Kakao Entertainment, JTBC collab for new webtoon, TV series

Poster images of ″King the Land″ the webtoon, left, and the JTBC drama series featuring Lim Yoon-a and Lee Jun-ho [KAKAO ENTERTAINMENT]

Kakao Entertainment began a new webtoon series titled "King the Land" in tandem with cable channel JTBC's upcoming drama series of the same title that starts this Saturday.

"King the Land" drama revolves around Gu Won, a cold-hearted heir to the King Hotel, played by actor Lee Jun-ho — otherwise known as Junho of boy band 2PM — who meets Cheon Sa-rang, a receptionist at the hotel — played by Lim Yoon-a, otherwise known as Yoona of Girls' Generation — to learn the meaning of true love.

The webtoon series will revolve around the story before, during and after the plot of the drama series.

The first seven episodes that were released last Saturady start with the two main characters' childhood years. The story will run in line with the drama's story starting this weekend.

The webtoon series began when Kakao Entertainment approached the production company and writer after "seeing the potential of the work as an intellectual property," according to the Kakao subsidiary's press release.

"We thought, 'What if we expand the work's story and tell the parts that weren't told in the drama through the webtoon?' and began the 'King the Land' project," Kakao Entertainment said in a press release.

The drama episodes will air every Saturday and Sunday at 10:30 p.m. on JTBC. Webtoon episodes will also be released every Saturday on Kakao Page and Kakao Webtoon services.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]