Podcast
K Drama Chat
Hosted by Joanna and Sung Hee · EN
K Drama Chat is a weekly series where we take one Korean (K) Drama each season and and recap and analyze each episode. We're Joanna, Sung Hee and Jen. We love K Dramas and we want to go deep and explore the many layers and meanings of our favorite K Dramas. Here are the shows we've covered:
14 - Our Unwritten Seoul
14.4b - Special Episode About K Drama Elements
13.18 - Review of Dynamite Kiss
13.17 - Review of No Other Choice
Season 13 - Start-Up
13.7 - 2025 Review of Top Shows, Actors, Actresses, and Scenes
Season 12 - Extraordinary Attorney Woo
11.18 - Special Review of Past Lives
11.17 - Special Review of Miss Granny
Season 11 - When Life Gives You Tangerines
10.13 - Special Review of When the Phone Rings
Season 10 - See You In My 19th Life
Season 9 - Kingdom
Season 8 - Crash Landing On You
Season 7 - Queen of Tears
Season 6 - Gyeongseong Creature
Season 5 - Mr. Queen
Season 4 - 25, 21
Season 3 - Mr. Sunshine
Season 2 - It's Okay to Not Be Okay
Season 1 - Hotel Del Luna
44episodes
Episodes
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9.2.2 - Podcast Review of Season 2, Episode 2 of Kingdom
Nov 8, 202401:17:02Tap to summarizeToday, we’ll be discussing Episode 2 of Season 2 of Kingdom, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Ju Ji-hoon as Crown Prince Yi Chang, Bae Doona as Seo-bi, Ryu Seung-ryong as Cho Hak ju, Kim Sang-ho as Mou Young, Kim Sung-kyu as Yeong shin, and Kim Hye-jun as the Queen Consort. We discuss:How this episode is full of betrayal: someone betrayed the Crown Prince, Cho Hak ju betrays Lord Ahn, and the Queen Consort betrays her father and the rest of the Haewon Cho clanHow Seo-bi violated our rule of never opening mysterious chests without knowing that what’s inside is a friendly person or a cute, furry animal.How the Crown Prince must kill his zombie father, thereby honoring his father’s words to him from so long ago: Stay alive!We learn more about what happened three years ago and we learn that Lord Ahn has deeply regretted his decision to create zombies ever since.Cho Hak ju had Lord Ahn killed, something that the soldiers do with hesitation, given that Lord Ahn is a national war hero. So now, the Crown Prince’s mentor and guide has left him.Lord Ahn makes himself a weapon against Cho Hak ju when he asks the Crown Prince to turn him into a zombie.Back at Hanyang, the Minister of War orders the queen’s residence searched and the soldiers discover the bodies of seven mothers and babies. Curiously, the baby boy died of natural causes, while the baby girls were strangled to death.The court officials debate the line of succession in light of the king’s death when the head eunuch announces that the Queen Consort has gone into labor.The Queen, of course, is not in labor, but waiting for a baby boy to be born.The ID tags that all men over the age of 18 carried around during the Joseon dynasty.The desire for revenge by Young shin and Lord Ahn’s men, which leads them to try and take down Cho Hak ju when they are taken out of their jail cell to be transported to Hanyang.We wonder where Mu Yeong is.The crazy ending where the zombie Lord Ahn takes a chunk out of Cho Hak ju’s left cheek!The K Drama elements in this episode, including the Crown Prince sinking to the ground with great emotion, and the queen’s amazing abs in episode 1 of season 2.The enduring popularity of zombies, from around the world!How Korean zombies are different from Western dramas in that they often focus on the relationships between the humans and the zombies.ReferencesWorn Identity, or information about the ID tags worn by people during the Joseon dynastyKing Cheoljong and his family, who were banished to Ganghwa Island30 Zombie TV Shows Ranked by TomatometerThe Last Of Us: A Closer Look at the Zombie Genre
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9.2.1 - Podcast Review of Season 2, Episode 1 of Kingdom
Nov 1, 202401:07:30Tap to summarizeToday, we’ll be discussing Episode 1 of Season 2 of Kingdom, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Ju Ji-hoon as Crown Prince Yi Chang, Bae Doona as Seo-bi, Ryu Seung-ryong as Cho Hak ju, Kim Sang-ho as Mou Young, Kim Sung-kyu as Yeong shin, and Kim Hye-jun as the Queen Consort. We discuss:The Kingdom wiki that Joanna discovered!How we start to learn what happened in Sangju three years earlier and the roles that Cho Hak ju and Lord Ahn played. We wonder if Lord Ahn has regrets over his decisions at the time.Deok Sung’s act of sacrifice and how Young shin gave him his dignity by killing him.The Crown Prince’s suspicion that Mu Young is the traitor working for Cho Hak ju.The moral dilemmas in this show that ask us just how far we’ll go to save our loved ones.How Seo bi and Cho Beom Pal make it to Mungyeong Saejae and are given shelter because Cho Beom Pal is a member of the Haewo Cho clan. We also find out that Cho Beom Pal is now the heir to the clan.The palace guards are on to the Queen’s evil plot to get a baby boy, but she’s counting on her baby boy to protect her.How the Crown Prince has decided to travel to Mungyeong Saejae and kill Cho Hak ju. Cho Hak ju is in Sangju to kill the Crown Prince.How extreme crisis can push people to do extreme things they didn’t know was possible.The actress Kim Hye-jun, who plays the Queen Consort.ReferencesKingdom wikiCrash Landing On You wikiOpen Source Wiki SoftwareJapanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) - WikipediaAbout - Aftermath of the East Asian War of 1592-1598
