Sageuk K-drama Asadal Confirms Leads Song Joong Ki, Kim Ji Won, Jang Dong Gun, and Kim Ok Bin

This is a huge K-drama confirmed casting but the impact has been tempered by the three leads names bandied about for some time in connection with this project. Upcoming ancient history sageuk Asadal has locked down leads Song Joong Ki, Kim Ji Won, Jang Dong Gun, and Kim Ok Bin. The four will front what is arguably the biggest K-drama announced so far for 2019, a story set in the beginning of the formation of the Korean historical kingdoms even earlier than Gorguyeo which was dramatized in Jumong. The drama will be directed by the PD of My Ahjusshi and Signal, with the screenwriter of Tree with Deep Roots, Queen Seondeok, and Six Flying Dragons. Consider be blown away impressed by the depth and breadth of the main cast and production team.


Comments

Sageuk K-drama Asadal Confirms Leads Song Joong Ki, Kim Ji Won, Jang Dong Gun, and Kim Ok Bin — 68 Comments

  1. I will watch this because of the brilliant PD Kim and the impressive sageuk writing duo. Not so much on the casts, though.

  2. Finally sjk is going to make a comeback. Was wondering what would be his next project post dots cause expectations were huge. Though the cast and team is top notch but I will keep my expectations low. Hope this doesn’t disappoint.

  3. Always looking forward to watching a drama from this writing team. Most excited for SJK’s casting- his best performance is still tree with deep roots so I’m glad for this reunion.

  4. Amazing cast amazing PD tvN is a good channel amazing writer this is a super good choice and will let SJK show off his acting skills and KJW and JDG are awesome costars.

    So both SHK and SJK picked tvN as their comeback channels lol

      • Will you stop it?, you are so immature and insecure stop dragging her and sjk and their personal life, and if am i not wrong you were one to say that sjk will be replace because his agency didn’t confirm anything. Are you happy now to see your bubble burst
        ?.

  5. The earlier news said that they are not confirmed yet. They are in the final stage of negotiation/ coordination.I am sure they all will sign for this drama.

  6. so his wife is going to kiss his brother and sjk to pair with the 2nd lead – just funny casting

    im curious about the budget, since the cast alone is already expensive

  7. Omg I’m super excited song joong ki’s comeback. I’m still crossing finger that he’ll get to pair up with the amazing ha ji won one day. She’s a very talented actor so is Song Joong Ki. They’ll make a great team.

  8. The cast is good, only wished someone like Park Bo Young as the leading lady instead. KJW is okay at best but not on par with Song Joong Ki….

    • If KJW can synchronise with Jin Goo.She should have no problems doing the same with his buddy SJK.So long as they dont make her the annoying pretty, weeping, damsel in distress with no significant part in the plot.She’s alright.

    • In fact, he should be thankful he got KJW rather than the regular recruits for this types of saeguk like Jin Se Yeon or Shin Se Kyung who I find very very wooden in their acting.

      • These two are universally called bad actors but their saeguks are always highly rated lol.

      • They are both very good in saeguk. I don’t see the problem if either of them had been cast either.

    • I want PBY to receive a solid script from a highly rated writer as well. But maybe she is back to doing films.
      KJW is okay – she’s pretty and decent in acting.

    • I agree with @RubyRed up there. KJW is probably one of the better candidates for a saeguk lead in her 20s, and I see no reason why she shouldn’t match SJK – she’s never failed to match with a costar before.

    • I agree PBY and SJK are on a higher level compared to KJW. I’m not saying KJW is bad; she is good, but not the same level with PBY and SJK.

      My opinion. 🙂

  9. Best news that KJW and KOB cast as kick ass female leads and not some doe eyed cute wall flowers. Yep I’m happy with the casting. ?

  10. Just the PD and writer combo will make a must watch for me. The cast is good, except for JDG’s botox face (his performance was quite disappointing in Suits).

    • I don’t think he requires to be young in this drama though. So I think he can leave the botox formula with his doctor.

      • Let’s hope so. How can one emote with a Botox face? like Lee Santa now in Mr Sunshine, his frozen old face is a big turnoff ?

      • I agree on KMM, when JDG’s casting news came out, I was kind of disappointed because like most people here, I didn’t enjoy his acting in Suits. And I don’t recall him in a sageuk movie before. KMM meanwhile is a sageuk veteran. He was great as Sambong in 6FD.

