Level 7 Civil Servant adds to its spy count
by javabeans
javabeans: Two ladies have been added to Level 7 Civil Servant, which now I just want to call Secret Servant War or some such, just to make it more interesting.
girlfriday: That would be a very different drama. My main qualm with the title is that I cannot for the life of me say it without twisting my tongue.
javabeans: I can never remember the order of those four words. Is it Civil Servant Level 7? Servant Civil 7 Level? 7 Civil Level Servants? Bah. I suppose it’s marginally easier to say in Korean. But I will contend Spy vs. Spy might just have been easiest.
girlfriday: And more accurate, even.
javabeans: I’m so used to dramas surrounding the heroine with her (reverse) harem of hotties that I guess this one’s doing it traditional-style, giving Joo-won lots of noonas to flirt with.
girlfriday: Ain’t nuthin’ wrong with that.
javabeans: First there’s Choi Kang-hee, his spy sunbae and main love interest, and then there’s Kim Min-seo as the fierce rookie who refuses to show weakness. Now they’ve added more spies: the poker-faced Mi-rae and the tender-hearted newbie.
girlfriday: Tell me at least one of them is an enemy spy. These spies do have enemies, right?
javabeans: Uh, I think they’re all co-workers?
girlfriday: That’s a lot of tax dollars to staff a team of spies to fight no one. I haven’t heard one casting call for a villain in this show.
javabeans: The rookie will be Joo-won and Choi Kang-hee’s colleague and will be played by an actress whose name I’m still trying to figure out. It’s a stage name, but is it Lee L? Yiyel? Yee Elle? She was in Gwanghae, the Man Who Became King and Swept All Awards Shows.
girlfriday: Hm, don’t know her.
javabeans: The other spy is Kim Soo-hyun, the actress from Standby and Runaway Plan B, and let’s just say I’m trying really really hard to be optimistic about this. She’s a beautiful actress… but lordy is she flat. It’s like whoosh, she sucks away all energy from a scene.
girlfriday: I honestly barely even remember her in Runaway.
javabeans: Remember the devoted secretary to Daniel Henney who always said, “But sir… are you sure?” and “But sir… it’s dangerous.”
girlfriday: Oh noes. She was bad in that. Admittedly, she improved in Standby, but I dunno if that’s saying much.
javabeans: But even with her improvement in Standby, she was the actress who killed that show for me. RIP, my love for Lee Ki-woo, which was a sad casualty by association.
girlfriday: That’s terrible — she robbed you of your Lee Ki-woo love?
javabeans: Well, let’s be fair. Lee Ki-woo had something to do with it too. But you couldn’t really feel for the guy who was in love with the girl who did nothing but mope and crack corny gags.
girlfriday: Omg, her gags were terrible.
javabeans: Kim Soo-hyun’s character here is of a bold and poker-faced spy whom this article promises will be appealing. You can’t promise things like that! It does hint that she will conflict with Joo-won and Choi Kang-hee, though, so there’s something. If you can’t root for her, you can root for our leads to trample her?
girlfriday: Maybe she’ll turn out to be a double agent for SD-6 and they’ll have to kill her to save the world?
javabeans: SILVER LINING, people.
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Tags: Choi Kang-hee, conversation post, Joo-won, Kim Soo-hyun (2)
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1 cg
November 22, 2012 at 5:08 AM
hey....i think she looked beautiful in Fugitive plan B :)
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sugarpunch
November 22, 2012 at 5:24 AM
oh yeah, i thought that being detached was the main point of her character in that show. she was supposed to be an emotionless robot- secretary immune to Daniel Henney's hotness and charms but it turned out that she had a crush on him all along!
really look forward to her role in the show:)
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pabo ceo reom
November 22, 2012 at 1:28 PM
There's a difference between acting detached and being detached. Kim Soo-hyun was pretty bad to be honest. I was already on the fence because of the Joo-won/Choi Kang-hee pairing. I think this bit of casting news doesn't really help at all. But to each her own!
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2 lois
November 22, 2012 at 5:13 AM
Was the rookie in white Christmas or something? She looks strangely familiar...
