in a separate folklore article. For this series, its immediate function is to make digital identity theft physical and personal.
Webtoons need a strong opening and a reason to continue
Korean webtoons are designed for mobile serialization. The situation must become clear quickly, and the end of an episode needs enough tension to bring the reader back.
Field Mouse has a premise that can be explained in one sentence: a man with the same face has taken a novelist’s identity, and the original must prove that he is real.
That clarity helps television development. The property also offers a double role, pursuit scenes, episode-ending reversals and a conflict that can expand across several installments.
Adaptation still requires substantial rewriting. The pace of vertical reading is not the same as the pace of performed drama. Popular source material can fail if the characters, dialogue or episode structure do not work on screen.
Paid previews create a record of reader interest
Many Korean platforms let readers pay for newer episodes before those chapters become free after a waiting period. During serialization, the platform can observe whether readers continue, pay and remain interested in particular characters.
A producer reviewing an established webtoon therefore sees more than a plot summary. The story has already been published over time and has accumulated an audience response.
Kakao’s internal data for Field Mouse is not public. It would be inaccurate to claim that one particular view or payment figure caused the adaptation.
Family debt is not automatically inherited during a parent’s life
Private lenders and family financial pressure appear frequently in Korean thrillers. They should not be presented as a general legal rule.
A parent’s personal debt does not automatically become a living child’s debt. Responsibility may involve a guarantee, joint obligation or inheritance after death. Criminal pressure inside a drama is not the same as ordinary legal liability.
The ranking confirms reach, not a single cause
The 4.4 million views and Top 10 presence in 45 countries confirm that Mousetrap reached a broad international audience. They do not isolate the reason it reached No. 1.
The supported conclusion is that a Korean folktale was successfully reformatted as a webtoon and then distributed worldwide as a Netflix drama. The result supports the pipeline without proving that the pipeline guarantees a hit.
Official Netflix teaser
The teaser shows the first signs that Moon-jae’s phone, accounts and public identity no longer belong to him. Watch on YouTube.
Sources:
Kakao Entertainment — Netflix chart result
Netflix — Mousetrap premise, cast and source webtoon
Ranking period and figures checked September 21, 2026.
After the article: “How It’s Done”
Another example of Korean popular-culture material being repackaged for a global screen audience. Watch on YouTube.
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