      • Agree on KMM. JDG may be a big name in the past as a handsome face, but he is so out now and his acting is only so-so,

  11. Some fans are worried kjw will get hate from songsong fans once she get to act with sjk. But the truth is its her fans who love to bring down and drag other actress down. They just cant praise her without dragging other actress down. They drag Song hye kyo so hard during dots and now they are doing it again. To all ss fans watch out for these kjw twitter trash woobinseyebrows and her minions she insulted and make fun of shk so hard during dots & wina221b she drag shk during dots and now she’s doing it again. If kim ji won gets a lot of hate dont blame other fans and act victims blame your co fans cause you started it all.

    • What beef do they have with SHK though? Its not like KJW and SHK share the same love interests in DOTs.
      I sorta understand why they dragged PSH since they were hoping for KJW to end up with KWB… Not that its justified, of course.

      • The beef is that SHK was the female lead in Dots. But apparently these petty as twitter/tumblr KJW trash fans thought that KJW out acted SHK. They really out there thinking KJW out acts anyone when she’s nothing special. Better than Jin Se yeon for sure, better than SHK? Hell naw. Twitter/woobinseyebrows twitter/ tumblr minions were not mad because of a ship. They were mad bc they couldn’t stand seeing PSH getting more popular because of Heirs whil KJW didn’t immediately get a leading role. Instead of blaming KJW’s former agency, they started a hate campaign against PSH which was childish tbh.

      • @prettyautumn if the beef that brings all these stupid rants,we are seeing here is because of comments like “KJW outacted SHK in DOTS” or KJW’s fans were salty “PSH got more popular in Heirs or whatever” another one I often hear is how arrogant KJW fans are, because they say “KJW is one of the better actresses of 90s generation”.isnt that something even a non fan would say? How on earth is that dragging the other actresses down?When giving drama reviews dont we all give comparisons and evaluation among actors performance? Celebs often get compared on looks, charisma, personality etc. Whether a person agree or disagree is just an opinion like we all do here almost all the time.

        I still dont see how that justifies leaving hate comments or incoherent rants which have no relevance to posts about the projects on every KJW article about THE actress herself.Or how ALL her fans are trash(what a gross generalisation).It justs feels petty,vindictive and childish to me.One drama was like 5 years ago(Heirs) the other one was 2 years ago(DOTS).

        I am neutral to all three.The way I see it, KJW doesnt have a huge fanbase to defend her.So these PSH fans and SHK fans find her fanbase an easy target to bully and taunt because how dare a “not so A-list” actress’ fans say their goddesses underperformed?or why is she being mentioned in the same sentence as them?In any case, this is so irrelevant and adds nothing to this post.

      • Don’t have a huge fanbase to defend her? What a joke.
        Where is the “non-existent” fanbase when KJW fans made false claims like how KJW was offered Doctors first but rejected it so PSH could get the role; or when they claim SHK was a weak actress so Kim Eunsook gave all the emotional scenes to KJW in DOTs?

        I don’t think SHK and PSH fans will go and taunt/bully an unknown actress (back then) for nothing. Like what you said, SHK and PSH are hallyu actresses; they get compared all the time with both fellow A-listers or newbies. It’s these false claims that ruffled the feathers of fans of both actresses.

        Of course, this has nothing to do with Kim Jiwon herself. She is close with PSH and SHK. It’s her fans that feel insecure and jealous that they had to resort to coming up with lies. Sad.

    • Keep an eye on twitter and tumblr if kim ji won fans attack song hye kyo like they didn’t in dots. Song song shipper will attack you like they attack moon chae won, lol.

      • if u attack another celebrity its only fair u’ll get the same, its not only shk fans who is doing that,u dont go attacking other and think other fans will not come at you.ur idol isnt the only one special.

    • But if y’all fans(I dont care if its songsong fans or kjw fans) have beef with each other.Why dont you fight each other out and leave the actors and actresses out of your petty fights?Dont tag them and dont discuss this in posts that have nothing to do with said beef.

      I believe all this nonsense is among international fans.People who have very little imapct on the actor’s careers in korea. The funny thing is that Song Hye Kyo and Kim Ji Won are probably very very close or at least good acquaintances.

      • Exactly. KJW was even at the SongSong wedding ffs, this stupid rivalry narrative just needs to stop now.

        I’m tired of the stupid repetitive ‘all kjw fans are trash, she’s not worthy of the offers she gets’ comments coming out of the same user, but I’m also starting to worry a little for that person’s health because this actress’s success clearly raises their blood pressure lol.

