"Judge Lee Han-young" PD, "Jisung's Park Hee-soon said, 'You're the death penalty!' I get goosebumps when I talk..Season 2 production is positive." [Interview 1]

*This content was translated by AI.

Producer Lee Jae-jin told the overall story of Judge Lee Han-young.

Producer Lee Jae-jin recently held an interview at the MBC M Lounge in Sangam, Mapo-gu, Seoul, about the end of MBC's Friday-Saturday drama "Judge Lee Han-young" (played by Kim Kwang-min, director Lee Jae-jin, and Park Mi-yeon).

"Judge Lee Han-young" is a return-to-justice drama in which Lee Han-young, a deep-rooted judge who lived as a slave at a huge law firm and returned to 10 years ago, punishes major evil with a new choice. It is based on a work of the same name with 10.75 million views of the original web novel, 10.191 million views of the webtoon, and a total of 110 million views. Director Park Mi-yeon and writer Kim Kwang-min, as well as director Lee Jae-jin of "The Banker," "The Spy Who Loved Me," and "Motel California," joined forces.

Judge Lee Han-young, which opened MBC's Friday-Saturday drama in 2026, broke its own highest ratings in each episode and recorded a maximum viewership of 13.5% in the ninth episode on January 30. "Judge Lee Han-young" hit global viewers' tastes by topping the 20th place in TVing's "Today's TOP," ranking first in four major Asian countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Thailand, and ranking first in the Disney+ Japan chart. "Judge Lee Han-young" was evaluated as a "luxury genre" beyond a simple "court" as well as maintaining the No. 1 spot in the Friday-Saturday drama, and ended with 14 episodes on the 14th amid enthusiastic responses from viewers.

In the play, Ji Sung played the role of Lee Han-young, a "red-down judge" who claims to be a "humming judge" of a Haenal law firm because of his humble background and makes rulings that suit the taste of the law firm while pursuing the darkness of power. Park Hee-soon plays Kang Shin-jin, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, who shakes a Haenal law firm in his hand, and Won Jin-ah plays Kim Jin-ah, the prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, who is sharpening his sword for revenge against the man who drove his father to death.

-How do you feel about ending "Judge Lee Han Young"?

▶I feel so good. I like that the work I made last year seems to be recognized. I was wondering if the regression was cooling down a little bit, but I think a lot of people wanted to talk about "justice" last year. It seems that it was well accepted that the things we thought of in our hearts exploded. In fact, the original work was made 10 years ago, so there may be excessive interpretation, but it can be said that I was lucky to touch reality at some point.

-Judge Lee Han-young's ratings came out well with double digits of more than 10%. Do you have any thoughts about the audience's pledge.

At the ▶ production presentation, he said his goal was to have double-digit ratings, but he did not feel confident while watching the competition (SBS 'Model Taxi 3'. The ratings came out well, so I felt so good, enjoyed, and happily accepted the results. Many people, including actors and staff, helped. We also had a lot of external production teams, and most of the work was done with MBC, so it seemed that they worked well together. They contacted each other to congratulate each other and decided to watch the last show together. I think we'll have more fun things to talk about then.

-There's a behind-the-scenes story that director Ji Sung cast when she went all the way to New York.

▶Jisung actor casted in New York on a tight schedule of three nights. I wondered what it would be like if this person had already played the role of a judge, but when I said I would go, the actor liked it and made a schedule so that he could meet with us for three days. We talked a lot while meeting from morning to day, and I was able to think about our drama again and talk about it, and the intellectual actor also spoke honestly and reflected a lot in the work. I thought about what we could make without upsetting the original fans.

-Is there a plan to produce "Judge Lee Han-young" Season 2.

▶ Many people around me ask, but I heard that the company (MBC) is thinking positively. It's not yet in the definite answer stage, but I also think positively.

-How was "judge Lee Han-young" different from the existing courtroom. What message did you want to give.

▶I didn't think of this work as a legal object, but actually approached it by thinking of it as a 'fantasy'. The court only comes out as a means, and the judge can be said to be the fantasy hero of the main character. The hero's role was well played by the main character and colleagues, and it seems that they showed a good performance of punishing evil people.

-How did you see Jisung's acting as a director.

▶From the first time we read the script, we said 'Wow'. At first, when Lee Han-young went back and read the scene saying to Kim Sang-jin, "You're the death penalty!" I thought, "Oh, this is going to work." I was horrified. Before the court scene, the god who runs around and says, "Do you want to go back?" said, "You're going to show this like this? I also thought, 'That's great.' Before and after the regression, he showed a completely different appearance through acting. Even when Lee Han-young fell after being stabbed, he thought, " (Jisung) is a masterpiece."

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*This content was translated by AI.