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Veteran Actors Team Up for Small Screen

By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter

Veteran actors, with their impeccable acting and experience, are returning to the small screen, recently dominated mainly by good-looking younger people. Some of Korea's favorite actors are getting together to bring the life, love and passion of middle-aged men and women to the small screen with the drama "Again, My Love" on KBS.

Actors Park Sang-won, Choi Myung-gil and Jeon In-hwa are famous for their acting, and viewers will have the chance to see them perform together for the first time in the 24-episode series.

"We will show more mature, perhaps even reckless relationships through the drama", Park said at a press conference last week.

Park, 49, is known as one of Korea's best male actors, with his soft smile and charismatic roles in hit dramas like "Sandglass" (1995) and "The Legend" (2007). Choi, 46, made it big with the hit drama "Last Empress" (2001) as Empress Myeongseong of the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910), while Jeon, 43, is also famous for her roles as charismatic empresses in historical dramas. For her, the new work is her first non-historical drama in 11 years and her femme fatal role seemed sufficient to shake the motherly image she's had for so many years.

The actors may be returning to fans after spending some time away from the spotlight, but the overall storyline of the new soap seems similar to others now on television.

The drama starts with Han Myung-in, CEO of the successful Myungjin Group, played by Choi, and her husband and vice president Lee Jeong-hun, played by Park. The two seem to have it all ― fame, money and a perfect family ― until Han discovers an illicit relationship between her husband and top actress Eun Hae-jung, played by Jeon.

However, Eun, who strongly believed that she was Lee's true love, is devastated when she finds out that Lee will no longer see her and has decided to support his wife Han.

The story gets further complicated when the younger characters, played by Park Ye-jin and Jung Gyu-woon, discover their twisted fate along the way as well.

"The love lives of middle-aged people are the main focus of the drama. I have been working on dramas that touched on family life, but this time I'm bringing more, with love triangles, jealousy and revenge", Kim Jong-chang, the producer, said.

When reporters asked if he thought there weren't already enough dramas offering sensational storylines, the producer shrugged.

"I was never a person who focused on morals (when making dramas). I simply think that the trend these days is not based on standardized textbooks. Viewers can witness dramatic stories even in the news and I think it's hard to catch (viewers') attention without adding some touchy issues", he said.

The bottom line was life and love, added Kim.

"Revenge and adultery are all just topics. We will work on bringing life to the small screen, regardless of age. This drama actually gave me the chance to look back on my life and appreciate things that were long forgotten", he added.

Meanwhile, the press conference venue was a bit noisy with reporters and KBS staff members discussing the recent controversy regarding reporters entering KBS buildings. KBS' promotion team announced that reporters had to arrange appointments before entering the building, which reporters claimed violated their rights to covers stories about the public network. Many reporters left the scene arguing they wouldn't write about the network for the time being.

The drama "Again in Love" starts airing tonight at 10 p.m. on KBS.

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