This year is definitely going to dominated by some strong sageuks. JTBC has announced that Jang Hyuk (Bad Papa) and Seolhyun (The Great Battle) will be joining Woo Do-hwan (The Great Seducer) and Yang Se-jong (Thirty But Seventeen) in sageuk epic My Country. I’m much more excited by the male side of this cast, and I’m sure I’ll be checking the show out just for them, despite my reservations about Seolhyun.
My Country will depict the dramatic events leading to the fall of the Goryeo kingdom, and the birth of Joseon, with an epic love triangle at the center of it all. Woo Do-hwan and Yang Se-jong will play best-friends-turned enemies, though we’re not told of the circumstances surrounding their fall-out. I’m sure it won’t help that they both fall for Seolhyun’s character, who’s described as resourceful and way ahead of her time. Armed with her intelligence and information, she’s known to be quick on her feet and able to get out of the most dire of emergencies.
Jang Hyuk will be playing the infamous Yi Bang-won (future King Taejong), a historical figure he’s actually played once before in the film The Age of Innocence. We’ve seen various iterations of this particular tumultuous period in Korean history in recent years, most notably in Six Flying Dragons, so while I’m feeling a little period fatigue, I’m also looking forward to how My Country will differentiate itself from its predecessors.
JTBC’s My Country is slated to premiere in the latter half of this year.