News bites: June 30, 2025

17 June 30, 2025June 30, 2025

by tccolb

Ryeoun, Geum Sae-rok

A serial killer Ryeoun (Weak Hero Class 2) has reportedly been cast in a twisted crime-thriller, racking up the innocent body count under the name of “science” and experimenting on humans to find the great all-cure for any illness. All the while, a prosecutor Geum Sae-rok (Iron Family) is closing in on his tail. Currently titled Flower of Death (roughly translated), production for the novel adaptation is planning to start filming next month. [Osen]

With his army discharge now looming in the near-future this October, Song Kang (Sweet Home 3) is reviewing offers for his next drama project and may be turning pianist for the new series Four Hands. Still in the early stages, the coming-of-age story will be centered around students attending an arts high school, focusing presumably on music. The title refers to a form of piano duet that requires the two performers to play on the same piano simultaneously. [Osen]

Over on KBS, Ma Dong-seok (Police Unit 38, The Roundup: Punishment) shows off his tiger stripes in the first character stills for Twelve, assembling his animal angel team to clip the wings of demon crow Park Hyung-shik (Buried Hearts). Also starring Seo In-gook (Death’s Game), Sung Dong-il (The Art of Negotiation), and Taiwanese actress Regina Lei (Tabloid) among other talents, the action adventure is set to begin on August 23 and will be unfolding its tale over 8 episodes. [Osen]
MBC came out with a new video teaser for the crime-medical Mary Kills People, delving deep into the controversial matters of life and death with doctors Lee Bo-young (Hide) and Kang Ki-young (Queen of Divorce), in addition to police detective Lee Min-ki (Crash). Broadcasting on weekends starting August 1, the remake has production led by PD Park Joon-woo (Crash, Taxi Driver 1) and writer Lee Soo-ah. [MBC]

Promos continue on JTBC with the latest poster for The Nice Guy, showcasing our gangster-but-wannabe-writer Lee Dong-wook (The Divorce Insurance) and his fair lady love, the aspiring singer Lee Sung-kyung (Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim 3). Co-directed by filmmaker Song Hae-sung (Boomerang Family, Maundy Thursday) and PD Park Hong-soo (Human Disqualification), with scripts by Kim Woon-kyung (Yoo-na’s Street) and Kim Hyo-seok (Yadang: The Snitch), the noir romance will be launching on July 18 in JTBC’s new drama slot on Fridays. [10 Asia]
JTBC will soon be suiting up for Esquire as well, taking a peek behind the scenes with stills and footage from the script reading, led by Lee Jin-wook (Squid Game 3), Jung Chae-yeon (Family by Choice), Lee Hak-joo (The Potato Lab), and Jeon Hye-bin (The Pork Cutlets). Helmed by PD Kim Jae-hong (Love Scout, Flex x Cop) with scripts by Park Mi-hyun, the legal series premieres on August 2 and is slated to follow Good Boy in the Saturday-Sunday slot. [JTBC]

Required fields are marked *

1 uhni0317

July 1, 2025 at 12:40 AM

2. Curious to see whom Song Kang will be paired with.....
4. Enjoyed the Canadian original. Hope this version with LBY works out as well....

Required fields are marked *

2 Kurama

July 1, 2025 at 1:01 AM

2) Highschool? He went to the army because he was approaching 30 years old... What a weird choice of post army drama.

3) Nice cast!

4 + 5) I'm curious.

6) Did they put a filter on these pictures, it looks weird.

Required fields are marked *

3 Gikata

July 1, 2025 at 3:34 AM

Finally TWELVE date! Team Empire for this one, let my boy be evil for all his endless suffering in BH!

Required fields are marked *

I will definitely be there for KBS’s TWELVE. I am looking forward to seeing Ma Dong-seok back on the small screen. Park Hyung-sik as a baddie and reunion with SIG. it will be great.
(Fanwall memory. I posted a video of the famous Ma Dong-seok and SIG fist fight from OCN’s SQUAD 38 (2016). All things considered SIG held his own pretty well lol).

Required fields are marked *

Gikata

July 1, 2025 at 9:53 AM

I watched SQUAD 38, but got bored at some point and dropped. Don't even remember if I got to the scene you're talking about. Now that we've tackled this topic, I think I rarely finish SIG's shows despite quite liking his acting - they start engaging, but tend to soon fizzle out plot-wise. Hopefully this time it'll finally work thanks to PHS and only 8 episodes for entire thing.

