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Kim Yoo-jung in a still from My Demon. In K-drama casting news, the actress is considering a role in a TV adaptation of the webtoon Dear X. Photo: SBS
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Kim Yoo-jung, Kim Young-dae eyed for webtoon adaptation Dear X: K-drama casting latest

  • Expectations are high for Korean drama Dear X and Netflix’s Bloodhounds is set to return for season two. So who is being cast and in what?
K-drama news
Pierce Conran
Pierce Conran
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Several intriguing high-concept K-dramas are taking shape, with a variety of stars and K-pop idols circling some memorable roles.

So who is being linked to which series? Find out in our latest round-up of K-drama casting news.

1. Dear X

Kim Yoo-jung (My Demon) and Kim Young-dae (Sh**ting Stars) are both mulling offers to appear in the series Dear X.
The drama will be the latest directorial effort of Lee Eung-bok, who is known for such K-drama milestones as Descendants of the Sun, Guardian: The Lonely and Great God, Mr. Sunshine and Sweet Home.
Kim Young-dae in a still from Sh**ting Stars.

Based on a webtoon of the same name by Ban Ki-woon, Dear X will follow the story of Baek Ah-jin, a beautiful young woman with distinctly antisocial traits who uses the people around her on her way to becoming a top actress.

Once she gets there, an incident causes her to fall, but despite her new circumstances one man stays by her side.

Kim Yoo-jung recently made a special appearance in the Netflix series Chicken Nugget. Kim Young-dae headlined Moon in the Day and has several projects lined up, including the dramas Perfect Family and Because I Want No Loss.

2. Bloodhounds season 2

Netflix’s popular pugilist drama Bloodhounds with Woo Do-hwan and Lee Sang-yi is set to return for a second season – and joining the young stars on screen may be legendary K-pop idol Rain (aka Jung Ji-hoon).
Lee Sang-yi (left) and Woo Do-hwan in a still from Bloodhounds. Photo: Netflix

Jung is considering taking on his first villain role, having been offered the part of Emperor, an imposing former UFC fighter who now operates an illegal boxing league, open only to high rollers.

Most recently seen as a lead in the fantasy medical drama Ghost Doctor, Jung will be back on screens in the Disney+ series Red Swan this July.
From Midnight Runners director Jason Kim, Bloodhounds focuses on a promising boxer who is forced to give up his dreams when he goes up against a loan shark who destroys his mother’s livelihood. He teams up with a benevolent rival of the loan shark and another boxer he met in the ring.

Filming is expected to begin in the second half of the year.

3. Divorce Insurance

Following the end of the first season of A Shop for Killers, Lee Dong-wook is reportedly in talks about appearing in tvN drama Divorce Insurance.
Lee Dong-wook in a still from A Shop for Killers. Photo: Disney+
This series will mark the drama debut of acclaimed filmmaker Lee Won-suk, whose film comedy Killing Romance, starring the late actor Lee Sun-kyun, became a cult sensation in 2023.

Lee is eyeing the part of Noh Ki-joon, a top insurance actuary who works in the product development team of his company, where he is devising new plans related to divorce insurance. Ki-joon is no stranger to marital woes, having already been divorced three times.

Known for his roles in Guardian: The Great and Lonely God and many other major K-dramas, Lee was also recently seen in Tale of the Nine-Tailed 1938 and the romance film Single in Seoul.

Divorce Insurance is expected to air at some point in the first half of 2025.

4. Pigpen

Representatives for Cha Seung-won (Our Blues), Jang Ki-yong (My Roommate Is a Gumiho), Roh Jeong-eui (Badland Hunters) and Kim Dae-myung (Hospital Playlist) have confirmed that the actors are considering offers to appear in the new series Pigpen.
Cha Seung-won in a still from Our Blues. Photo: tvN

Based on a webtoon of the same name by Sweet Home writer Kim Carnby, the story concerns a man who washes up on the shore of an island having lost his memory.

He comes into contact with a mysterious family living in an old mansion on the island. He soon decides he needs to run away from them before they kill him.

The series will be directed by Kim Sang-man, who previously made the film Midnight FM and is currently in post-production on the Netflix film Uprising, written and produced by Park Chan-wook.
Cha was recently seen in Believer 2; Jang is currently on screens in The Atypical Family; Roh’s brand new series Hierarchy has just premiered on Netflix; and Kim will soon be seen in the Disney+ series Light Shop alongside Ju Ji-hoon and Park Bo-young.
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