ktown konnection #9 | Premieres: "My Name is Loh Ki-wan," "Wonderful World"

This week’s Top Global Titles ”Doctor Slump” rose to #5 then dropped to #6 on Netflix, “Marry My Husband” holds at #3 on Amazon Prime Video, and among Viki’s Top 20 are “Knight Flower,” “My Happy Ending,” and “Queen of Divorce.”

“A Killer Paradox” tops Netflix Korea 🇰🇷 The series held on to the top spot, followed by kdramas “Doctor Slump” at #2 and “Captivating The King” at #4.

March 1 is Independence Movement Day Distinct from Korea’s Independence Day (August 15), the March 1 Movement commemorates Korea’s independence movement in 1919 during Japanese colonial rule. A day marked by protest, it was one of the most significant public displays of Korean resistance, calling for independence from Japan during a time of harsh cultural repression and forced assimilation.

Some titles with independence movement narratives include “Assassination” and the recent “Gyeongseong Creature.”

PREMIERES

• February 28 “The Impossible Heir” (Disney+)

• March 1: 

  • “Wonderful World” (MBC) (Disney+)

  • “My Name is Loh Ki-wan” [feature] (Netflix)

Cha Eun-woo (“A Good Day To Be A Dog”) co-stars with Kim Nam-joo for revenge drama “Wonderful World.” Song Joong-ki (“Vincenzo”) is back with a new film, playing a North Korean defector.

Sneak peek: High school survival thriller “The Pyramid Game” gets released on TVING today (Korea); it’s slated for global streaming later on Paramount+ as part of a partnership deal. ContentAsia

Wednesday-Thursday Feb 28-29
“Queen of Divorce” (JTBC) (Viki)
“The Impossible Heir” (Disney+)

Friday-Saturday Mar 1-2
“Flex x Cop” (SBS) (Disney+,Hulu)
“Wonderful World” (MBC) (Disney+)

Saturday-Sunday Mar 2-3
“Captivating The King” (tvN) (Netflix)
“Doctor Slump” (JTBC) (Netflix)

Monday-Tuesday Mar 4-5
“Love Song For Illusion” (Viki)
“Wedding Impossible” (tvN) (Viki)

(*Streaming platforms shown are for U.S. only; distributors vary by country.)

KDRAMA/FILM/TV NEWS

Pricey pairing 📈 Actor Lee Jae-wook (“The Impossible Heir”) and K-pop girl group Aespa member Karina went public with their relationship. The news had a swift market reaction: shares of SM Entertainment, the company which reps Aespa, dipped $50M in value. KJD (Sidenote: this gives me a kdrama flashback in which a bougie mother throws money at a young ingenue to stop dating her son.)

Young Son Sok-ku CGI character In an interview, “A Killer Paradox” director Lee Chang-hee reveals that the young version of Son Sok-ku’s character was no actor: it was completely CGI.