Lee Jun-ho transforms into a thousand-year-old dragon… New work

Actor Lee Jun-ho transforms into a dragon that has lived for a thousand years. tvN announced on the 23rd that it has cast Lee Jun-ho and Hong Hwa-yeon as the leads for the new drama 'Embassy of Foreigners in Korea'.

'Embassy of Foreigners in Korea' is set in a secret diplomatic mission that manages non-human beings, such as Haechi, mermaids, and Gumiho, so they can live blended into our society. It is a fantasy romantic comedy depicting the story of a rookie diplomat who is accidentally assigned to this space, where human access is strictly controlled.

The meeting between a water god who has lived for a thousand years and a stranded human

Lee Jun-ho plays the role of 'Cha Yeon', the leader of the Embassy of Foreigners in Korea, whose true identity is a dragon. Cha Yeon is a water god who controls water and has watched over the human world for over a thousand years. His personality also resembles the characteristics of water—gentle and calm as if embracing all things, yet a multi-dimensional character who can sometimes surge violently enough to tear down mountains. This sparks curiosity about his character interpretation, as it is the first time Lee Jun-ho, who has shown an unrivaled presence in the romance genre through 'The Red Sleeve' and 'King the Land', will present a 'non-human character'.

His counterpart, Hong Hwa-yeon, will play the human rookie diplomat 'Go Mi-woo'. Go Mi-woo is a person who ends up being assigned to the embassy, where human entry is prohibited, through an unexpected route. She is expected to lead the flow of the drama by forming an unpredictable connection with Cha Yeon. Hong Hwa-yeon, a former Asian Games archery gold medalist, plans to showcase a mysterious chemistry with Cha Yeon through this work.

The meeting of box-office guarantee Lee Jun-ho and the production team

Lee Jun-ho is proving his powerful box-office draw by breaking viewership records with every recent project he appears in. Following the 2021 MBC 'The Red Sleeve' which recorded a peak viewership rating of 17.4%, the 2023 JTBC 'King the Land' soared to 13.8%. The tvN 'Typhoon Family' that ended last month also achieved a peak viewership rating of 10.3% (according to Nielsen Korea), demonstrating his strength by recording double-digit ratings for three consecutive works. Additionally, his momentum continues both domestically and internationally, with the Netflix series 'Cashero' reaching number one globally.

The lineup of the production team to enhance the quality of this work is also illustrious. Writer Shin Ha-eun, who has been recognized for her popular sensibility through writing 'Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha' and 'Love Next Door', is in charge of the script, and Director Bae Hyun-jin, who co-directed 'Big Mouth' and 'Alchemy of Souls: Light and Shadow' and presented 'Hierarchy', will take the megaphone. The key observation point is what kind of synergy will be created when the original worldview, which combines the setting of a modern diplomatic system with fantasy imagination, meets writer Shin Ha-eun's writing skills. The drama 'Embassy of Foreigners in Korea' is currently under discussion for tvN programming, and the specific broadcast timing has not yet been determined.