Warning: Major spoilers for Spooky in Love Episodes 1–12.
For most of Spooky in Love, the death of Kang Ji-hwan is described as a tragic yacht accident.
Twelve years ago, Ji-hwan fell into the sea.
Cheon Yeo-ri survived.
Ji-hwan did not.
But as the drama progresses, too many details surrounding that night stop making sense.
Why does Kang Min-hwan become so uncomfortable whenever the accident is mentioned?
Why is the pendant Ji-hwan gave Yeo-ri so important?
Why does Park Seung-jae have information that could destroy Min-hwan?
And why has Ji-hwan’s ghost remained connected to Yeo-ri for 12 years?
The final episodes reveal the truth.
Ji-hwan’s fall into the sea was caused by the yacht accident — but Min-hwan had a chance to save him and deliberately let go of his hand.
So was Ji-hwan murdered?
In practical terms, the drama makes Min-hwan responsible for his brother’s death.
He did not push Ji-hwan into the sea.
But when Ji-hwan was hanging on and begging for help, Min-hwan made a conscious decision not to save him.
Here is what really happened on the yacht — and why that single decision explains almost every major mystery in Spooky in Love.
Who Killed Ji-hwan in Spooky in Love?
Kang Min-hwan is responsible for Kang Ji-hwan’s death.
But the exact sequence matters.
Min-hwan does not deliberately push Ji-hwan off the yacht.
The brothers are already fighting when the yacht hits a rock.
Ji-hwan loses his balance and falls into the water.
Min-hwan then grabs his brother’s hand.
At that moment, Ji-hwan can still potentially be saved.
But Min-hwan looks at him — and lets go.
Ji-hwan falls back into the sea and dies.
For 12 years, everyone believes his death was simply the result of the accident.
The truth is much darker.
The accident put Ji-hwan in danger.
Min-hwan made the decision that killed him.
What Happened on the Yacht 12 Years Ago?
Yeo-ri, Ji-hwan, Min-hwan and Park Seung-jae were among the people connected to the yacht outing.
At this point in their lives, the emotional tension between the two brothers was already growing.
Both had feelings for Yeo-ri.
Ji-hwan was close to her and eventually expressed those feelings.
Min-hwan had feelings for Yeo-ri too.
But the romantic rivalry was only one part of a much older conflict.
Min-hwan had spent years feeling that Ji-hwan received the love and recognition that should have belonged to him.
That resentment eventually exploded on the yacht.
The brothers argued.
Then the yacht collided with a rock.
Ji-hwan fell overboard.
Min-hwan reached for him and held his hand.
For a few seconds, the fate of Ji-hwan depended on his brother.
Then Min-hwan released him.
Did Min-hwan Push Ji-hwan Off the Yacht?
No.
This is an important distinction.
Ji-hwan falls because the yacht collides with a rock and he loses his balance.
Min-hwan does not physically throw him overboard.
But that does not make Ji-hwan’s death a simple accident.
Once Ji-hwan is in the water, Min-hwan grabs him.
He has an opportunity to save his brother.
Ji-hwan pleads with him.
Min-hwan then deliberately opens his hand and lets Ji-hwan fall.
That is the real crime hidden underneath the “yacht accident.”
The drama therefore creates a morally disturbing situation.
Min-hwan did not create the initial accident.
But once the accident happened, he chose death for his brother instead of rescue.
Why Did Min-hwan Let Ji-hwan Die?
Jealousy over Yeo-ri is part of the answer.
But it is not the whole answer.
Min-hwan’s resentment toward Ji-hwan goes much deeper.
For years, Min-hwan believed that he was treated differently inside the Kang family.
He felt that Ji-hwan was favored.
He believed his brother received affection, recognition and a secure place within the family that Min-hwan himself never truly had.
The fact that Min-hwan was adopted intensified those feelings.
Over time, Ji-hwan became a symbol of everything Min-hwan believed had been denied to him.
Then there was Yeo-ri.
Min-hwan loved her.
But Ji-hwan became the person close to her.
The yacht confrontation brings all of that resentment together.
Family.
Inheritance.
Belonging.
Jealousy.
Yeo-ri.
Years of feeling second-best.
When Ji-hwan falls overboard, Min-hwan suddenly finds himself in a position of absolute power.
He can save the brother he resents.
Or he can let him disappear.
He chooses the second option.
Was Ji-hwan the Biological Son and Min-hwan the Adopted Son?
The family relationship is important because Min-hwan repeatedly interprets his childhood through the idea that he was less loved because he was adopted.
