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Ha Jung-woo to return to small screen in upcoming tvN drama

Published: 26 Jun. 2025, 12:14 Updated: 26 Jun. 2025, 18:43

YIM SEUNG-HYE
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Actor Ha Jung-woo [YONHAP]

Actor Ha Jung-woo is making his long-awaited return to television after nearly two decades, starring in the upcoming tvN drama “How to become an owner of a building in Korea” (translated). Ha’s last television series was MBC’s “H.I.T” in 2007.

tvN announced Thursday that it has finalized the casting of the new series. It stars Ha as Su-jong, a man who becomes a building owner through yeonggeul — a slang term meaning to borrow down to one’s last soul — but finds himself crushed under staggering debt. He gets pulled into crime in a desperate bid to protect his family and his prized property.

Actor Lim Soo-jung [LOTTE ENTERTAINMENT]

Actor Im Soo-jung will co-star as Ha’s wife Kim Seon, a poised and resolute woman who remains calm under pressure. Others include Kim Jun-han, Jung Soo-jung and Shim Eun-kyung.

Yim Pil-sung, director of Netflix's "Persona" (2019), will helm the series, and novelist Oh Han-ki will make his debut as a series scriptwriter.

The series is expected to premiere in the first half of next year.

Ha debuted as an actor in the 2002 SBS sitcom “Honest Living” and rose to prominence after his breakout role as a psychopathic serial killer in the 2008 film “The Chaser.” His films, including “The Yellow Sea” (2010), “Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time” (2012), “Love Fiction” (2012), “The Berlin File” (2013), “The Terror Live” (2013) and “Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds” (2017) span numerous genres and have seen box office success. Ha also made his debut as a director with "Roller Coaster" in 2013.

Lim debuted in 2001 through a role in the teen drama “School 4,” but her breakthrough role was in director Kim Jee-woon’s “A Tale of Two Sisters” (2003), a horror film that shot Lim to fame and won her various newcomer awards that year. This year marks the film’s 20th anniversary, for which rerelease screenings and talks were held with Lim in attendance. The 2004 drama series “I’m Sorry, I Love You,” in which she starred with actor So Ji-sub, shot her to international stardom.

BY YIM SEUNG-HYE [[email protected]]