Required fields are marked *

bong-soo

July 1, 2025 at 1:00 PM

8 episodes is good.
The last SIG drama I finished was his 2018 (already!) tvN drama THE SMILE HAS LEFT YOUR EYES or HUNDRED MILLION STARS FROM THE SKY on Viki US.
I saw his cameo in Netflix’s NAVILLERA (2021) where he played a retired ballerino (no less).

Required fields are marked *

4 Unaspirated

July 1, 2025 at 5:55 AM

Twelve is finally getting closer! Extremely excited to see this cast all together, but especially MDS as a tiger angel and PHS as a crow demon. Please be good!

I think the casting of Ryeoun as a serial killer is an interesting one. I'm glad he's branching out from most of his previous work!

Required fields are marked *

5 A

July 1, 2025 at 6:37 AM

Ryeoun as a serial killer? whut? I can't! He is good man! rofl. it would be interesting to see him in that role since he was kinda scary when he got mad in Weak Hero Class 2 and started throwing hands!

I know the majority of k actors look youthful even after they complete their military service but why high school projects? unless there would be timejumps or something a la Lovely runner, then its too much... why not make it a college drama at least??!

Twelve and Mary kills people sound interesting but it worries me that with its
assemble cast and only 8 episodes, we might not get to see much of anyone's story in Twelve.

the last two... the age gap isnt that noticeable in the first one but its obvious in the second one... Also, with that outfit, he looks like he just came down the fisher boat of Squid game and he looks older...

Required fields are marked *

6 jerrykuvira

July 1, 2025 at 9:09 AM

1. Flower of ~~Evil~~ Death? Do we have a flower on the trail of each death?

Queen of Divorce was a mess. I hope this one kills it as a Kang Ki-young main role.

Required fields are marked *

7 bong-soo

July 1, 2025 at 9:10 AM

Thank you @tccolb for receiving and passing on to us the first Song Kang signal sent to Earth from Alpha Centaauri:
No. 2. FOUR HANDS. Apparently the signal did not include a network. Well, all in good time. There is a July 1 article in MyDramaList that has this sentence:
“Four Hands will explore the friendships, romances, and rivalries of high school alumni, following their growth from their school days into adulthood.” Article here:
https://news.mydramalist.com/article/song-kang-has-reportedly-chosen-his-comeback-k-drama-after-military-discharge

So hopefully we are not looking at a drama taking place IN a high school but perhaps like in JTBC’s WHEN THE WEATHER IS FINE (2020) a drama about friends from high school years later.
I will try to keep an open mind on this. I really would prefer not going down the road again of a sort of SBS’s DO YOU LIKE BRAHMS (2020) type drama with a wrapped uptight male pianist as a love interest.
I was hoping Song Kang would choose something gritty rather than a romantic drama. SK has nice hands so he has that going for him. Presumably he wouldn’t be jumping ala tvN’s NAVILLERA (2021) so FH will be easy on his ankles. Early days. I will wait for further news.

Required fields are marked *

tccolb

July 1, 2025 at 2:40 PM

LOL

Good ole Alpha Centauri. My transmitter is a little buggy, but once in a while a good signal comes through. 🤣

Required fields are marked *

8 parkchuna adores YoungWon 🍉

July 1, 2025 at 9:30 AM

Didn’t think i felt too strongly about it, but Lee Jin Wook suddenly annoyed me when i thought of his Dear Hyeri character..

Required fields are marked *

Diana Hansen

July 1, 2025 at 11:33 AM

LOL! The memories that bubble up!

Required fields are marked *

parkchuna adores YoungWon 🍉

July 2, 2025 at 8:17 AM

So random sometimes!

Required fields are marked *

9 Diana Hansen

July 1, 2025 at 11:31 AM

If Ryeoun is a serial killer, he'll have to practice hiding that gorgeous smile of his and just try to convince us he is bad.
Song Kang is almost back! I could handle another musically based story.
Action adventure is calling my name with that crew. Sounds good!
Did someone say Medical? I'm in and especially for Lee Min-ki although he needs a different profession right about now! Maybe he could be the other 2 hands with Song Kang.
And we get a chance to see Lee Dong-wook again (I hope). Love the man.
Oh, another legal series! Hope its good.
My main concern has become Which site will have them available now. I want to see the ones I want to see, ya know? Without having 10+ subscriptions all over the place. -_-