K-drama Summer Strike preview: Seolhyun and Im Si-wan lead escapist ‘healing’ drama far from Seoul’s hustle and bustle
- Seolhyun stars as a burnt-out Seoul office worker who moves to a small seaside town where she meets a shy librarian, played by co-star Im Si-wan
- This series is a typical ‘healing’ drama about an overworked worker leaving the pressure cooker of Seoul for a slower life in the country
Life in the big city can be stressful, and nowhere is that more true than in Seoul, a dynamic metropolis that is home to 26 million people, half the South Korean population. Adding to that crush is a punishing work culture that demands loyalty at the expense of personal freedom and sometimes dignity.
In the media, this has led to the rise of the “healing drama”, a genre that focuses on young and burnt-out city slickers escaping to the low populations and slower lifestyles of the countryside.
Summer Strike, starring Seolhyun, a former member of the girl band AOA, and Im Si-wan of the boy group ZE:A, is the latest addition to that trend.
In this case that’s Lee Yeo-reum (Seolhyun), an office worker who has spent four years being mistreated by her colleagues and six years in a dying relationship with an increasingly bored and unsympathetic office worker.