Lee Jung-jae gets egg-spattered for Chief of Staff

5 June 4, 2019June 12, 2019

by tineybeanie

A more lighthearted teaser for JTBC drama Chief of Staff has been released, depicting the daily struggles of those in the political world. This drama features Lee Jung-jae (Svaha: The Sixth Finger) as the titular chief of staff who aides for a four-time congressman with aspirations to reach the Blue House (Korean equivalent of White House), played by Kim Gab-soo (Haechi).

This drama will show the real struggle of political players and the dangerous, high-stakes games they play in order to reach the pinnacle of power. It’s a harsh fight for survival everyday for Lee Jung-jae. In his background narration, he explains his struggle, “From junior secretary to chief secretary and then to chief of staff, I’ve spent ten years cleaning up after these old men…”

But clearly the struggle hasn’t stopped because in the next frame, we see his hair being pulled and and head being hit from all angles in the midst of a violent protest. All the while, he tries to protect his congressman from a mob of reporters. At the end, he looks completely defeated, sitting with his suit torn, buttons missing, and bits of his hair ripped out.

Then we cut to Shin Mina (Tomorrow With You) who remarks that she thinks that it’s sexy. Immediately, Lee Jung-jae plays it cool and says, “When one goes after a whale, one should expect to get hurt once in a while and for fishing lines to break.” Shin Mina plays a freshman congresswoman, and just from this scene alone, I can tell she and Lee Jung-jae have great chemistry.

But after going through the mob, Kim Gab-soo doesn’t emerge entirely unscathed. Blood trickles from a cut on his forehead, but he smiles as he remarks to Lee Jung-jae, “Politicians are supposed to get hit as they grow.” Although he seemed to goodheartedly take the violent criticisms of the public, he shows that he’s no political pushover as he subtly hints to his lunch partner, “Minister, I’ve seen a lot of people whose jaws go flying while trying to catch a cow. Be careful.”

JTBC’s upcoming Friday-Saturday drama Chief of Staff begins on June 14.