Enemies-to-lovers chemistry in King the Land teaser

31 May 14, 2023June 7, 2023

Enemies-to-lovers chemistry in King the Land teaser

by Jenzy

A new teaser for the highly anticipated upcoming Junho (The Red Sleeve Cuff) and Yoon-ah (Big Mouth) drama King the Land is here with all the cheesiness and nostalgia of a frozen pizza, and I’m so here for it.

It’s that age-old story we’ve all come to know and love in dramaland: a cranky chaebol meets a spunky Candy and their worlds get turned upside down. In this case, our chaebol is Gu Won (Junho), heir to the King conglomerate. He’s a blunt know-it-all with that trademark pinch of childhood trauma we know to expect from our hardened corporate heroes.

And working within one of his VVIP hotel lounges is the hotelier Chun Sa-rang (Yoon-ah), who made it to where she is by plastering a professional smile for everyone she meets. With their opposite personalities, the two immediately clash upon meeting, but through continued encounters, sparks begin to fly.

As for the teaser, the team behind King the Land certainly know to play to their strengths by giving us a smolderfest of eye candy. We start the teaser off with some romantic music and tender looks between our leads, until the record scratches and the looks turn into sharp glares.

The two then give us some loaded pieces of dialogue amidst cuts of their icy interactions. In one exchange, Won warns Sa-rang, “I told you not to run into me.” And Sa-rang gives him the canned customer service reply, “I’ll make sure to do a better job avoiding you in the future.” Then, in another back-and-forth, Sa-rang calls him a pervert to which he responds, “Have you ever met a pervert like me?”

But, in true enemies-to-lovers fashion, the teaser also shows some close-proximity hijinks, namely a clip where Won princess carries Sa-rang down a hall and another one where he catches her from falling and the two share a look. Clearly, despite their arguing, the two won’t be able to keep their hands off each other.

I’m already getting Business Proposal and What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim vibes from this teaser, and I’m so excited to see another entry for classic chaebol drama canon. Let me know in the comments what other dramas this setup reminds you of!

Written by Choi Rom and directed by Im Hyun-wook (Reflection of You), JTBC’s King the Land will premiere on June 17, following Doctor Cha.

Enemies-to-lovers chemistry in King the Land teaser

Via Yonhap News

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1 OldLawyer

May 14, 2023 at 10:21 AM

Where will this be streaming?

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Kurama

May 14, 2023 at 10:33 AM

Netflix \o/

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OldLawyer

May 14, 2023 at 11:29 AM

That works for me.

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Diana Hansen

May 15, 2023 at 7:55 AM

Yippee! Me too! I can actually watch this one!

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2 bbstl 🧹

May 14, 2023 at 10:47 AM

“ with all the cheesiness and nostalgia of a frozen pizza, and I’m so here for it”
A phrase for the ages 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

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halofan68

May 14, 2023 at 4:56 PM

This should be adopted as the standard by which certain kinds of k-dramas are judged:

(1) hits all the familiar beats but executes with style by a smashing cast -- Stouffer's French Bread Pizza

(2) Generic but very watchable -- definitely PMY's favorite brand -- Red Baron

(3) totally canned without any originality whatsoever, the PPL eclipses anything else -- Totino's

*in the spirit of the task, only convenience store level brands were considered; if available at large supermarket, too upscale for this list

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parkchuna 🍉

May 16, 2023 at 8:33 AM

I can definitely feel the cheese oozing out!

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3 Dorotka

May 14, 2023 at 11:17 AM

I can't wait!!
🍿🤩

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4 Elinor, Team Glasses team co-captain

May 14, 2023 at 11:31 AM

Well, if the two play it strictly for ultra-meta-tropey laughs and snark, it might be OK?

Junho seems to have a penchant for characters with one-syllable given names.

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bbstl 🧹

May 14, 2023 at 12:22 PM

Like all Korean Princes 😉

(I thought the same thing.)

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5 Mrs Buckwheat

May 14, 2023 at 3:26 PM

Please just be good, that's not much to ask :)

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6 ladynightshade wants her own ryu sunjae

May 14, 2023 at 5:02 PM

If it’s self-aware of itself à la A Business Proposal, then it could be good. If not, I still don’t understand why Junho or YoonA signed up for this at this point in their careers.

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wapz

May 15, 2023 at 8:20 AM

Yes this. The only saving grace would be that it is really funny or there's a hidden story under the farce of an old style rom com (hoping there's no serial killers).

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Elinor, Team Glasses team co-captain

May 15, 2023 at 8:42 AM

God, yes. Things I hope are not in this:

- Serial killers
- Cryptocurrency
- Shamans, real or fake
- Shared childhood trauma (we already know he has one)
- Horrible mothers/grandmothers
- Divorce lawyers
- ~~Drunken personal info sharing sessions~~ Never mind, that's hopeless

Food slaps and a send-up of the Señorita video would be welcome, though. I'm still surprised these two leads joined a drama that sounds totally unoriginal, led by a PD with only two mediocre makjang dramas to his name and a rookie screenwriter. They should both be well past that now, and it really does make me wonder if there's some payoff or other financial shenanigans behind the scenes. I hope that's just my nasty suspicious mind and that they were actually blown away by a clever, funny script.

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ladynightshade wants her own ryu sunjae

May 15, 2023 at 9:19 AM

I still think this is just executives trying to capitalize on the Señorita video somehow. Until I see something of real quality, I won’t stop believing it even if it sounds right out of a conspiracy theory.

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Dorotka

May 16, 2023 at 7:45 AM

Right? 😄😄

PYC

May 15, 2023 at 9:12 AM

The way these two teasers are put together show they know how to play the trope. This gives me hope.

As to why they choose this project, my guess is - as a Korean star, you’ve got to have one of these under your belt to be truly Hallyu, LOL.

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ladynightshade wants her own ryu sunjae

May 15, 2023 at 9:35 AM

To be completely honest, neither teaser did anything for me. It didn’t convince me at all it won’t be old-fashioned in the worst ways possible. But if it did reassure others then it’s all good. Maybe this time I’ll just have to accept that my favourite actor is doing a project that’s totally against what I like, ~~down to his romantic co-lead.~~

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PYC

May 15, 2023 at 9:47 AM

I was not convinced this would be a good project for Junho until I saw the first teaser. Whoever did the editing sold it to me immediately! Then the 2nd teaser of an entirely different tone dropped which makes it even more intriguing. I’m in the mood of an old school rom com - hope this is the one.

Seriously though, I think this is more like Chef Kim than Just Between Lovers - but Junho shines in both. I’m always indifferent to Yoona and so this is the part I have to accept after casting confirmation.

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ladynightshade wants her own ryu sunjae

May 15, 2023 at 3:17 PM

No matter the project, Junho will shine. That’s basically a guarantee by now. I think most of the audience is checking this out only for him. He look mesmerizing in the formal chaebol getup. I almost had to fan myself when the first teaser showed him in that pink shirt.

Dorotka

May 16, 2023 at 7:51 AM

I quite liked her in Prime Minister And Me.

ladynightshade wants her own ryu sunjae

May 16, 2023 at 9:28 AM

@dorotka: Yeah, that is one of her better projects, agreed. Although I’m mad about that ending to this day.

Dorotka

May 16, 2023 at 10:40 AM

I'm ignoring the whole arc with the wife...

7 AsianDramaniac

May 14, 2023 at 5:48 PM

I don't mind all the familiar troupes; it's the production quality I am worrying about. The trailers look like some kind of budget production. Hope the chemistry of the leads are not wasted.