Undercover (2021 TV series)

Undercover  is a 2021 South Korean television series directed by Song Hyun-wook and starring Ji Jin-hee, Kim Hyun-joo, Jung Man-sik, and Heo Joon-ho. Based on BBC drama series of the same name,  it portrays the story of Han Jeong-hyeon (Ji Jin-hee), an agent at the National Intelligence Service, and a Human Rights lawyer, Choi Yeon-soo (Kim Hyun-joo). It aired on JTBC on Fridays and Saturdays at 23:00 (KST) from April 23 to June 12, 2021. The series is also available on streaming media TVING in South Korea. Kim Hyun-joo and Ji Jin-hee previously starred together in Miss Kim's Million Dollar Quest (2004) and I Have a Lover (2015).

The series ended on June 12, 2021 with viewer ratings of 5.2% nationwide and 6.1% in the metropolitan Seoul area. It is its own best ratings achieved during its run.

Synopsis
Han Jeong-hyeon (Ji Jin-hee) is an agent of the National Intelligence Service (formerly the Agency for National Security Planning), who has been hiding his identity for the past 30 years as a father and owner of a bicycle repairing shop. Choi Yeon-soo (Kim Hyun-joo), his wife and a Human Rights lawyer, becomes the first Director of the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO). These characters are trying to uncover the truth, pitted against a huge force holding a top position. The series tests their relationship as husband and wife when the secret life of Jeong-hyeon comes to light.

Main

 * Ji Jin-hee as Han Jeong-hyeon/Lee Suk-kyu
 * Yeon Woo-jin as young Han Jeong-hyeon/Lee Suk-kyu
 * Lee Seok-kyu is agent at the National Intelligence Service, formerly the Agency for National Security Planning. He was selected as the new agent of NIS when he was in a police academy. At first he was tasked to spy on Choi Yeon-soo under the pseudonym Han Jung-hyun in order to take down Kim Tae-yeol who was targeted by NIS, eventually both of them were in mutual love and got married. Years later, he lives a peaceful life with his family until one day an NIS agent named Do Yeong-geol comes back to his life and he is enlisted to take down his own wife, Choi Yeon-soo.


 * Kim Hyun-joo as Choi Yeon-soo
 * Han Sun-hwa as young Choi Yeon-soo
 * A human right lawyer for more than 20 years. She passed her bar test at the age of 20. A righteous person, she consistently seeks justice for years to Hwang Jung-ho for 20 years after he was unjustly jailed. She joined a mass protest with Kim Tae-yeol, Kang Choong-mo and others to protest against the corrupted South Korean government who failed in protecting Hwang Jung-ho's innocence. In one of a chaotic protest against the government, she met Lee Suk-kyu, under the pseudonym Han Jung-hyun. Both of them ended in mutual love, without her knowing who Suk-kyu was, therefore getting married with him. Years later, because of her consistency in defending Hwang Jung-ho, she is promoted as the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials by the government. However due to this promotion, her husband is tasked to stop her.


 * Jung Man-sik as Do Yeong-geol, Han Jeong-hyeon's former senior at the National Intelligence Service, formerly Agency for National Security Planning
 * Park Doo-sik as young Do Yeong-geol
 * Huh Joon-ho as Im Hyeong-rak, director at the National Intelligence Service

Family of Han Jeong-hyeon and Choi Yeon-soo

 * Yoo Seon-ho as Han Seung-goo
 * Suk-kyu/Jeong-hyeon and Yeon-soo's autistic older son. He has an obsession with bicycles, therefore he helps his father operate their bicycle repair shop.


 * Lee Jae-in as Han Seung-mi
 * Suk-kyu/Jeong-hyeon and Yeon-soo younger daughter. A middle school student with maturity and intelligence beyond her age. She resembles her mother in everything


 * Park Geun-hyung as Lee Man-ho
 * Lee Suk-kyu's father and a war veteran, being proud of his son who serves the country like he did in the past. He believes that Suk-kyu went to the US when actually he has to live under name of Han Jeong-hyeon. His health deteriorates as he waits for his son to come back to him. Since Suk-kyu cannot reveal his identity, he spends time with his father in the hospital, posing as a social worker. Man-ho never realizes that his son is always with him even until his death.

