▲ It is the poster of ˝Kingdom˝.

January 25th, 2019, "Kingdom", which was considered as a highly anticipated drama of 2019, was unveiled. Its preview video has about 3 million views not on Korean Netflix, but on American Netflix on YouTube. It was an issue because of the unique genre that is a mixture of Korean Joseon Dynasty and Western zombies, and that it took nearly eight years and spent about two billion won to produce it.

"Kingdom" is a mystery thriller that starts with a crown prince who tries to find out the secret of those who became monsters after a long hunger at the end of Joseon where he headed to when he was suspected as a traitor.

▲ (From Left) They are Ryu Seung-ryong, Ju Ji-hoon, Kim Eun-hee, Kim Seong-hoon.

Many people have an interest in "Kingdom" because they believe it will be a big drama in 2019. The reason why people believe that is that it was produced by the best people. First, Screenwriter Kim Eun-hee is well-known as the writer of a drama titled "Signal" which was praised as a well-made thriller drama by many people. Director Kim Seong-hoon is popular as the director of a movie titled "Tunnel". There are also great actors and actresses. Actor Ju Ji-hoon is considered as one of the top actors today and has a nickname "Reliable Ju Ji-hoon" because the movies of 2018 where he appeared were great and made people give a good reaction. Actress Bae Doo-na built a solid filmography in Hollywood. Moreover, Ryu Seung-ryong is reliable with his stable performance which he has shown and his perfect analysis of his character.

▲ One abroad viewer was attracted by a `gat`, which is a Korean traditional hat, after watching ˝Kingdom˝.

In South Korea, there are quite some people who were not satisfied with the "Kingdom". They said that it was produced well, but it did not meet their expectations, and that ambiguous audio-description bothered them. Also, a famous blogger who has posted the review of historical drama had a comment that there is a hole in actors' performance. 

However, many abroad viewers praised the "Kingdom". One said that South Koreans know how to make a zombie movie of a high class, and another said that the setting is so unique and makes this apocalyptic situation so thrilling and disturbing.

2019.02.09

By Kim Na-yeong