On October 10, a press conference for the Friday-Saturday drama 'Judge Lee Han-young' was held at the MBC Management Center in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul. Director Lee Jae-jin attended the event and shared various insights about the production.
'Judge Lee Han-young' is a justice-revenge drama based on a web novel of the same name. It follows the story of a corrupt judge, Lee Han-young, who returns to the past after living as a slave to a giant law firm, and makes new choices to punish evil.
Ji Sung was cast in the role of Lee Han-young. Director Lee explained the casting decision, saying, "He was an actor I wanted to work with, but he was not in Korea." He revealed that he boarded a flight to the United States for a 3-night, 5-day trip just to meet Ji Sung.
Director Lee recalled, "The schedule was tight. I didn't plan to have long conversations, just to meet once or twice. However, Ji Sung liked the idea, and he made time to meet repeatedly."
He continued, "Since Ji Sung was raising his children alone in New York, we mostly met during the day as he had to pick up his kids at night." He added, "We talked while walking with coffee and bagels in hand, discussing everything from the concept to various ideas. It helped me organize my thoughts about the project. Those three days in New York played a significant role."
Meanwhile, 'Judge Lee Han-young' started with a 4.3% viewership rating for its first episode and surpassed 10% by the fifth episode, breaking its own record with each new episode.
Reporter Da-yeon Jeong, TenAsia light@tenasia.co.kr