  12. Oh my….I hope Kim Ok Bin is the female lead….I like Kim Ji Won too, she is pretty and talented….but Kim Ok Bin is my bias…hehe….

    • I don’t know. I like Kim Ok-bin’s character more from the description given. The (first) female lead doesn’t always have the most interesting character.

      • Yeah look at Shin Se Kyung and Gong Seung Yeon in SFD. One was a title character but the other was more interesting as a character.

        Either way this is a solid cast, I look forward to the drama.

  13. Wow Kim Ji Won is really moving up the ladder- becoming the female lead in this drama… I was hoping it’d have been Kim Ok Bin since I’m a fan of her ever since Hello God

  14. I must say, a couple of people in here seem to have a real persecution complex about fans.

    If you have such a beef with some specific fan, have the courage to take it up with that tumblr or twitter instead of leaving incoherent comments here using those one or two accounts as reasons to pre-emptively justify hating on kjw with a ‘her fabs started it!’ type of playground-level logic.

      • This is the perfect place to call out her fans because a lot of them are dragging not only shk but a lot of female actresses down.Just because i name drop 2 twitter accts it means they are the only one who love to drag they are a “LOT” and it is time to stop it.

      • @Arian no its not.This place is not a Kim Ji Won fan page.They may be people who like her here.But I can bet that there are not many hardcore fans but just those who happen to like her look or acting.But they would be very few of them here. Its just a dramablog.This post has nothing to do with Song Hye Kyo either.Twitter, Soompi and maybe dramabeans is where you would find large groups of Kim Ji Won fans.So if there are really alot of “salty kim ji won fans”.Take it there and battle it out.

    • I know really its as if KJW herself is a mafia boss who told her minions to “hate or drag” other actresses.I dont see any of this talked about on korea media news or blogs.Does KJW really have that big of a fanbase to upset celebrities who have very vocal and huge fanbase like Song Hye Kyo’s or Park Shin Hye?Even if she has such fans?Does that justify hating the actress herself when she has done nothing wrong?

      • She has a lot of fans and their habit is bringing down other actress im not justifying that kjw get hate because they started it what im trying to say is they should stop playing victim and stop dragging actess down because they can get haters for their bias. Did i hate kjw ? I was after her fans and their habit.

      • I know right, it’s funny, all these identically phrased claims that KJW fans or these two accounts are doing all this and therefore talking down on the actress is justified…but where are the receipts? You know, the actual posts and tweets in which KJW fans are allegedly and constantly trashing other actresses? Links please, I would like to see.

  15. Views and opinions of some do not represent the whole fandom so is it really necessary to bring here the petty comments of some KJW fans? It does not bring substance to the discussion here.

    Anyway, Aseudal’s premise is unique and interesting and I am mostly excited on KJW and KOB’s potential roles. DB has details of the characters but I read a more detailed translation of character description in IG while browisng the drama’s tag. SJK plays Eunsum from Wahan tribe, an orphan raised by the tribe’s people. He was featured in the prophecy of the blue comet and later on conquered Aseudal. KJW plays the role of Tan Ya, Yeolson’s daughter and the heir to the Wahan clan mother and later on becomes the first crown princess of Aseudal and first aspiring female politician of the Empire. She is Eunsum first love and the woman Tagon (JDG) loves. JDG is up to play Tagon, a war hero and a genius fighter from Saenyeok tribe. KOB is Taealha, Miheul’s daughter and the eldest of the Hae family. She’s called the strongest creature on earth with her genius swordsmanship skills. Later on becomes the Empress Dowager of Aseudal.

    Looks like we will be getting two strong female characters. I hope they get their fair amounts of screentime and character development.

    • Thank MMM for your the character overview something to look forward to. Hopefully the story and scriptwriting will warrant its success because they’ve got a stellar cast to boot. I really don’t understand the whole fan war exchange it must be me I’m just too old to get it but it is distracting and amusing how it tangents off to subtext ‘my actress is better and beautiful then your actress’.

  16. Just watch out for SHK fans they will come to the drama discussion threads/blogs no matter what and will drag SJK’s co-stars through the mud like they always do.

    • However they are happy with kjw being paired with him since it’s safe to them ? I know what you mean though however I don’t think it’s shk fans it’s mainly those dots/song fans that act like a bunch of thugs lolz

    • That’s how you are though. You drag shk down on blogs and your twitter acct. And then if the other fans do the same thing with your bias you will act victim. Just practice what you preach.