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Sue
November 22, 2012 at 5:18 AM
Yes. She played Oh Jung Hye in White Christmas.
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Mama J
November 22, 2012 at 6:14 AM
THAT is where I recognize her
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KompaktneHaare
November 22, 2012 at 6:34 AM
omg, thank you!! I was going mental trying to figure out where do I know that face. she has such a distinctive face :) I like her.
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Betsy
November 22, 2012 at 8:41 AM
I think you're right, she played the crazy patient of the crazy doc. She totally looked familiar, but I just couldn't place it. Thanks.
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3 ck1Oz
November 22, 2012 at 5:41 AM
Oh boy, I remember her in Standby.
I also remember her karaoke-ing in Standby * cringes *
But she spoke good English- at least in the singing section, maybe they will be singing spies. :-)
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gaeinalee
November 22, 2012 at 7:23 AM
She spoke good English in Fugitive Plan B. So, perhaps she truly is good in RL. Did her karaoke-ing in Standby that bad? If so, hopefully there's no singing session in this 1...
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ck1Oz
November 22, 2012 at 3:54 PM
Not her singing.It was the whole scenario for that part.
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Captivated
November 23, 2012 at 2:01 AM
Yeah, her English is actually really good in real life! I think she spent a considerable amount of her childhood here in the States. Her singing is pretty noteworthy too... In my opinion, she could be better than some of the idol groups out there.
Ahaha, singing English-speaking spies! I'm totally up for that. XD
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maon
November 23, 2012 at 9:05 PM
I'm pretty sure she's a native speaker.
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4 fab
November 22, 2012 at 5:49 AM
Aight, so nothing interesting. But can someone tell me which is which of these ladies? The first one looks familiar, perhaps she is the one from Runaway Plan B but then again Ive only managed to watch 2 episodes and there were a lot of pretty girls around Daniel...
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nomu nomu nomu
November 22, 2012 at 7:44 AM
Kim Soo-hyun (1985) is the first picture.
speaking of Kim Soo-hyun, that name can be very confusing in the drama world. There's another actress born 1971 with that name, There's also an actor from Dream High/Moon-Sun with that name. And then there's Kim So-hyun, the teen/child actress from I Miss You/Rooftop Prince/Moon-Sun. lol, yeah, I can see why some stars use stage names.
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fab
November 22, 2012 at 9:34 AM
Thanks.
I was just counting how many Kim So hyun's are out there and figured that it has to have a special meaning.
One of them has explained it... (:
My name is Kim Soo-hyun. “Soo” means outstanding (秀), “Hyun” means benevolent (賢). There are some people who wonder why I don’t use a different name, since it’s the same as the famous scriptwriter… What would be better? Kim Soo-kyum? Kim… Kali? Hahahaha.
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5 crazedlu
November 22, 2012 at 6:23 AM
Urrrmm.. I feel it gets worse and worse with casting. Do not dig poker-face. And yes, I am very curious about these villains or lack there of.
Joo Won. ):
Not very optimistic here. Ha.
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6 cass
November 22, 2012 at 6:33 AM
The girl with good English is the one in Brain as well right? I don't get her name, but if I'm not mistaken, it the same person???!!
I remember she's doing the VJ-ing thing in English during the KBS Drama Awards 2010.
I dunno.. I hope this drama will turn out well. I will just stare at the pretty... JOO WON!
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Hanjae
November 22, 2012 at 6:52 AM
Yes, Kim Soo Hyun was in Brain! I actually liked her in Brain - it didn't require much in the way of acting skills from her, frankly, but she was one of the first second female leads that I remember liking rather than wanting to throw under a bus. Perhaps it was due more to a well-written character, but still... I found her likeable and I'm not unhappy about this casting news.
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jomo143
November 22, 2012 at 7:39 AM
Yes, bell ringer!
I also liked her in Brain.
She does beautiful but unwanted really really well.
