jTBC's last two Monday night dramas won critical acclaim. "One Warm Word," a drama about divorce, was followed by "A Secret Love Affair," a drama about a 40-year-old arts administrator who was in love with a 20-year-old piano prodigy.
Given that track record, fans have wondered, what's next?
Up next is something a little different. The 50-episode drama "Yuna's Street" is set in an apartment building, where the residents form fast friendships and also fight with each other. The drama's characters include residents of different ages and backgrounds but the two that strike up the most interesting relationship are Kang Yu Na, played by Kim Ok Bin, and Kim Chang Min, played by Lee Hee Joon. She's an ex-pickpocket who after spending time in jail is trying to forget her past. She now works as a barista. Chang Min moves into the building. He's a social worker with dreams of rehabilitating people and helping them start new lives. He may be just what Yu Na needs not to return to a life of crime.
At a press conference for the drama, Kim Ok Bin said she had to take pickpocketing lessons for the role.
"I learned pickpocket skills from a former pickpocket, who now runs a small business," she said. "He was really fast. After taking the lessons, some of the staff members made a joke and said they should stay away from me."
Playing a nice guy should have been easier than learning how to pick pockets but Lee Hee Joon, last seen in "Queen of the Workplace," says in reality he is not that nice.
"I am so much worse than my new character," he said. "I can be cheap, small-minded and sometimes do bad things. But the ways we look at the life are very similar. I try to be considerate to others and I try to laugh a lot. That is the motto in my life."
Kim Ok Bin was not sure she was ready to do a drama again, especially such a long one. She was last seen in the 2013 drama "The Blade and the Petal." She can be seen in the 2014 film "Minority Opinion" and last year appeared in two films "Behind the Camera" and "AM 11:00."
Should her drama career falter, she can always turn to picking pockets. It's a skill she learned a lot about while preparing for this drama.
"I thought all of the pickpockets work alone, and I learned that most of them work as a group," she said. I also learned that they earn quite a lot of money through pocket picking."
The drama will premiere on May 19th. It is a remake of the 1994 drama "Seoul Moon."
