Yoo Ah In Makes His First Official Appearance in Jang Ok Jung

Now that we’ve seen the dazzling and toothy Jang Ok Jung with a resplendent Kim Tae Hee in a purple and black hanbok ensemble, its time to meet this latest and greatest incarnation of King Suking. King Sukjung’s given name was Yi Sun and he succeeded his father King Hyeongjung at the age of 16 when he ascended the throne. He’s well known in history for the trouble that his wives and concubines caused in vying for power, but as a ruler he governed over a prosperous time in Joseon. As a politician he often set factions against each other in order to cement the power of the royal family, and losing factions would be completed wiped out so the price was steep to pay indeed. Other notable drama King Sukjong’s in recent years were Ji Jin Hee in Dong Yi and Jeon Kwang Ryul in Jang Heebin, but Yoo Ah In is definitely the youngest in years to play this character. Based on the stills of the childhood portion, King Sukjong likely meets Jang Ok Jung right before the time he’s about to become king, and their budding love might be nipped in the bud once he has to assume the mantle of power and thus needs to marry according to political dictates. We all remember the mess that came of childhood loves in The Moon Embraces the Sun, yes? Seeing Yoo Ah In in these first stills has me flashing back to Sungkyunkwan Scandal and wondering why suddenly Geol Oh cleaned up so nicely. Does he have an exam to go to? And where is the rest of the Joseon F4? Actually, all I need to see is Song Joong Ki beside him and all is well with the universe again. Geol Oh and Yeo Rim, forever that drama’s OTP. Like I wrote in the previous post, JOJ the drama is adapted from a 2008 chick lit novel called Jang Ok Jung, Live in Love. It’s been out of print and with the recent interest stirred up by this drama, publishers are getting ready to re-release it. Now I sorta get the Bu Bu Jing Xin reference even more, since that was also a drama adapted from a period romance novel about a famous real life emperor’s made up love story.

Yoo Ah In doesn’t disappoint. He still rocks a sageuk outfit like no other, clearly the man was born in the wrong era. Whether he has chemistry with Kim Tae Hee is still up in the air. I sure hope so for the sake of creating a good drama.


Comments

Yoo Ah In Makes His First Official Appearance in Jang Ok Jung — 12 Comments

      • So King Sukjong real lover was really a fashion designer… LOL But if Yeorim makes a cameo appearance, the ladies of this drama won’t stand a chance. Who cares about Jang Heebin and Queen Inhyun when we have Goel-Rim, royal style? xd

      • Maybe Yeorim could be helping JOJ with her fashin designing, afterall he as an expert when it came to that in SKKS

  1. I agree Captain, Yoo Ah In is well suited to wearing sageuk outfits ( and hairdos too 😉 ). I wonder if in this drama we’ll see him with long hair. Good Luck Yoo Ah In! Hope you and your fans will have fun with this drama!

  2. I didn’t watch Fashion King (I don’t want to waste my time :D), I miss watching him on drama. I hope this drama will be great or at least tolerable for me to watch him again 😀

  3. Ha! seeing these stills for the first time yesterday, I was telling myself that I prefer Geol Oh in his unshaven ninja look more….I think YAI’s sageuk performances have been better than his contemporary drama/ film ones (except for my fav Man who cant marry) so I’m not worried about his acting but seeing these stills reminded my why he could easily pass for a high schooler..without the facial hair he always looks much younger than his age, makes me a little concerned for his chemistry with both the leading ladies…though I think Hong Soo Hyun and YAI will be on fire together because of their acting…its KTH I’m worried for

    • This was my first impression – he’s always looked really young to me and Kim Tae Hee is looking older than usual (stress?). But with her acting problems, the potential visual mismatch is really the least of my concerns about this drama.

      • agree..they could look off but it would be even worse if one of them is really intense and the other blah..evidence would be the chemistry between Han Ga Im and Kim Soo Hyun in MTETS….both KSH and Jung Il Woo were acting thir hearts out and HGI was…just there…on the other hand Kim Min Seo & KSH were smoldering together even though she was older than him

  4. Ahhhh!!!

    Geol oh and Yeo rim couple forever scar Song Joong Ki and Yoo Ah In for me…
    now i cant see their chemistry as good as with anyother co-star then with each other as noone can top Song Joongki Yoo Ah In chemistry so far for me…Yeah Moon Chae-won, Park Bo Young were close but couldnt beat Yoo Ah In.

    so I hope nothing for the OTP as I already Know Kim Tae Hee has a boyfriend Rain and i can see her beat Song Joong Ki anywhere.

    btw can Song Joong Ki do a cameo??

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