Chae Rim, aka plucky Dal Ja of last year’s hit romantic comedy series Dal Ja’s Spring, has been cast to headline the new KBS Monday-Tuesday drama series Rivals [강적들], which takes place in the Blue House (Cheongwadae), Korea’s presidential residence, opposite Lee Jong Hyuk (sexy!) and Lee Jin Wook (cute!)
Chae Rim’s character — energetic, prone to rashness — enters the Blue House as a new employee (security service agent) and rises to success; the series centers on “the world, the loves, and daily lives” of those in service in the Blue House.
Lee Jin Wook (Air City, Smile Again, Someday) takes the part of the president’s haughty, troublesome and rude son, while Lee Jong Hyuk (A Good Day to Have an Affair, A Dirty Carnival, Green Rose) is the dark horse of the presidential security service and Chae Rim’s colleague. Through them the drama will showcase lots of action and a look behind the scenes at the agents’ physical training, firearms drills, special guard duty, etc., while the three main characters (naturally!) fall into a love triangle. Some settings may be novel but the setup is as old as the form. Not that the presidential backdrop is entirely new — in 2006, there was the KBS four-episode mini-drama Special Crime Investigation: Murder in the Blue House [특수수사일지:1호관 사건]. And of course, there was also the Eugene/Lee Minki romantic comedy Really Really Like You, which took a more lighthearted approach.
The series will be directed by Han Joon Seo PD of Capital Scandal, and penned by writer Kang Eun Kyung of Dal Ja’s Spring, Bichunmu, and Hotelier. Rivals will take to air after Single Papa in Love finishes its run, premiering on April 14.
