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

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I’d heard some rumblings for a while about a sequel to uber-Hallyu smash hit Dae Jang Geum being in the works, but I kind of figured it was one of those constant rumors. However, the production announced on June 3 that the drama project is not canceled, and despite initial plans to produce a Dae Jang Geum 2 this year, they have merely pushed it back to sometime next year instead.

On the other hand, it was also recently announced that Lee Young-ae will NOT be reprising her lead role, so I’m not sure how much of a sequel it’ll be when its title character is absent.

Attached to the project is the original series’ director, PD Lee Byung-hoon, while the scripts will be written by Yi San writer Kim Yi-young.

Via Asia Economy

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Jung Ryeo-won (”Ja Myung Go”), Go Hyun-jung (”Queen Seon-deok”)

Queen Seon-deok, MBC’s historical extravaganza, got off to a decent start today with a first-place premiere at a 16% rating. Ja Myung Go, already nervous, may as well be put on death watch.

In most cases, a first-episode rating number isn’t too important (ratings can change greatly over the course of a drama’s run), but Ja Myung Go is currently awaiting a final decision on whether or not to curtail its 50-episode run by six weeks, or 12 episodes, down to 38 episodes total; it is reportedly monitoring Seon-deok’s opening numbers closely. Ja Myung Go has been drawing positive response for its acting, but given that its numbers are not rising from its current 10.4% (Story of a Man swung upward just a little bit at 9.8%), I think it was hoping for more than it got. The actors are preparing themselves for an early finish.

The drama to follow Ja Myung Go, Dream, is preparing to begin filming. (It stars Joo Jin-mo, Kim Bum, and Sohn Dam-bi and features Kim Bum as a juvenile delinquent who becomes a mixed martial arts fighter.)

Meanwhile, Seon-deok has drawn positive response for the acting of its leading lady, Go Hyun-jung; the writer has praised Go’s performance as “better than expected.” Her co-star Lee Yo-won will make her appearance a bit later as Queen Seon-deok herself.

Via My Daily, Segye, and Segye again

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Pretty.

The first actor to get into character for the upcoming historical series Queen Seon-deok [선덕여왕] was Go Hyun-jung (HIT) taking on her court lady character of Mi-shil. Now the stills have been revealed for the second leading lady as Lee Yo-won (Surgeon Bong Dal-hee) takes the throne as the titular Queen.

[Read more →]

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Who’s seen this movie? Is it as entertaining as it seems? (And do Kang Ji-hwan and Kim Haneul have fabulous chemistry like they do in my imagination (and the previews)?)

In any case, the new action-spy rom-com Level 7 Civil Servant [7급 공무원], which also goes by the English title My Girlfriend is an Agent, released to strong buzz, and drew in more than 465,000 to take first place in the box office for its first week. The scriptwriter is striking while the iron’s hot and has announced his follow-up project to be a drama series.

Writer Chun Sung-il also scripted the 2008 Park Yong-woo and Lee Bo-young period heist comedy Once Upon a Time, and he’ll next be penning a 24-episode KBS fusion sageuk called Chuno or 추노 (追奴). If that doesn’t grab you, perhaps you’ll be interested to know that the PD in charge will be Kwak Jung-hwan, who also did the summer horror series Hometown of Legends and the taut political fusion historical drama Conspiracy in the Court.

Chuno follows the story of a runaway slave in Joseon times and the slave hunter who pursues him, with a woman who completes the love triangle. With the writer’s flair for dialogue and the director’s ability to create darkness and suspense, this is one I’ll be looking out for.

Via OSEN

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