Gyeongseong Creature

Gyeongseong Creature is a South Korean historical drama suspense mystery horror television series written by Kang Eun-kyung, directed by Chung Dong-yoon and Roh Young-sub, and starring Park Seo-joon, Han So-hee, and Claudia Kim. Set in 1945, during the occupation of Gyeongseong (the old name for Seoul) by the Imperial Japanese Army, the story depicts the brutality inflicted on civilians by the Japanese forces, subjecting men and women to secret biological experiments, the rebels who rise against them, and the monster creature produced from human experimentation. The first season was released on Netflix from December 22, 2023, to January 5, 2024. The second season is set for release in 2024.

Season 1
In the spring of 1945 in Gyeongseong, during the Japanese occupation of Korea, Jang Tae-sang, the master of the city's most lucrative pawnshop, and Yoon Chae-ok, a tracker searching for her missing mother, confront a strange creature born from biological experiments conducted in secret within Ongseong Hospital.

Main

 * Park Seo-joon as Jang Tae-sang / Ho-jae: a wealthy man who is the owner of the House of Golden Treasure (Geumokdang), the best pawn shop in Gyeongseong. He is also the best informant in Gyeongseong.
 * Han So-hee as Yoon Chae-ok: a specialist in finding missing people.
 * Claudia Kim as Yukiko Maeda (前田有紀子): a powerful Japanese noblewoman who secretly controls the Gyeongseong area.

Supporting

 * Kim Hae-sook as Mrs. Nawol: deacon of Geumokdang who has been with Tae-sang since he was a child, she guards and takes care of orders when the owner is not around.
 * Jo Han-chul as Yoon Jung-won: Yoon Chae-ok's father and husband of Choi Seong-sim.
 * Wi Ha-joon as Kwon Jun-taek: an independence activist and Tae-sang's close friend.
 * Park Ji-hwan as Gu Gap-pyeong: Geumokdang's butler.
 * Ok Ja-yeon as Na Young-chun: the owner of Moonlight Bar.
 * Ahn Ji-ho as Park Beom-o: a boy who works at Geumokdang.
 * Choi Young-joon as Lieutenant Colonel Kato (陸軍中将賀東): the chief of the military at Onseong Hospital.
 * Hyun Bong-sik as Ichiro (一郎): the director of Onseong Hospital.
 * Kim Do-hyun as Commissioner Ishikawa (石川委員): the chief of Japanese police in Gyeongseong and husband of Yukiko Maeda.
 * Woo Ji-hyun as Ryu Sachimoto (幸本龍): an artist who is assigned by Ichiro to draw the results of experiments at Onseong Hospital.
 * Lee Kyu-sung as Mori: Ishikawa's subordinate who is given the task of keeping an eye on Tae-sang.
 * Ji Woo as Myeong-ja: a gisaeng from Chunwol-gwan and Ishikawa's mistress who has disappeared.
 * Kang Mal-geum as Choi Seong-sim / Seishin: Chae-ok's mother who is the subject of biological experiments by the Japanese military.
 * Im Chul-soo as Mr. Oh: an independence activist disguised as a cleaner at Onseong Hospital in order to find his missing brother.
 * Kim Yoon-woo as Choi Yeong-gwan:
 * Jo Jae-ryong as Soma: a Japanese military officer who is assigned to manage the prisoners at Ongseong Hospital's underground prison.
 * Yeon Je-wook as Lee In-hyuk: an independence activist who is also Jun-taek's comrade.
 * Kim Yool-ho

Special appearance

 * Lim Ki-hong as Mr. Wang:
 * Woo Jung-won as Shim Sun-deok: as Tae-sang's mother.

Season 1
In January 2022, production team confirmed the casting and revealed that the filming was currently in progress.

On March 3, 2022, it was reported that Wi Ha-joon tested positive for COVID-19 and the filming was suspended since the actor was self quarantined.

On August 3, 2022, it was reported that actress Han So-hee suffered a minor injury to her face while filming an action scene for the series. On August 11, Han's agency confirmed that she had recovered from the injury and returned to filming the following week.

In October 2022, it was reported that the series had finished filming and started post-production.

Season 2
In November 2022, Netflix confirmed the production of a second season. The filming schedule was yet to be decided.

In August 2023, it was announced that actor Bae Hyun-sung would be joining the cast in Season 2.

In September 2023, it was reported that Han So-hee felt unwell while filming the second season and was tested positive for COVID-19; she was recovering at home according to her agency.

In January 2024, Netflix announced that Season 2 will be set in the present time, and released in 2024. Also in the same month, producers confirmed that actor Lee Moo-saeng had joined the cast of the forthcoming season.

Release
Gyeongseong Creature was exclusively released on Netflix on December 22, 2023. The series consists of 10 episodes split into two parts, with the first seven released as Part 1, and the remaining three episodes released as Part 2 on January 5, 2024.

Critical response
Chase Hutchinson of Collider rated it 5/10, and said "the trouble is that the rest of the series just marches right past its most promising elements without stopping for more than a second". Jonathan Wilson of Ready Steady Cut proclaimed it "the combination of familiar elements in this specific composition is enough to provide plenty of consistent drama, especially given the sheer quality of the production". In Decider, Joel Keller said "despite our reservations, Gyeongseong Creature has a good story buried in all the murkiness but we're not sure if the show will actually be able to focus on that story as the first season goes along". Brian Lowry wrote in CNN Entertainment, "it might not match Squid Game's viewership, but for sheer entertainment value surpasses it in a way that deserves to be a monster hit". MJ Marfori from TV5 Philippines described the series "as blending suspense and romance and succeeding in that challenge" and "sure to be a popular worldwide K-series". Indonesian writer Ayu Utami stated that "the forties era sets and wardrobe were quite surprising".

Viewership
Gyeongseong Creature ranked first in South Korea three days after its release, was Number 3 in Netflix's "Global Top 10" weekly list of the most-watched non-English television shows, and received a warm response in 20 countries, being listed in the Top 10 including India, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Taiwan. It remained a Top 10 Netflix show for an additional three weeks.

Season 1
The season one soundtrack of the series was led by music director and composer Kim Tae-seong.