What Do You Think The Ending Means when He's talking To The Girl?

It could mean a couple of things.

It could show that all those years later, he is still just one step behind the killer.

It could mean that someone else involved with the case has become so wrapped up in it to the extent that a decade and a half later they also return to the scene of the crime. Hardly that profound!

It could be making the obvious point that sometimes the worst serial killers just look ordinary

In my opinion, the ending was the worst part of this movie. They should have left it out entirely.

Except Roe-ha Kim leg has already been amputated before the final murder.

You're all thinking the girl talked to the killer...maybe it was the other detective coming back to the scene? or the other detective was the killer..?

I agree with the above comment. Somehow the movie is better because it is left unresolved. It keeps the viewers constantly thinking and trying to unravel clues that they might have missed previously. This film had me constantly on edge because one minute I was like the detective, assured in my belief that this or that man was the murderer, only to be disappointed over and over. I think that this frustrating feeling is exactly what the producer intended to do when making this movie. He wanted to show how easy it is to draw the wrong conclusions and to not look beneath the surface because it is much easier and less difficult. We all want to prove ourselves and take pride in what we do, but what happens when somebody will always be better and one step ahead of you? I think that is how the detectives felt. They didn't like to be proven wrong.

The scene where Detective Seo was listening to the radio and smoking a cigarette seemed pretty poignant, and again when he hid behind the bushes. I guess that scene tried to show that there are always two different sides to people. What is strange though is that, up until the end, I did think that Park was the murderer because there were a few hints throughout. For instance, his delicate hands and the assumption at the beginning that the rapist could be innocent looking.

However, at the end, the murderer was not caught and the DNA did not match Park's. But somehow I knew that would happen; of course it couldn't be solved that easily. Sometimes it takes a lifetime to solve a murder and even then sometimes it can still remain a mystery. The end also confused me because, firstly, who knows who the little girl could have been describing. Everyone has a different interpretation of ordinary. Secondly, I did feel like the detectives looked at all suspects, ordinary or not. To me, the ending should have been not so much of a "I didn't accomplish anything and he's still out there" but instead a more positive "I'm willing to try as long as it takes" sort of attitude.

You know, I guess to me, it's kind of a 'so what if he was ordinary?' because that doesn't mean anything to me. I just found this realization kind of irrelevant to the whole dynamic. Personally, I wish there was more of a hint as to what the killer's motives were and maybe some background into his everyday life, even if he was ordinary. Maybe it should have shown him going to work and all of that. And then maybe checking in the newspaper to see who was framed next for his crimes. The movie was overall very good and powerful but, I feel, lacking in a few elements. I would have liked to know what the symbolism is behind the way that he murders his victims and the objects that he left behind. Overall, I absolutely loved this movie as it is, but feel empty as I'm left with more questions than answers.

I took a more positive message from it (although I like all the other theories posted in this thread...) I saw it as the detective having a newly found determination to start the pursuit again as the killer is still out there. He'd clearly left the police, had an unfulfilling sales job and surly teenage children. He returned to the scene and the little girl made the hint that the killer is still out there.

The detective stares out into the screen as the frustration of the failed investigation hits him. I like to think he's going to re-open the case... but that's just my optimism. It's more likely that he'll never find out and the trail is dead... justice is not served.

"What are you, some kind of doomsday machine, boy?"