News bites: June 24, 2025

13 June 24, 2025June 24, 2025

by tccolb

New stills have dropped on ENA for The Defects, telling a grisly, revenge tale bred from child-trafficking with Yeom Jung-ah (No Way Out – The Roulette), Won Jin-ah (Unicorn), Choi Young-joon (The Trunk), and Dex (Tarot) as our four leads. The action-thriller will be launching on July 21, with PD Oh Ki-hwan (Not Yet Thirty, SF8) directing and writing by Ahn So-jung. [JTBC]

Kim Hee-ae (The Whirlwind) is reviewing an offer for the new romance-thriller Gold Digger, adapted from the same-titled BBC series that aired in 2019. Currently in the early stages, production is in discussions to potentially broadcast on JTBC, with writer Kang Eun-kyung (Gyeongseong Creature, Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim) attached in a creator role and scripts penned by Sun Young (Forecasting Love and Weather). [Sports Today, Sports World]

A red-streaked world awaits us in the new poster and trailer for Wavve’s upcoming S Line, threading us into the dark fantasy along with Lee Soo-hyuk (Queen Woo), Lee Da-hee (The Divorce Insurance), and Arin (Alchemy of Souls 2). Untangling its story on July 11, the 6-episode webtoon-adaptation has both directing and scripts by filmmaker Ahn Joo-young (A Boy and Sungreen). [MBC (1), (2)]
In contrast, tvN will be offering us a breather with its slice-of-life take on Law and the City, peeking into the day-to-day at work of our lunching quintet in the latest video teaser. Starring Lee Jong-seok (Big Mouth) and Moon Ga-young (My Dearest Nemesis), as well as Kang Yoo-seok (Black Knight), Ryu Hye-young (Gangnam B-Side), and Im Sung-jae (Newtopia), the office series will be airing on weekends, starting on July 5. [MBC]

In the meantime, MBC is gearing up for the remake of the Canadian drama series Mary Kills People, officially beginning promos with stills and footage from the first script reading. Coming to our screens on August 1, the medical, black comedy is headlined by Lee Bo-young (Hide), Lee Min-ki (Crash), and Kang Ki-young (Queen of Divorce), and has production led by PD Park Joon-woo (Crash, Taxi Driver 1) and writer Lee Soo-ah. [MBC]
KBS’s next weekender Our Golden Days (previously translated as Splendid Days) released promos for their script reading as well, showcasing our generational cast, led by Jung Il-woo (Good Job), Jung In-sun (DNA Lover), and Yoon Hyun-min (Bora! Deborah). Slated to follow For Eagle Brothers in August, the family drama has PD Kim Hyung-seok (Cheat on Me If You Can) at the helm with scripts by So Hyun-kyung (Twenty Again). [MBC]

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1 zindigo

June 25, 2025 at 8:08 AM

S-Line is a lot darker than I thought it was going to be. I wonder if it will find its way to an easily accessible OTT.

For US viewers, Law and the City will be on Viki! Just arrived on their upcoming list today.

Our Golden Days... will this be the weekender that finally overcomes my boycott of the genre after a single disastrous foray with The Real Has Come? tbd

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A tale of two remakes: the decision to do another Gold Digger perplexes me because the original was a wretched waste of time, IMO. It adds to my fear that the explosion of Korean entertainment is resulting in scraping the bottom of the content barrel.

I enjoyed Mary Kills People much more, even though dark satire is not usually my bag. I can see the sneakily unhinged part of LBY's range being utilized here, which would please me to no end since I Can Hear Your Voice is one of my all time faves. But she'll have to absolutely crush it to ward off unfavorable comparisons to the genuinely fantastic performance by Caroline Dhavernas in the original.

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Zoro1

June 25, 2025 at 9:59 AM

They are scraping the barrel, and the results aren't good. Just look at Money Heist Korea.

I hope the Lee Jong Suk show is good, i've only finished 2 dramas this year (Buried Hearts and The Trauma Code) and neither of them is that good.

There used to be at leaset 5-6 top tier Kdramas in a year and a dozen of solid mid-tier shows but now it feels like a wasteland with low quality storytelling on the majority of the shows.

I don't know if it's because streaming f*cked up the business model of the industry so badly, but the decline in storytelling is very real.

Now, Squid Game will be over this year and if the quality of most Kdramas continues to be like this i do think the industry will lose a lot of the international audience they worked so hard to grow.

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bong-soo

June 25, 2025 at 12:58 PM

So much material now comes from the webtoon world. For better or worse. I have a feeling the later might be the reality.

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3 ys

June 25, 2025 at 12:14 PM

Lee Taeran, hi~~~

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4 PYC

June 25, 2025 at 12:39 PM

I have hope for the new weekender. And it has one of my favorite Ahjusshi / Prosecutors - Park Sung Geun.

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5 bong-soo

June 25, 2025 at 12:48 PM

No. 6. KBS’s OUR GOLDEN DAYS. What did he, they or someone do to Jung Il-woo’s hair?

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tccolb

June 25, 2025 at 1:49 PM

My guess is that he's going for a clean-cut look to appeal to a more Korean-conservative audience but... at least it will grow as they continue filming... and hopefully he won't cut it again lol

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bong-soo

June 25, 2025 at 2:29 PM

Lol, agreed. At make up there better not be scissors within five feet of him.

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🌸 Seeker 🌸

June 26, 2025 at 6:17 AM

So ... Yoon Hyun-min as the 2ML can rock long(er) hair!? 🤷‍♀️✂️

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bong-soo

June 26, 2025 at 7:36 AM

I guess so..
In RL between the two guys Yoon Hyun-min (another long-time favorite of mine) is hyung being almost 3 years older than Jung Il-woo (40/37). Let’s face it, both those guys at their respective ages look great.
Seriously what was wrong with this look for JIW:
From a Soompi article a few days ago:
https://www.soompi.com/article/1752882wpp/jung-il-woo-jung-in-sun-and-yoon-hyun-min-confirmed-for-new-drama

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🌸 Seeker 🌸

June 26, 2025 at 8:12 AM

Undoubtedly both look simply great and are fantastic actors to boot. I am guessing perhaps Soompi just used a random headshot while the script reading stills have JIW "in character" maybe from his time in the military!? Anyways it would be nice if his character is subsequently let to grow his hair out. It is after all meant to be a "generational" arc in the storyline.

6 🌸 Seeker 🌸

June 25, 2025 at 9:45 PM

1. Very triggering topic. If the stills are anything to go by this will hit with the subtlety of a punch in the solar plexus.

2. This should be interesting. Glad to see age appropriate casting of the FL. It would suck to have a decades younger artist having to age up in the name of "acting challenge". Now the only question is - who is her Ben!? 🤔

3. Ah! Get released already. We have been hearing about this for ages now. As per the PD-nim the drama has deviated considerably from the webtoon. But that should be a good thing, right. 😅 The exciting news is that the drama won an award at Cannes for its music. I am already anticipating the score. Hwaiting Team!!

4. Hmm, Lawyers at Lunch. But of course, cases aren't won on empty stomachs are they!?

5. Again a triggering topic. Treatment is everything. Cast of course is stellar.

6. Jung Il-woo and Yoon Hyun-min in a weekender. Now ain't that just splendid. 😂🥰 Cheon Ho-jin knows a thing or two about his Golden Life. 😉 Hope this drama sets new rating bars for weekenders. Hwaiting!! 🙌👏🤟