Lee Young-ae Returns After 20 Years with a 'Dae Jang Geum' Sequel

The 2003 Korean drama 'Dae Jang Geum' is returning after 20 years with a sequel. On January 30th (Korean time), Fantagio, a TV drama production company, announced that it would be producing a sequel to 'Dae Jang Geum' titled 'The Royal Physician Dae Jang Geum'.

What's notable is that actress Lee Young-ae, who played the protagonist 'Seo Jang-geum' in 'Dae Jang Geum', is returning to the same role. There have been several attempts to make a sequel to 'Dae Jang Geum' following its success. Since 2009, MBC, the Korean terrestrial broadcaster that aired 'Dae Jang Geum', had been pushing for production, but it fell through.

In particular, in 2014, the process of casting actors for the sequel was underway, but Lee Young-ae expressed her unwillingness to play Seo Jang-geum again. Therefore, the sequel to 'Dae Jang Geum' that was being pursued in 2014 could not be produced.

The production company said that in addition to casting Lee Young-ae, they have also secured a writer to work on the script. However, apart from Lee Young-ae's casting, no other cast members, writers, or producers have been revealed yet. The title 'The Royal Physician Dae Jang Geum' is not yet finalized and may change later. It's also unclear whether it will be released as an SVOD original like Netflix or on MBC, which aired 'Dae Jang Geum'.

Furthermore, director Lee Byung-hoon, who directed the 2003 'Dae Jang Geum', has not directed a TV series since 'Ok-jung' in 2017. (He will turn 80 this year!) Therefore, 'The Royal Physician Dae Jang Geum' is likely to be quite different from the 2003 'Dae Jang Geum'. Also, following the global success of 'Dae Jang Geum', various Korean historical dramas have been made that are similar to 'Dae Jang Geum', making a change in style inevitable.

Meanwhile, 'Dae Jang Geum' was incredibly popular across Eurasia during its broadcast. It is a drama that is always mentioned when explaining the cultural phenomenon known as 'Hallyu' today. It was a hit not only in China, Taiwan, and Japan, which have similar cultural backgrounds, but also in India, Thailand, and Romania, where Korean TV drama series were previously unknown.

In particular, 'Dae Jang Geum' was also a big hit in Islamic countries like Iran and Turkey. It was easy for conservative Islamic societies to accept because it was set in the Confucian royal court, and it was even more appealing because it featured the active roles of women.

'The Royal Physician Dae Jang Geum' is scheduled to be released in the first half of 2025.