'Payback' combines legal drama with big dose of revenge

Main poster for ″Payback″ [SBS]

A new drama series on SBS, “Payback,” is not just a legal drama but is also a story of revenge by a man who chooses love over everything else.

The first episode of “Payback,” starring Lee Sun-kyun, Moon Chae-won and Park Hoon, directed by Lee Won-tae, will air Friday.

The main cast and producers of the series held an online press conference Friday to describe the series.

“Payback” follows a group of people who risk their lives to fight a cartel colluding with law enforcement. Lee, a veteran actor known for parts in such well-known films as “Parasite” (2019), plays the central character, a man named Eun Yong, the CEO of a global private equity fund.

Moon Chae-won plays Park Joon-gyeong, a former soldier and an elite judicial officer who passed the bar with flying colors. After her mother dies mysteriously in an accident, she sets off with Eun to take revenge on the people who took her mother’s life.

Lee and Moon are accompanied by lesser known actors Kang Yoo-seok and Park Hoon, who each play prosecutors. Kang plays a rookie prosecutor who is also Eun’s nephew, while Park plays an older prosecutor at the top of Korean law enforcement.

“My character Eun is a person who grew up very poor and with a lot of hardship, but is extremely skilled at making money,” said Lee during the online press conference Friday. “He deals with money at an astronomical scale – billions and trillions – but sets out to take revenge when a person he loves gets targeted.”

Moon said she initially was hesitant to take on such a serious role, but that working with Lee was irresistable.

“Working with Lee is something of a dream come true for me,” said Moon during the online press conference. “And we both trusted director Lee Won-tae very much – looking at his past work, I was able to muster up the courage to participate in this series.”

Park Hoon commented that although his character Hwang Ki-seok, a chief prosecutor, is a villain, he has a “romantic” side to him that viewers should watch out for.

“My character is a very economical person and a baddie throughout, but I hope to show different sides of him,” said Park.

Director Lee Won-tae directed dramas and films such as “The Gangster, the Cop and the Devil” (2019), “Man of Will” (2017) and “The Magician,” and is known for his dark and serious plotlines and thrilling direction.

“Payback” will have 12 episodes airing on Friday and Saturday nights. Viewers can watch the series on streaming platforms Wavve and Amazon Prime Video.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]