National Intelligence Service

 * Kwon Hae-hyo as Oh Pil-jae
 * Joo Suk-tae as Park Won-jong
 * Han Go-eun as Kim Do-hee/Ko Yoon-joo, an undercover agent
 * Park Gyeong-ree as young Ko Yoon-joo
 * Choi Dae-chul as Chu Dong-woo
 * Nam Sung-jin as Jo Dong-pal/Cha Min-ho

People around Choi Yeon-soo

 * Lee Han-wi as Bae Goo-taek
 * Bae Yoon-kyung as Song Mi-seon
 * Kim Soo-jin as Min Sang-ah, Choi Yeon-soo's best friend in college, and a political reporter for a major media house
 * Han Bo-bae as young Min Sang-ah
 * Choi Kwang-il as Hwang Jung-ho
 * Im Ji-kyu as young Hwang Jung-ho
 * 30 years ago, he was wrongly accused of a murder case and was sentenced to death. Therefore, while he was incarcerated on death row, Choi Yeon-soo is determined to seek justice for him as his lawyer. However his case hasn't got any shed of light for 30 years, even after his health severely deteriorated.


 * Kim Hye-jin as Cha Min-ho's wife

Others

 * Lee Seung-joon as Kang Choong-mo, Choi Yeon-soo's good friend in college, now a high ranking government official working at the Blue House
 * Hong Jin-gi as young Kang Choong-mo
 * Kang Young-seok as Jung Cheol-hoon, a passionate detective
 * Park Jin-woo as Detective Gu
 * Son Jong-hak as Yoo Sang-dong
 * Song Young-gyu as Kwak Moon-heum, Chief Prosecutor
 * Cha Soon-bae as Song Moon-bae, Chief Editor at Daehan Jeil Daily

Special appearances

 * Kim Young-dae as Kim Tae-yeol
 * Kim Tae-yeol is a president of Hankuk University Student Council and leader of the mass protest against the government in 1991. Eventually he was accused as a communist and being targeted, then murdered by NIS.


 * Jang Eui-don as police university instructor (ep. 1)
 * Lim Jung-ok as Nurse Kim (ep. 1-2)
 * Kim Dong-ho as Cheon Woo-jin, Im Hyeong-rak's subordinate (ep. 2 & 8)
 * Jung In-gi as Kim Myung-jae, Secretary General of the Blue House
 * Kim Kyung-min as Mr. Park
 * Shim Hyung-tak as Lee Min-yool (ep. 3-4)
 * A man who claims himself being intentionally beaten by Han Seung-goo so that Yeon-soo would be hindered to be the new chief of Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials. Actually at that time, he abused his girlfriend and being caught by Seung-goo who said that a bigger person might not hit smaller person.


 * Park Joo-hyung as drug gang boss (ep. 4)
 * Kim Young-woong as subway control room staff (ep. 3)
 * Lee Se-na as Kim Da-kyung (ep. 4)
 * Ex-girlfriend of Lee Min-yool. Being guilty with Seung-goo's situation, she confessed about what happened between her, Min-yool and Seung-goo to Yeon-soo.


 * Seo Joon
 * Lim Hyung-guk
 * Ahn Se-ho as Kim Kwang-cheol, an assistant to Do Yeong-geol

Development
In April 2020, the remake of the British miniseries was announced.

Casting
In July, JTBC confirmed that with the joining of Yeon Woo-jin and Han Sun-hwa the cast is completed: Ji Jin-hee, Kim Hyun-joo, Han Go-eun, Heo Joon-ho, Jung Man-sik, Kwon Hae-hyo, Park Geun-hyung, Lee Seung-joon, Lee Han-wi, Kim Soo-jin, Choi Dae-chul, Son Jong-hak, Song Young-gyu and Choi Kwang-il. This drama serves as a reunion project for Ji Jin-hee and Kim Hyun-joo after starring together in the 2015 drama I Have a Lover. It also reunites Ji Jin-hee and Heo Joon-ho who both starred in the 2019 drama Designated Survivor: 60 Days. Also reuniting in this series are Jung Man-sik, Choi Dae-chul and Choi Kwang-il who starred in the 2019 drama Vagabond.