K-drama stars Park Bo-gum and Song Hye-kyo back in slow-burn romance, ‘Encounter’
Park, known for the 2016 hit ‘Love in the Moonlight’ and Song, who starred in ‘Descendents of the Sun’, play lovers who meet in Cuba in the 16-part series
Two leading South Korean television stars Song Hye-kyo and Park Bo-gum make their much-anticipated returns on Wednesday in tvN’s new romantic drama Encounter.
Actress Song, who had a leading role in the 2016 pan-Asian smash-hit drama Descendents of the Sun, and heart-throb actor Park, star of another 2016 television hit, the period drama Love in the Moonlight, will portray a couple who meet and slowly fall in love.
“You need courage – both big or small – when you meet someone and start to develop the encounter into something special,” Park Sin-woo, who directed the series, said in Seoul last week.
“The drama is about the beautiful process.”
The new 16-part romance, which will be shown on Wednesdays and Thursdays – tells the story of Cha Soo-hyun, played by Song – a politician’s daughter and conglomerate-heir divorcee, who has never lived her own life – and Kim Jin-hyuk (Park), a free-spirited young man who lives a simple life.
The two, who are from very different socio-economic backgrounds, meet in Cuba while on their travels and start a whirlwind romance.
The series – written by Yoo Young-ah, whose previous work includes the films Miracle in Cell No 7 (2013) and Take Off 2 (2016) – is the first K-drama to have been filmed in Cuban cities.
Song, who married her Descendents of the Sun co-star Song Joong-ki in 2017, said she expected “something beyond one’s imagination” when she heard that the writer-director duo were working together.