This becomes central to the way he explains his hatred of Ji-hwan.
But the drama does not present that resentment as justification for what he did.
Feeling rejected is one thing.
Choosing not to save your brother is another.
This becomes especially important later when Min-hwan’s mother continues to care about him despite learning what he has done.
Her response undermines the story Min-hwan has spent years telling himself:
that he was never truly loved because he was not the biological child.
His tragedy is therefore not simply that he was unloved.
It is that he allowed his belief that he was unloved to justify increasingly terrible choices.
Why Couldn’t Yeo-ri Remember What Happened?
Yeo-ri’s memories of the yacht incident are incomplete for much of the series.
She remembers Ji-hwan.
She remembers the pendant.
She remembers the water.
And she knows that Ji-hwan died while she survived.
But she does not initially possess the complete truth about what happened between the brothers.
That missing memory is crucial.
Because without it, Yeo-ri carries the wrong kind of guilt.
She believes Ji-hwan’s death is tied primarily to saving her.
She survives.
He dies.
For the next 12 years, that imbalance shapes her life.
Only when the truth begins to surface can she understand that Ji-hwan’s death involved a choice made by someone else.
Min-hwan.
What Was the Pendant Ji-hwan Gave Yeo-ri?
The pendant is one of the most important objects connecting the yacht accident to the supernatural story.
Before his death, Ji-hwan gives it to Yeo-ri.
The pendant is associated with protection and ultimately becomes connected to the strange fate that allows Yeo-ri to survive while remaining tied to the world of ghosts.
That is why the necklace keeps returning throughout the mystery.
It is not simply a romantic keepsake from Ji-hwan.
It is physical evidence of the last period of his life and a supernatural link between his death and Yeo-ri’s survival.
The pendant therefore connects two mysteries:
What happened to Ji-hwan?
and
Why did Yeo-ri begin seeing ghosts?
Who Saw What Happened to Ji-hwan?
This is where Park Seung-jae becomes important.
Seung-jae was connected to the yacht incident and later discovers old camcorder footage from that day.
The recording contains evidence of the confrontation surrounding Ji-hwan’s death.
That footage is extremely dangerous for Min-hwan.
For 12 years, Min-hwan has lived behind the official story of an accident.
If the recording becomes public, that story collapses.
Seung-jae realizes exactly how valuable the footage is.
And instead of immediately exposing the truth, he tries to use it against Min-hwan.
That decision leads directly to another murder.
Why Did Min-hwan Kill Park Seung-jae?
Because Seung-jae discovered the truth.
After finding the old footage, Seung-jae realizes that Min-hwan’s secret can destroy him.
He uses that knowledge to blackmail Min-hwan.
For Min-hwan, this is catastrophic.
Ji-hwan’s death is the original secret upon which much of his adult life has been built.
If Seung-jae exposes the footage, Min-hwan could lose everything.
So Min-hwan makes another choice.
He kills Seung-jae.
This is one of the most important parallels in the drama.
Twelve years earlier, Min-hwan allows Ji-hwan to die in order to remove the person at the center of his resentment.
Years later, he kills Seung-jae to protect the secret created by that first death.
One crime creates the need for another.
Did Min-hwan Frame Yeo-ri for Seung-jae’s Murder?
Yes.
After killing Seung-jae, Min-hwan tries to redirect suspicion toward Yeo-ri.
He uses Seung-jae’s phone to lure her to the scene.
Yeo-ri arrives and finds Seung-jae dead.
The situation is constructed to make her look suspicious.
This shows how far Min-hwan has changed since the night of the yacht accident.
The first time, his crime comes from a moment of resentment and choice.
Twelve years later, his behavior is much more calculated.
He kills.
He manipulates evidence.
He frames Yeo-ri.
And when Gang-uk gets too close to the truth, Min-hwan becomes willing to eliminate him too.
Did Min-hwan Try to Kill Gang-uk?
Yes.
As prosecutor Ma Gang-uk continues investigating the case and closing in on Min-hwan, he becomes another threat.
A truck is sent toward Gang-uk.
But Yeo-ri sees the danger and pushes him out of the way.
She is hit instead.
The moment creates another important parallel with Ji-hwan.
Twelve years earlier, Ji-hwan dies while Yeo-ri survives.
Now Yeo-ri risks her own life to save Gang-uk.
Once again, love, survival and death become intertwined.
But this time, the outcome is different.
Yeo-ri survives.
