Is that not a beautiful photo? Jejoongwon [제중원], the drama also called the “Joseon-era White Tower,” held its customary opening prayer ceremony on the afternoon of October 14 as the series heads into filming.

Jejoongwon has been steadily preparing its production over the past year and is the follow-up for writer Lee Ki-won, who wrote the excellent contemporary medical drama White Tower, which starred Kim Myung-min in a standout performance as an ambitious surgical genius. Jejoongwon is the name of Korea’s first modern hospital which opened in the late 19th century, and stars East of Eden’s Yeon Jung-hoon as a nobleman who gives up his privileged status to enter its ranks.

The drama had previously been looking at a late fall showing, but now has announced that it will air on SBS early next year, premiering January 4.

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On October 8, the 14th Pusan International Film Festival, or PIFF, opened in Busan. (Yes, the city takes a different official spelling than the film festival. Blame inconsistent Romanization.)

As the largest film festival in Korea, it drew a large list of attendees, as you can see from the long list of red-carpet walkers. It was definitely a star-studded opening night, and even included one familiar Hollywood face (Josh Hartnett).

This year’s PIFF features its largest lineup to date, screening 355 films from 70 countries, and closes on the 16th.

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Of the new drama series still to come this year, SBS’s Jejoongwon [제중원] hasn’t been buzzed about much, but I think it has the potential to be pretty interesting. Starring Yeon Jung-hoon (East of Eden), Han Hye-jin (Terroir), and Park Yong-woo (Cell Phone), the drama is set in the late Joseon era (late 19th century) and features the stories of young doctors learning at Jejoongwon, which is the name of the first hospital of modern medicine in Korea.

With the writer of the much-lauded medical drama White Tower penning this project, Jejoongwon takes a unique twist on both the sageuk and medical genres by combining the two. I’m not so sure of this drama’s ratings potential, as it goes up on Mondays and Tuesdays this fall, which puts it up against MBC’s Queen Seon-deok, another sageuk and proven ratings monster. But I’ll keep an eye on it to see if it lives up to the nickname of being a “Joseon-era White Tower.”

Jejoongwon will begin filming on September 17 and is looking at a (tentative) November premiere.

Via Now News

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Actor Yeon Jung-hoon of East of Eden (and husband to Han Ga-in) is coming back with a new series, Jejoongwon [제중원], a historical drama set in the world of early modern medicine in Korea. He’ll be acting alongside Terroir’s Han Hye-jin, who has already been cast as a doctor. Jejoongwon is the name of a school teaching Western medicine that was opened in 1885.

This SBS drama will be yet another to challenge MBC’s hit sageuk series Queen Seon-deok, which has prevailed against many contenders thus far. (It’s currently kicking butt against Dream and The Man Who Can’t Get Married; previous competing dramas that faltered in the ratings against it include Ja Myung Go and Story of a Man.) Seon-deok isn’t quite up to Jumong levels yet, but may be by the end of the year when Jejoongwon airs.

Yeon Jung-hoon will play a man born of an aristocratic family who cuts off his topknot (symbolizing a break with tradition) and joins the school to become a doctor. His character has intuitive judgment, confident bearing, and a cool personality.

One reason to anticipate Jejoongwon: the writer Lee Ki-won wrote the contemporary medical drama White Tower, which showcased a brilliant Kim Myung-min as a modern medical genius. Will Yeon Jung-hoon, Han Hye-jin, and Park Yong-woo be able to do the same in a Joseon-era hospital?

Jejoongwon will begin shooting in late August, and plans to go on air in November. Yeon Jung-hoon was most recently seen in the first couple episodes of Dream, which Jaejoongwon follows on Mondays and Tuesdays (perhaps with another drama in between; Dream’s official successor has not yet been announced).

Via E Daily

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• SBS lines up new medical sageuk

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SBS has another historical drama planned for Mondays and Tuesdays, which brings Han Hye-jin (Terroir) back to the sageuk genre following her turn in Jumong two years ago. The drama is Jejoongwon [제중원], which is the first modern hospital in Korea established in the Joseon era in the year 1886. Han takes the lead role opposite the already cast Park Yong-woo (Cell Phone).

This should be interesting with PD Hong Chang-wook of Scale of Providence and Catch a Kangnam Mother directing, but even more so for writer Lee Ki-won, who wrote the Korean version of White Tower (and Spotlight, but we can forget about that one). He was tremendously successful in bringing to life the tensions and political maneuverings within a hospital of ambitious doctors in a modern setting; will that translate to a historical setting?

Park Yong-woo plays a man who overcomes adversity to succeed as a doctor. Han Hye-jin plays a character representing the “modern woman” of the age who becomes a doctor and shares a romantic loveline with Park.

Jejoongwon will enter filming in July and is looking at an October premiere.

Via E Daily

RELATED POSTS

• Han Hye-jin goes underwater in style
• No Forgiveness for Han Hye-jin and Sol Kyung-gu
• Raise a glass to Terroir
• Will Cell Phone get a Hollywood remake?

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