In Photos: Ji Chang-Wook's K-Drama Leading Ladies Through The Years
We're excited about his upcoming series, "City Couple's Way of Love." Here, we take a look back at this heartthrob's K-Dramas and his leading ladies
Ji Chang-wook fans, rejoice!
This 33-year-old heartthrob will be back with a 12-episode Kakao TV series titled City Couple's Way of Love this December. Opposite actress Kim Ji-won, the rom-com web series features Ji Chang-wook as Park Jae-won, an architect who's described to have a passionate and honest personality. The extended title of the show is City Couple's Way of Love: My Lovable Camera Thief, as his character coins the nickname "camera thief" to refer to the woman who stole his heart; the woman disappeared but he can't quite bring himself to forget her. Then he meets Lee Eun-o, a freelance marketer; she introduces herself to him as her alter ego Yoon Sun-a, who has a much more free-spirited persona than her real self. She falls in love with him. As to how she'll reveal to him the truth about her fake identity, that's what's sure to excite the viewers and keep them hooked.
Last September, it was confirmed that Ji Chang-wook and Kim Ji-won have indeed been paired up. Early this month, the cast gathered for a script reading. And today, teaser photos of the new on-screen couple quickly went viral on the Internet, as the two show promising chemistry.
City Couple's Way of Love is directed by Park Shin-woo (It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, Encounter, Don’t Dare to Dream, and Hyde Jekyll, Me) and written by Jung Hyun-jung (I Need Romance and Romance is a Bonus Book).
Ji Chang-wook's last K-drama, Backstreet Rookie, ended last August. Metro.Style Most Beautiful Korean Actresses nominee Kim Ji-won, on the other hand, was last seen in the 2019 series Arthdal Chronicles.
Tough characters with top-notch fighting skills in action dramas suit Ji Chang-wook perfectly (e.g. Healer and The K2), but viewers are also impressed by how he can smoothly switch to a cute, sultry rom-com persona when the scenes require it.
As we excitedly wait for his upcoming web series, we take a look back at his K-dramas and the leading ladies he worked with. Check the gallery below:
Ji Chang-Wook's K-Drama Leading Ladies
Ji Chang-Wook's K-Drama Leading Ladies
Park Jung-ah in "Smile Again," 2010
It is through this K-Drama that Ji Chang-wook began to be noticed as an up-and-coming actor. Here, he's Dong-hae, a short track speed skater, who grew up in America and later decides to stay in Seoul to look for his father who had left him and his mother. His girlfriend of six years is Sae-hwa (Park Jung-ah). One day, he saves her from a car accident and gets injured, putting an end to his skating career. To make matters worse, Sae-hwa had a change of heart.
Photo Credit: HanCinema
Park Jung-ah in "Smile Again," 2010
Photo Credit: KBS1
Park Jung-ah in "Smile Again," 2010
Photo Credit: KBS1
Oh Ji-eun in "Smile Again," 2010
After breaking up with Sae-hwa (Park Jung-ah), Dong-hae (Ji Chang-wook) meets Bong-yi (Oh Ji-eun), an aspiring chef. Her family takes in Dong-hae and his mom Anna (Do Ji-won), and that's when their love story begins to blossom. As they get closer and closer to each other, they decide to date, albeit secretly at first. Amidst family problems, the two eventually get married.
Photo Credit: HanCinema
Oh Ji-eun in "Smile Again," 2010
Oh Ji-eun in "Smile Again," 2010
Photo Credit: Asian Addicts Anonymous
Shin Hyun-bin in "Warrior Baek Dong Soo," 2011
This period drama features Ji Chang-wook as Baek Dong-soo and his journey to becoming a legendary swordsman and martial artist. He has a tragic past that involves getting his father killed and his mom dying after giving birth to him. He meets Yoo Ji-sun (Shin Hyun-bin), the daughter of a minister, and falls in love with her. (Trivia: The young version of Ji-sun was played by Nam Ji-hyun, who became the leading lady of Ji Chang-wook in the 2017 K-Drama "Suspicious Partner.)
Photo Credit: Wow Korea
Shin Hyun-bin in "Warrior Baek Dong Soo," 2011
Photo Credit: HanCinema
Shin Hyun-bin in "Warrior Baek Dong Soo," 2011
Photo Credit: AsianWiki
Wang Ji-hye in "Bachelor's Vegetable Store," 2011
Ji Chang-wook plays the role of hardworking vegetable stand owner Han Tae-yang. He falls in love with a girl named Mok Ga-on (Wang Ji-hye), who is hiding her true identity as Jin Jin-shim. She was adopted by the mother of Mok Ga-on, who asked her to pretend to be Mok Ga-on, because she happens to be the illegitimate daughter of a chaebol businessman. Wang Ji-hye's character later goes through a love problem, as she figures out who to be with: Tae-yang or wealthy businessman Lee Seul-woo.