And the truth about Ji-hwan finally comes out.
How Is the Truth About Ji-hwan Finally Revealed?
The decisive evidence is the old recording from the yacht.
Yeo-ri eventually obtains the footage.
And she chooses the most devastating possible moment to reveal it.
Ji-hwan’s memorial.
Min-hwan believes he is finally about to secure his position and move forward with his ambitions.
Instead, Yeo-ri appears.
The footage is played publicly.
Everyone sees what really happened.
Ji-hwan was hanging from the yacht.
Min-hwan was holding him.
And then Min-hwan let go.
After 12 years, the “accident” finally has a human decision attached to it.
Min-hwan can no longer control the story.
Why Reveal the Video at Ji-hwan’s Memorial?
Because the setting turns the exposure into more than a criminal reveal.
For years, Min-hwan has lived while Ji-hwan has been remembered as the victim of an accident.
Min-hwan has been able to participate in that public mourning while hiding what he actually did.
Exposing him at Ji-hwan’s memorial reverses that situation.
The dead brother finally gets his truth.
The living brother can no longer hide behind the family’s grief.
It also destroys Min-hwan at the exact moment he believes he is about to consolidate power.
The secret he buried to protect his future becomes the thing that destroys it.
What Happens to Min-hwan After the Truth Comes Out?
Min-hwan is arrested.
And Ji-hwan’s death is not the only crime connected to him.
The investigation also exposes his responsibility for Seung-jae’s murder and the other actions he took while trying to protect himself.
By the one-year-later portion of the ending, Min-hwan is still in prison.
But the drama gives him one final scene that complicates his story.
His mother visits him.
Min-hwan had spent much of his life believing he was less loved because he was adopted.
Yet after everything he has done, his mother still tells him she will be waiting for him when he eventually returns.
She does not erase his crimes.
She does not rescue him from punishment.
But she refuses to erase him as her son.
That is perhaps the cruelest answer to Min-hwan’s lifelong resentment.
The love he believed he never had may have existed all along.
He simply could not see it.
Was Ji-hwan’s Death Really Murder?
The drama’s narrative answer is clear:
Min-hwan intentionally allowed Ji-hwan to die.
Whether a viewer wants to describe the exact act using a particular legal definition is a separate question.
But emotionally and narratively, Spooky in Love treats Min-hwan as responsible.
Ji-hwan did not simply disappear because of bad weather or an unavoidable accident.
He was within reach of rescue.
His brother held his hand.
And his brother chose to let go.
That is the truth the entire yacht mystery has been hiding.
Why Did Ji-hwan Remain as a Ghost?
Once we understand his death, Ji-hwan’s lingering spirit also makes more sense.
His story is unfinished.
The truth about his death is hidden.
Yeo-ri continues blaming herself.
Min-hwan continues living behind a lie.
And Ji-hwan remains connected to both Yeo-ri and Gang-uk in extraordinary ways.
His heart is transplanted into Gang-uk.
His pendant becomes connected to Yeo-ri’s supernatural fate.
And his spirit remains near the woman who has spent 12 years unable to escape the consequences of that night.
Ji-hwan can finally leave only after those unfinished connections are resolved.
The Yacht Accident Explains Almost Everything in Spooky in Love
The yacht is not merely the location of an old tragedy.
It is the point from which almost the entire story grows.
Ji-hwan falls into the sea.
Min-hwan lets go of his hand.
Yeo-ri survives and begins seeing ghosts.
Ji-hwan’s heart is donated to Gang-uk.
Min-hwan hides the truth for 12 years.
Seung-jae discovers the recording.
Min-hwan kills him to protect the secret.
Gang-uk investigates.
Yeo-ri eventually exposes the truth.
What initially looks like several different mysteries is actually one chain of consequences beginning on the yacht.
So Who Really Killed Ji-hwan?
The final answer is Kang Min-hwan.
Not because he pushed Ji-hwan into the sea.
He did not.
The yacht accident caused Ji-hwan to fall.
But Min-hwan caught him.
Ji-hwan was still alive.
He begged his brother not to let go.
And Min-hwan made a conscious decision.
He opened his hand.
That single moment becomes the original sin of Spooky in Love.
Everything Min-hwan does afterward — the lies, manipulation, Seung-jae’s murder and his attempts to stop Gang-uk — grows from his need to keep that moment buried.
Twelve years later, the recording finally brings the truth back to the surface.
Ji-hwan’s death was not simply a yacht accident.
The accident made him fall.
His brother chose not to save him.