By Pierce Conran
Among several enticing K-drama casting stories this week, two Korean stars are gearing up for their comeback projects after completing their military service.
Here is the latest casting news.
1. Your Ground
In addition to gearing up for a second season of the superhero show Moving, Han Hyo-joo may also be joining the romantic drama Your Ground, although her agency has yet to respond to the news of her casting.
The series will chronicle the working and burgeoning romantic relationship between a baseball player trying to rebuild his career and a sports agent who used to be a lawyer.
Han has reportedly been approached to play Seo Hee-sung, the former lawyer. Hee-sung is a confident character, whose easy-going manner belies her sharp skills and her strong desire to win, a trait that serves her well both as a lawyer and as an agent.
Last seen in Disney+鈥檚 Blood Free opposite Ju Ji-hoon, Han will next appear in the Japanese Netflix series Romantics Anonymous.
Your Ground will be helmed by Choi Jung-in, known for directing dramas such as Undercover High School and On the Verge of Insanity. The series is being written by Hwang Hae-yeon and produced by Studio S.
2. Four Hands
Sweet Home actor Song Kang has been busy performing his military service, but with only a few months to go, he is rumoured to be attached to Four Hands, a new series that will commence production after he is discharged in October.
Song鈥檚 representatives have confirmed that the series is one of the projects the actor is considering taking up on his return.
Four Hands is described as a coming-of-age series concerning youths who meet at an art school and experience all the highs and lows of friendship, love and rivalry while growing up.
Song has been offered the part of a piano prodigy who exudes a delicate charm while possessing sharp musical skills.
鈥淔our hands鈥 describes when two musicians perform on a single piano at the same time.
Song鈥檚 last project before entering the military was My Demon alongside Kim Yoo-jung. He is also known for Navillera, Love Alarm and Nevertheless.
3. The Grand Galaxy Hotel
The Hong sisters who wrote Hotel Del Luna and Alchemy of Souls have finally settled on the stars for their forthcoming drama Grand Galaxy Hotel. Lee Do-hyun (The Glory) and Shin Si-ah (Resident Playbook) will lead the series that unfolds in a hotel for the dead.
Lee will play Eun-ha, the new owner of the hotel, who mysteriously appears following the disappearance of the last owner. Shin will portray Go Sang-soon, a manager at the hotel.
This will be the first post-military service project for Lee, who previously worked with the Hong sisters on Hotel Del Luna, and was last seen in Exhuma and the Netflix series Sweet Home season 3.
In addition to Resident Playbook, Shin also appeared in the film The Old Woman with the Knife this year, which debuted at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Before Grand Galaxy Hotel, the Hong sisters will return with the Netflix drama Can This Love Be Translated? with Kim Seon-ho (Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha) and Go Youn-jung (Moving), which will launch before the end of the year.
4. How to Become a Building Owner in South Korea
Ha Jung-woo (Narco-Saints) and Im Soo-jung (Melancholia) will team up for TvN drama How to Become a Building Owner in South Korea, the first TV series from veteran film director Yim Pil-sung.
Rounding out the cast are Kim Jun-han (Good Partner), Jung Soo-jung 鈥 aka Krystal of the K-pop outfit F(x) 鈥 and Shim Eun-kyung (Miss Granny).
The thriller series will follow a struggling landlord who becomes entangled in a staged kidnapping thanks to his mounting debts. Ha will play the desperate landlord Ki Soo-jung, while Lim will appear as his resilient wife Kim Sun.
Director Yim is known for classic genre films such as Antarctic Journal and Hansel and Gretel. The show is the first to be written by Oh Han-ki, an acclaimed novelist.
Filming kicks off this month, and the series is expected to air in the first half of next year.