Photo Credit: Marie Claire
Wang Ji-hye in "Bachelor's Vegetable Store," 2011
Photo Credit: Asian Addicts Anonymous
Wang Ji-hye in "Bachelor's Vegetable Store," 2011
Photo Credit: Simkl
Lee Hae-in in "Five Fingers," 2012
In this K-Drama about family, career, betrayal, and revenge, Ji Chang-wook is Yoo In-ha, the son of a talented pianist who dreams of taking over their family's business. However, when his stepbrother (Ju Ji-hoon as Yoo Ji-hoo) enters the scene, things get complicated for In-ha. Due to his mom's prodding, he gets married to So-yool (Lee Hae-in) and becomes the CEO of a music-related company.
Photo Credit: MyDramaList
Lee Hae-in in "Five Fingers," 2012
Photo Credit: SBS
Lee Hae-in in "Five Fingers," 2012
Photo Credit: SBS
Ha Ji-won in "Empress Ki," 2013
Goryeo-born Ki Seung-nyang comes from a poor family but her fate changes when she moves to another land called Yuan, meets Ta Hwan the Emperor of Yuan (Ji Chang-wook), and gets married to him. An archery expert, she protects Ta Hwan so he could keep their area safe.
Photo Credit: Dramabeans
Ha Ji-won in "Empress Ki," 2013
Photo Credit: MBC
Ha Ji-won in "Empress Ki," 2013
Photo Credit: IMDb
Park Min-young in "Healer," 2014
Ji Chang-wook stars here as Park Bong-soo (aka "Healer"), an illegal "night courier" who goes on certain missions and has amazing fighting skills. One of the missions assigned to him is to protect Chae Young-shin, an internet news reporter who dreams of becoming a well-known journalist. In the course of protecting her, he develops feelings for her and she falls in love with him, too. Together, they try to uncover a decades-old incident and discover their pasts are connected.
Photo Credit: Namoo Actors
Park Min-young in "Healer," 2014
Photo Credit: Channel Korea
Park Min-young in "Healer," 2014
Photo Credit: Pinterest
Yoona in "The K2," 2016
Romance and politics are woven in the action-packed plot of this K-Drama. Ji Chang-wook's character is Kim Je-ha, a former mercenary soldier in Iran who, after being framed for the murder of his girlfriend, seeks refuge in South Korea, where he becomes a bodyguard. He is tasked to protect Go An-na (Yoona), the hidden daughter of presidential candidate. Slowly, they fall in love with each other, but their relationship is not without a ton of challenges.
Photo Credit: Her World Singapore
Yoona in "The K2," 2016
Photo Credit: tvN
Yoona in "The K2," 2016
Photo Credit: tvN
Nam Ji-hyun in "Suspicious Partner," 2017
This is a love story between a prosecutor (Ji Chang-wook as Noh Ji-wook) and a prosecutor-trainee-turned-lawyer (Nam Ji-hyun as Eun Bong-hee). In the middle of them solving cases, love hat squeezes itself and makes a strong case that's too intense to ignore.
Photo Credit: Pinterest
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Nam Ji-hyun in "Suspicious Partner," 2017
Photo Credit: SBS
Nam Ji-hyun in "Suspicious Partner," 2017
Photo Credit: SBS
Won Jin-ah in "Melting Me Softly," 2019
Ma Dong-chan (Ji Chang-wook) is a famous PD of a variety show. For a segment on the show, they take on a cryogenics project and looks for volunteers to try it out. Dong-chan participates in it and recruits their show's regular contestant, Ko Mi-ran (Won Jin-ah) to join him. The two are supposed to wake up after being frozen for 24 hours but due to a conspiracy, they find themselves waking up 20 years later when everything around them has already changed. Since they went through the same thing, they keep each other close because they both need to keep their bodies at the average temperature of 33°C. In the process, they fall in love.
Photo Credit: MyDramaList
Won Jin-ah in "Melting Me Softly," 2019
Photo Credit: tvN
Won Jin-ah in "Melting Me Softly," 2019
Photo Credit: Ji Chang Wook PH
Kim Yoo-jung in "Backstreet Rookie," 2020
Despite a 12-year age gap in real life, Ji Chang-wook and Kim Yoo-jung were able to make their on-screen chemistry work in "Backstreet Rookie." The rom-com, slice of life webtoon-based series features Ji Chang-wook as Choi Dae-hyun, a hardworking convenience store manager who falls in love with his part-timer, Jung Saet-byul (portrayed by Kim Yoo-jung).
Photo Credit: Sidus HQ
Kim Yoo-jung in "Backstreet Rookie," 2020
Photo Credit: SBS
Kim Yoo-jung in "Backstreet Rookie," 2020
Photo Credit: Soompi
Which Korean actress do you want to see Ji Chang-wook paired with next?
If you're a K-Drama fan like us, check out this video below. Ji Chang-wook is indeed one of the most handsome actors in South Korea!
Banner artwork by Raff Colmenar | Lead photos from SBS, Dramabeans, Innisfree, AsianWiki, and Viki
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