Young peoples’ challenges in society depicted in ‘Revolutionary Love’

SEOUL: ‘Revolutionary Love’, cable channel tvN’s new romantic comedy, seeks to be a comfort and encouragement to today’s young Koreans suffering from unemployment and cutthroat competition.

The cable network unveiled the new 16-episode weekend series in a news conference Thursday that was attended by lead actors Choi Si-won, a member of popular boy band Super Junior, and Kang Sora of the 2014 hit drama ‘Misaeng’ and 2011 film ‘Sunny’.

Director Song Hyun-wook said the drama tries to cast light on young people’s challenges as they move forward in society in a more positive light.

While many people paint a “depressing” and “hopeless” picture of Korea, “the characters in the drama, who are all in very different situations, work in their own ways to make positive changes, if small,” said the director, who also produced hit dramas such as 2016’s ‘Another Miss Oh’.

The story centres around Byun Hyuk (Choi), a thirdgeneration “chaebol” heir who always causes trouble and is considered useless by his stern father and mean brother, and the highly qualified, educated and aggressive Baek Joon (Kang), who makes a living by working part-time jobs. Chaebol are South Korea’s family-run conglomerates.

Kwon Je-hoon, played by upand-coming actor Gong Myung, starts working for the chaebol, the Kang Soo Group, only to find himself cleaning up the messes made by Byun.

“The hard work for me was how I can make the drama touching and funny at the same time. We can’t only focus on the comical elements,” the director said.