The Glory stars Lim Ji-yeon, Cha Joo-young eyed for new K-dramas; Netflix scouts for Trigger and Hierarchy – Korean drama casting latest

Lim Ji-yeon is being courted to appear in historical drama The Story of Mrs. Ok, while Cha Joo-young may take the leading role in period drama Queen Wongyeong
K-pop singer Yim Si-wan has been offered a role in coming series Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Lee Chae-min will lead new Netflix series Hierarchy

K-drama news

Pierce Conran

Published: 4:15pm, 27 May, 2023

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Netflix lines up two major new dramas while The Glory cast members score leading roles in juicy new shows in the latest round-up of K-drama casting news.

1. The Story of Mrs. Ok

Following her turn as the memorable villain in the hit Netflix series The Glory, Lim Ji-yeon is being courted to appear in the forthcoming JTBC historical drama The Story of Mrs. Ok. The series will depict a woman’s fierce battle for survival in a treacherous society.

Lim has received an offer to play leading character Goo-deok, a slave living in the Joseon era (1392-1897) who strives to hide her past, forge a new identity and re-enter society as an influential woman with a completely fake persona.

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Before The Glory, Lim was seen in Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area Part 2 and House of Lies in 2022. She will be back on screens in June alongside Kim Tae-hee in Lies Hidden in My Garden. She is also slated to appear in the drama National Death Penalty Vote later this year.

2. Trigger

Netflix is reportedly gearing up for another big-budget Korean drama: both Kim Nam-gil (The Fiery Priest) and Kim Young-kwang (Pinocchio) are being courted to appear in the series Trigger.

Kim Nam-gil in a still from Through the Darkness.

The action thriller will follow two men who become key figures in the pandemonium that ensues when South Korea, a country where guns are illegal, is suddenly flooded with firearms. One man believes that the weak should arm themselves, while the other believes that no one should ever use a gun.

Kim Nam-gil has been offered the role of Lee Do, a former military sniper and Olympic medallist now working as a police officer. Kim was recently seen in Through the Darkness and Island and will next appear in Song of the Bandits, another Netflix production.

Kim Young-kwang is considering taking on the role of Moon Baek, an arms dealer. Kim was last seen in the Netflix drama Somebody and the Disney+ drama Call It Love.

Production is expected to begin this coming autumn and carry on through to spring, with a release to follow in the first half of 2025. The series is said to come with a hefty 30 billion won (US$22.8 million) price tag, similar to recent Netflix tentpoles such as Narco-Saints.

3. The Hidden Dragon

Yim Si-wan of the K-pop outfit ZE:A has received an offer to appear in the coming JTBC series Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – no connection to the Ang Lee-directed classic. Lee Sun-bin has also been approached to appear in the show, which will be helmed by The Fiery Priest director Lee Myung-woo.

Yim Si-wan in a still from Emergency Declaration.

Set in the countryside in the mid-1980s, the drama will follow the students at an agricultural high school in Chungcheong province in the southwest of South Korea.

Im is considering the role of Jang Byung-tae, a boy at the bottom of his school’s social ladder who faces a turning point in his life. Known for drama series Misaeng: Incomplete Life, Im was recently seen in the films Emergency Declaration and Unlocked.

Lee Sun-bin has received an offer to appear as Park Ji-young, a famous fighter known as the “Black Spider of Buyeo”. Lee recently reprised her leading role in the second season of Work Later, Drink Now.

4. Queen Wongyeong

One of the breakout performers in Netflix’s The Glory, Cha Joo-young is expected to take on the leading role in the TvN period drama Queen Wongyeong. The series will depict the titular queen’s relationship with King Taejong six centuries ago, as they joined hands to gain political power.

Cha Joo-young in a still from “The Glory”. Photo: Graphyoda/Netflix

Cha will play Wongyeong, an aristocrat’s daughter who marries Lee Bang-won, two years her junior, and helps him to ascend to the throne of Joseon. The show will chronicle her desire for status and power and the lengths to which she will go to attain them.

Cha, who played the materialistic flight attendant Choi Hye-jeong in The Glory, is also known for shows such as Again My Life and The Heavenly Idol. She is currently appearing in the KBS weekend drama The Real Has Come.

Queen Wongyeong, which will be helmed by Kim Sang-ho and penned by Lee Young-mi, the director-writer team behind Money Game, is currently targeting a release date in early 2024.

5. Hierarchy

Netflix has announced its new series Hierarchy, which will follow what happens at a high school for children of the very richest.

The cast will include Roh Jeong-eui (Our Beloved Summer), Lee Chae-min ( Crash Course in Romance), Kim Jae-won ( Our Blues), Ji Hye-won ( The Sound of Magic) and Lee Won-jung (Live On).

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Lee Chae-min will portray Kang-ha, a mysterious transfer student who appears at Jushin High School. Roh Jeong-ui will appear as Jeong Jae-yi, the queen bee at Jushin who is the eldest daughter in the family behind the powerful Jaeyul Group, the rivals of the Jushin Group.

Kim Jae-won is on board as Kim Ri-an, the top student in the school and heir to the Jushin Group, which runs the school. Ji Hye-won will portray Yoon He-ra, the youngest daughter of a family that runs a major trading company, while Lee Won-jeong will appear as Lee Woo-jin, a politician’s son.

Hierarchy will be directed by Bae Hyun-jin, who was behind the recent shows Big Mouth and Alchemy of Souls: Light and Shadow.

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