In the “Yeah, We Already Knew This Department,” Ji Chang Wook’s agency Spring Company has finally confimed that he will be playing the lead in the upcoming JTBC romance drama “Welcome to Samdalri.”

On 19 June, cable network JTBC confirmed that Ji Chang Wook and Shin Hye Sun were cast as the leads in its upcoming drama “Welcome to Samdalri” (literal title).  We reported this news after JTBC broadcast its “2023 Upcoming Dramas” segment back in March 2023.  In addition, filming already started in Jeju-do back in May 2023. 🙄

To be directed by PD-nim Cha Young Hoon (“When the Camellia Blooms” “Forecasting Love and Weather” “Bridal Mask”), and written by Kwon Hye Joo (“Hi, Bye Mama” “Go BAck Couple”), “Welcome to Samdalri” will star Ji Chang Wook as Cho Yong Pil, a man who has remained in his hometown of Samdalri on Jeju Island all his life in order to faithfully protect its residents.

After losing his mother, who worked as a haenyeo (a female diver that harvests a variety of mollusks, seaweed, and other sea life from the ocean), at a young age due to a mistaken weather report, Cho Yong Pil makes up his mind to become a weather forecaster in order to protect the elders of his hometown.  However, his passion and refusal to let misinformation slide earns him a reputation at work as a stubborn troublemaker who is not afraid to argue with his superiors.

Meanwhile, Shin Hye Sun will star as Cho Sam Dal, who grew up with Cho Yong Pil as his close childhood friend.  Unlike Cho Yong Pil, who was content to remain in his hometown of Samdalri, Cho Sam Dal made it her mission to leave their small town and relocate to Seoul.

After years of toiling away as an assistant in the fashion photography industry, Cho Sam Dal (who after relocating to Seoul, changes her name to Cho Eun Hye) finally becomes a huge success and makes it to the top.  However, when the career she has worked so hard to build comes crashing down, she returns defeated to Samdalri, where people still know her as Sam Dal and not as Eun Hye.

Although Cho Yong Pil and Cho Sam Dal were once inseparable as youngsters, these one-time friends are no longer in contact with one another due to an incident that drove them apart.  But when Cho Sam Dal returns to Samdalri, they find that the longtime affection they once had for one another comes rushing back… all too easily?

The “Welcome to Samdalri” production team stated, “We welcome the casting of Ji Chang Wook and Shin Hye Sun, the ‘ro-co craftsmen’ who will show detailed acting as Samdalri’s famous couple Yong-pil and Sam-dal.  We expect these two actors to add to the success of JTBC’s 2023 dramas with their bright and cheerful performances.”

“Welcome to Samdalri” is currently scheduled to premiere in the second half of 2023 on cable network JTBC.

Sources:  BNT News; MyDaily.co.kr; JTBC.co.kr; Newsis.com