Hot on the heels of the highly popular JTBC Saturday-Sunday drama Doctor Cha, is the upcoming romantic comedy King the Land. We can’t wait to sink our teeth into it to chase away our mid-year blues, especially since romcoms have been scarce in K-drama land lately. Although romcoms are usually known to release in spring and not summer, Lee Jun Ho and Lim Yoon A (better known monomously as Yoona) will be heating up our screens from 17 June onwards on Netflix.
Gu Won (played by Junho) is the reluctant heir to The King Group luxury hotel conglomerate who only leaves the UK to return in search of his mother who disappeared into thin air. This was when he started hating smiles and turned into a typical stone-cold chaebol. He returns to King Hotel as the Head Manager, where he meets the bubbly Cheong Sa Rang (played by Yoona), the Employee of the Year award winner who naturally gets on his nerves. Watch their romance unfold as the duo bicker and clash, and Goo Won’s heart starts to melt…
We sat in on a virtual press conference of King The Land where we got the scoop on more details on the anticipated drama.
Side note: we do wish that the title made more sense grammatically.
Explosive Chemistry
Although Junho has been acting for 10 years and Yoona for 16 years, the two first made a name for themselves as members of legendary second-generation K-pop groups, 2PM and Girls Generation. The two groups famously filmed a sexy Caribbean Bay CF together, which created a sensation at the time although Junho himself didn’t star in the video.
During the 2022 MBC Music Festival Explosive, fans went wild when they co-hosted the show and proceeded to perform a sensual dance cover of Señorita.
Their performance is so well known that the drama director Lim Hyun Ook knows about it and commented that this was the fans’ chance to see them together onscreen for an hour.
When asked how they felt to be acting together, Junho said, “We were singers at the same time so actually a lot of people asked us those questions. But onset we don’t just feel like singer comrades, but we just became Goo Won and Sa Rang. When I’m here with Yoona, I feel like she’s an old friend of mine so we could chat and have some funny moments. We felt like high school friends.”
Yoona added, “It’s a pleasant feeling because I’ve known him since I was quite young. Now that we’re together in a drama, it feels very good. It feels like we’re back in our earlier days and I feel younger when I’m with him.”
They Chose to Work on a Lighthearted Drama After Working on Heavy Projects
Junho’s last drama was The Red Sleeve, a heartwrenching drama based on the lives of King Jeongjo and his royal consort Ui-bin Seong. “Working on The Red Sleeve, I struggled through a lot of emotional stress. I wanted to do something that’s more fun, easygoing, and heartwarming, that’s why I chose this project,” he said.
Speaking about his character who despises smiles, he said, “This project was a challenge for me and it’s not an easy choice for me, because I would burst out laughing and it was not easy to hold back my laughter.”
Yoona said, “This was a classic rom-com and I think it’s my first try. I think my past work was heavy, so I wanted to try something that is more fun and exciting. As my recent work was Big Mouth, I wanted to go with something that’s more bubbly,” while acknowledging the fact that she knows people say she’s the perfect actress to play Choo Sa Rang.
Junho Worked Out Especially for The Role
With a female-dominated cast that includes Go Won Hee (Revolutionary Sisters), we do personally wish that there was more male eye candy, but Junho makes up for it with how good he looks in the drama. As a hotelier, Junho must don many suits for the role which he pulls off easily with his 1.78m height. Junho spilled that he discussed with the director about making sure his physique was just right, “I worked together with a great stylist and had a lot of fittings. I worked out a lot.”
Look forward to Laughs, Bromance, and Sisterhood
Besides the romance, audiences can look forward to the bromance between Junho and Ahn Se Ha’s character. Ahn is known for his comedic characters in top dramas such as Love in the Moonlight and 100 Days My Prince.
Junho said, “I feel like in the show, there’s Gu Won and Sang Sik, and they bicker all the time. But in real life, they are perfect in terms of chemistry. We would share ideas and be respectful of each other. He felt like a big brother to me.”
Sa Rang’s BFFs are her friend Oh Pyeong Hwa (played by Go Won Hee) became a flight attendant because she loved flying and Kang Da Eul (played by Kim Ga Eun) who chose the life of a superwoman who’s good with work, family, and friends.
Yoona said, “We felt like the three of us were best friends for a long time. It was our first time meeting one another, but we felt at ease. There were a lot of moments where we could hit it off.”
Their Visuals Are So Great, The Director Said He Didn’t Have to Do Much
Director Lim Hyun Wook who previously came from a variety show background, garnered attention for the scenic cinematography shown in the drama Reflection of You. However, he said that he didn’t have to do much to create beautiful scenes because Junho and Yoona are already so beautiful.
“As a director, I feel that the visuals are the most important. I want scenic and beautiful scenes. So, I really think about how I can render and deliver that. But the chemistry between Yoona and Junho was so good that it was easy to get the best-looking image on screen.”
Although the drama hasn’t started yet, we’re already shipping them together in real life!
Watch the official trailer here:
Premieres on 17 June on Netflix.