      • “You drag SHK down on blogs and your twitter acct.”

        Okay, do I know you, @Arian? Probably not. I don’t have a blog or twitter account.

        But try not to make the SHK fans the victims here. They get what they deserve. It’s simply time to not let them act like they’re above everyone else. It’s a fact they dragged down female co-stars of SJK after DotS. It doesn’t shed a good light on SHK. So actually SHK fans doing her no favor.

    • Erm let me tell you something, SHK fans have no time to drag other actresses because we will be busy spazzing about our own fav (she only comes back in 2-4 years you know) and frankly we don’t have to. I mean why would we when our fav has been on the top for a decade. You get what I mean? No one was dragged more in DOTS than SHK herself, you can read those comments in this blog itself. So I don’t know which SHK ‘fans’ are you talking about. Don’t overgeneralize and mistaken them for trolls/those rabid shippers and drag her fans unnecessarily like how dragged SHK into this.

      “will drag SJK’s co-stars through the mud like they always do”

      Huh? How could her fans ‘always’ drag his co-stars when the Songs only acted together 2 years ago? Why would SHK’s fans would even care about SJK’s previous projects/co-stars in the first place? Do you realize how silly you sound,LOL. SJK and SHK could act with anyone and many of his fans/her fans would support them because we’re not that insecure, I will know since I’m a long time fan of both. And lastly,

      STOP.DRAGGING.SHK.IN.ARTICLES.THAT.HAS.NOTHING.TO.DO.WITH.HER! Pretty simple to follow right:)

      • I have no idea why SHK is being dragged into this nonsense either, though if you look at these posts it inevitably starts with someone claiming that KJW fans are talking down on SHK and other actresses. I don’t think most of the people making those claims are even SHK fans at all.

        I also don’t understand the fuss over SHK and SJK’s pairings in their next projects – “he’s like her husband’s little brother’ and such nonsense. They are actors with 20 years/10 years of experience behind them, it’s called ACTING for a reason. Let’s just let them do their jobs.

      • @Royal We- Lol, I don’t know either especially in this blog, her name gets dragged many times for no reason. As much as I know, most of SHK and SJK fans, especially their Korean and Chinese fans are very protective of them but they don’t start anything unless someone is spreading rumors/false claims. For SHK especially, most of her fans are those that have been with her since she started 20 years ago so most of us are not interested in petty fanwars, we prefer supporting her since she has had quite a difficult time in the industry. I have personally seen a KJW fan dragging SHK and many Kyo fans knows too but we don’t really care much for that. So I don’t know from where this SHK ‘fans’ are coming from either.

        Trust me we don’t understand too, LOL. Most of us have accepted and are pretty excited to see the outcome after the official confirmation. SJK and SHK fans are pretty cool about who their co-stars are/will be. Most of us just wants to see our favs in good projects and even most of the shippers are cool with it, lol. So I don’t think all these fuss is coming from either SJK/SHK fans.

  17. @Jasmin You say Shk fans drag sjk’s co star after dots? Can you name these actresses that they dragged? Cause as far as i can remember it was the badwagon dots shippers. You called out the wrong fans.

    • yup…I am Shk’s fan and would love to know about that too. And it is a fact that when it’s Hye Kyo….people will try so hard to compare her with their bias and talk bad about her….why? Are they feeling insecured? I like Kim Ji Won too(she is pretty and talented….what not to like?) but I personally prefer Kim Ok Bin for Saeguk drama…but we’ll see if I am wrong cause I’ll definitely will watch and support this drama of SJK…

  18. Finally after months of stolen snippets and pictures, a confirmation!This premise has everything from the writers to the pd to the actors, sounds epic hence I’m going to be cautiously optimistic about this. Pretty excited to SJK in a saguek again. Here’s hoping this drama won’t disappoint.

  19. Kim ji won fans love to bring in down park shin hye, song hye kyo even kim tae ri. At least Jin se yeon and Shin se kyung have high rated saeguk drama why don’t cast them. I’ll like song joong ki but I don’t think he can repeat success like descendant of the sun in subsequent projects. No one writter can bring high rating unless queen kim sook drama.

    • lol ok. Talk about frothing at the mouth…

      But I’ll see you in 2019 when the drama premieres so let’s see if your prediction actually cones true.

  20. I never finished DOTS. And i’m not really interested with this drama description. Hopefully it doesnt dissapoint.

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