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9.1.6 - Podcast Review of Season 1, Episode 6 of Kingdom
Oct 25, 202400:55:11Tap to summarizeToday, we’ll be discussing Episode 6 of Season 1 of Kingdom, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Ju Ji-hoon as Crown Prince Yi Chang, Bae Doona as Seo-bi, Ryu Seung-ryon as Cho Hak ju, Kim Sang-ho as Mou Young, Kim Sung-kyu as Yeong shin, and Kim Hye-jun as the Queen Consort. We discuss:How Season 2 of Kingdom dropped at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic - crazy!The power struggle between Chief State Councilor Cho Hak ju and the Queen Consort.How Lord Ahn put himself squarely in the Crown Prince’s camp when his archers shot the palace guards.How the Crown Prince seems like a new person. He’s determined and confident when he strikes down the chief palace guard.Who might be the traitor among the Crown Prince’s companions?The thousands of people amassing at the southern gates of Sangju. The magistrate doesn’t want to let them in, but the Crown Prince decides that the magistrate is NOT the person to make that decision.The Crown Prince’s plan to protect Sangju by taking advantage of the bodies of water surrounding Sangju.The Queen’s evil plan to have a baby boy by taking pregnant, peasant women and waiting for one of them to have a boy. The queen is not pregnant after all!Joanna’s theory that the queen might have had a miscarriage or gotten her period the day she asked her head court lady to burn her clothes because they had blood on them.How the queen punished the court lady who gossiped about her clothing.Why Cho Hak ju left Hanyang to go to Mungyeong Saejae, why he’s traveling with a zombie, and what his plans might be regarding the Crown Prince.How Seo bi finds the resurrection plant in the Frozen Valley close to Sangju. But while in the cave, she and Cheo Beom Pal are trapped by zombies, who have come out during the day! Seo bi realizes that it's the temperature, not the day and night, that controls when the zombies come out.How the Crown Prince and the men have an uneventful evening, but come morning, when they think they have a day’s respite, they realize that a zombie horde is coming!The versatile Kim Sung-kyu, the actor who plays Young shinNext week, we will start Season 2 of Kingdom!ReferencesCOVID 19 from the US Centers for Disease ControlForbes review of Kingdom from March 2020
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9.1.3 - Podcast Review of Season 1, Episode 3 of Kingdom
Oct 4, 2024Tap to summarizeListeners, we need your help! If you are enjoying K Drama Chat, please encourage a friend to listen! And would you please give us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify? Thank you!Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 3 of Season 1 of Kingdom, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Ju Ji-hoon as Crown Prince Yi Chang, Bae Doona as Seo-bi, Ryu Seung-ryong as Cho Hak ju, Kim Sang-ho as Mou Young, Kim Sung-kyu as Yeong shin, and Kim Hye-jun as the Queen Consort. We discuss:The Seo In Guk Meet and Greet in Washington, DC that Joanna attended! It was amazing!The enduring appeal of zombies!How the opening sequence of the show describes exactly how the king was revived using the resurrection plant, as described in Lee Seung Hui’s medical journal. Although this scene is quite horrific, it is beautifully filmed!How Cho Hak Ju and the Queen Consort keep the king chained and how they feed him unwitting court ladies. Who are the real monsters in the palace?The head scholar and Minister of War are suspicious about all the dead bodies in the palace. They want Lord Ahn Hyeon to ally with them, but Cho Hak Ju is confident that Lord Ahn will never oppose the Cho clan.How Youngshin is doing everything he can to save people from the zombies and Seo bi comes to his defense when Cho Beom Pal and the head clerk accused him of crimes.How we are seeing a different Crown Prince in this episode. HE tried to climb the barracks wall, and he took charge at the magistrate’s office when Cho Beom Pal and the head clerk came up with a ridiculous plan re: the zombie bodies.We now know of a few ways to stop the zombies: burn them, cut off their heads, drown them.Cho Beom Pal is clearly the comic relief in the show, especially in this episode when Seo bi diagnosed him as having gonorrhea.The Crown Prince now knows what happened to the king, how he died, and was brought back to life by Lee Seung Hui using the resurrection plan. He is now mourning the death of his father.How the king somehow foresaw that his son would be in danger. The king urged his son to stay alive!The officials, nobles and soldiers use the one remaining ship to sail to Sangju, stranding all the villagers on the dock.How Joseon was a tremendously classist society. Although society has flattened a great deal today, you can still see the emphasis on hierarchy in modern day language and culture.We wonder what happened three years ago that clearly involved Cho Hak Ju, Lord Ahn Hyeon, and Lee Seung Hui.The amazing and beautiful Bae Doona, the actress who plays Seo bi.ReferencesA rare look at Joseon king's funeralAnyone know the korean name of or more info on the way they wrap the body in the opening sequence? : r/NetflixKingdom.Unidentified artist | Dragon and Carp | Korea | Joseon dynasty (1392–1910) | The Metropolitan Museum of Art왕의 죽음에서 왕릉의 건설까지Review of Traditional Chinese Medicine Pulse Diagnosis Quantification | IntechOpen
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