On the morning of December 17, the press conference for Channel A’s new Saturday-Sunday drama “Check-in Hanyang” was held at the Gangnam Eliena Hotel in Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Participants included actors Bae In-hyuk, Kim Ji-eun, Jung Gun-joo, Park Jae-chan and director Myeong Hyun-woo.
Kim Ji-eun plays Hong Deok-soo, a woman who disguised herself as a man for a certain reason. He introduced his character, “She is bold, energetic and has a very courageous personality.”
This marks Kim Ji-eun’s first foray into historical dramas. He shared: “I’ve always wanted to test myself with the historical genre. I was worried, but I relied a lot on my superiors and colleagues. Through this drama, I realized that there are so many beautiful places in Korea. I had a lot of fun filming it.”
Historically, cross-dressing women in dramas have been a recurring and much-loved cliché, with notable successes such as Park Min-young in KBS2’s “Sungkyunkwan Scandal” and Park Eun-bin in “The King’s Affection.”
Kim Ji-eun acknowledged the comparisons, saying: “There’s definitely pressure because Park Min-young and Park Eun-bin did an amazing job. I asked myself ‘How do I get through this?’ and decided to make the role more fun. I did a lot of preparation to make sure viewers didn’t feel any discomfort or disconnection.”
“Check-in Hanyang” is a coming-of-age romantic historical drama that tells the story of Joseon’s largest inn “Yongcheonru”, which raised the arrogant motto “The customer is king“, and the young people from Joseon who join there as interns.
