Lee Jong-suk considers Disney+’s One Second, Ji Chang-wook may join Ma Dong-seok in Twelve - Korean drama casting latest

Big Mouth star Lee Jong-suk is considering the lead role in One Second, while Ji Chang-wook may join Ma Dong-seok in Twelve
Lee Jong-won has been offered a part in In the Name of Alcohol, and Sol Kyung-gu and Park Eun-bin are confirmed as the leads of Hyper Knife

K-drama news

Pierce Conran

Published: 5:15pm, 20 Apr 2024

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Several huge K-drama stars are looking to return to our screen as heroes with special abilities in a pair of action-oriented fantasy dramas, while two brilliant doctors go head-to-head in another.

Find out about these and more in our latest casting round-up from the land of Korean dramas.

1. One Second

Big Mouth star Lee Jong-suk is mulling over an offer for what may become his first global streaming series. The actor has been offered a leading role in the upcoming webtoon adaptation One Second, which will be a Disney+ original.

Lee has been offered the part of Hosu, a brave firefighter who has had a perfect success rate on the job thanks to a supernatural ability that allows him to see into the future.

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The original webtoon was created by Sini with art by Kwang Woon and is currently on its second season after launching in 2019.

Known for classic TV shows including Pinocchio, W and While You Were Sleeping, Lee was last seen on screens in 2022, when he appeared in the drama Big Mouth and the films The Witch: Part Two – The Other One and Decibel.

The series will be produced by Arc Media, which previously partnered with Disney+ on the drama Big Bet.

2. Twelve

Fresh off the success of Welcome to Samdal-ri, Ji Chang-wook is considering an offer to appear alongside global superstar Ma Dong-seok (aka Don Lee) in the superhero-themed drama Twelve.

Ji Chang-wook in a still from Welcome to Samdal-ri. Photo: JTBC

The series focuses on a group of characters with a variety of special abilities who work together to protect Korea from various malevolent spirits.

Superhero-themed media has long been popular in South Korea, and the local industry has been increasingly successful with its own forays in the genre, notably with 2023’s global hit Moving.

Ji appeared in If You Wish Upon Me and The Worst of Evil in 2023, while he is set to return to the big screen alongside Jeon Do-yeon in Revolver soon and is also busy at work on the upcoming Disney+ drama Gangnam B-Side.

Ma Dong-seok in a still from Badland Hunters. Photo: Cha Min-jung/Netflix

Ma is currently enjoying a run as Korea’s most bankable star and is known for Korean films including Train to Busan and Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days, as well as Marvel’s Eternals. He is also the lead of the hit franchise The Roundup, the fourth instalment of which lands in South Korean theatres later this month.

3. In the Name of Alcohol

Lee Jong-won of Knight Flower and The Golden Spoon is reviewing an offer to appear in the romcom In the Name of Alcohol from cable network ENA, which his agency confirmed he is positively considering. The female lead role was previously reported as having been offered to Kim Se-jeong (The Uncanny Counter).

Kim Se-jeong in a still from The Uncanny Counter season 2.

The story will focus on a liquor company sales representative (the part that has been offered to Kim) who is striving the save her company in the midst of a crisis, and a local beer brewer (the role that is being looked over by Lee).

The series will be directed by Park Sun-ho, who may get a chance to reunite with his Business Proposal star Kim.

4. Hyper Knife

Sol Kyung-gu (Kill Boksoon) and Park Eun-bin (Extraordinary Attorney Woo) have been confirmed as the leads of the upcoming medical crime drama Hyper Knife. Also joining the cast are Yoon Chan-young (All of Us Are Dead) and Park Byung-eun (The Bequeathed).

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Sol and Park Eun-bin will play rival surgical geniuses who used to be mentor and mentee. Sol’s character Deok-hee is the world’s greatest neurosurgeon, who once kicked his student Se-ok (Park Eun-bin) out of the operating theatre, destroying her once-promising career.

Park Byung-eun will play the anaesthesiologist who believes in Se-ok, while Yoon is the young man who sticks by her side to protect her.

Park Eun-bin in a still from Castaway Diva.

Currently in production, Hyper Knife is being directed by Kim Jung-hyun (Crazy Love) and is penned by Kim Sun-hee, the co-writer of Quiz from God: Reboot.

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