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Captivated
November 23, 2012 at 2:13 AM
I totally agree with both of your comments! "Beautiful but Unwanted" ... omg, that fits her character in Brain perfectly! Hahaha. She pulled off Yoo Jin so well! I am hoping that she will be able to adapt to this "poker-faced" character just as she did with Brain.
By the way, cass, do you remember which part she MCed for at the Awards Ceremony? For some reason I don't remember seeing her when I watched it. >.<
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7 mini
November 22, 2012 at 6:37 AM
Will I be seeing Joo Won speaking English?hehe
But i am really worried about this drama.the rival is jeon woo chi and iris 2.I don't think they have that much star power to win in this rating battle.and it is romance_comedy...the chance of getting high ratings is like quite small..
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8 Titi
November 22, 2012 at 6:44 AM
Secret Servant War --> this title reminds me of Downton Abbey: Battle of Bates-Anna vs Thomas-O'Brien :)))
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9 jules
November 22, 2012 at 7:11 AM
Oh... no.
Kim Soo-hyun was my least favourite character in Standby (she's even ahead of the older couple... er, Joon-geum and Daddy Ryu).
It seems less and less likely that I'll actually be watching this show. Or perhaps I will and I'll simply be fast-forwarding a lot. ;)
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10 kumon
November 22, 2012 at 7:34 AM
-off topic-
Until now, I'm still anticipating The non-existing drama level 7 civil servant with ha ji won and lee byung hun as the main leads. That's too much hotness kyaa
I can't wait for puppy joo won's return to dramaland.
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11 jomo143
November 22, 2012 at 7:41 AM
Happy Thanksgiving GUFFAW! at
"Silver lining, people!"
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12 meenuby
November 22, 2012 at 7:47 AM
My head is spinning with all the Kim Soo-hyun's out there: the actor, the actress, the writer....
Also, Lee L/ Yiyel/ Yee Elle (the one in the 2nd pic) looks a lot like the female version of Lee Hee-joon.
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13 Mar
November 22, 2012 at 8:35 AM
She had a lot of help sucking the life out of Runaway, that lead actress Lee Na young did most of it-I was like kill her off so everyone can be happy and so we don't have to see "the look" aka crazy staring off into space that I think was supposed to be smart or something that just made her look mental. The secretary actress just drained off the left overs. Even the awesomeness of Bi Rain and Lee Jeong-jin and Yoon Jin-seo couldn't keep those two women from dementoring the show. Okay okay I'll be fair and say so maybe the writing and directing had something to do with it.....
All that said, she needs to be cast in the right role, which might typecast her as a straight man but hey, it might suit her. She might be better cast where poker face is the comic relief. Ala Going By the Book's character Jung Do-man who was so dry and literal and straightlaced it was funny. I thought that about her in Runaway.
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14 Jas
November 22, 2012 at 9:07 AM
Alias reference! I love you guys :)
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15 Noelle
November 22, 2012 at 9:10 AM
First, Happy Thanksgiving! Second, Isn't she the crazy lady from White Christmas? If so, she was good in that. I haven't seen her in anything other than that though.
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16 danna
November 22, 2012 at 9:41 AM
Aw, I like Lee L who was in both White Christmas and Wild Romance.....she played complicated characters in both of those shows and I thought she did a fair job
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17 didichan
November 22, 2012 at 12:31 PM
i don't think this drama will do well.. horrible female leads...
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18 Ryoko
November 22, 2012 at 1:02 PM
SD-6? Glad to know I'm not the only Alias fan around here :)
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19 Sajen
November 22, 2012 at 6:11 PM
so yea I originally wanted Ha Ji Won or Han Groo to do this but well, I'm getting more and more, happy/happier whichever one's right, that they didn't. I mean what the f is the point of spies without someone to spy on and fight? Although the good thing is the girl in the bottom picture I just realized was the crazy patient in White Christmas and I thought she did a fine job, granted she didn't really have a lot to do, but still she didn't suck the life out of scenes.
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20 Annie
November 22, 2012 at 8:10 PM
This show makes it easier and easier for me to give it a pass. Lucky me, more time for homework!
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21 brian
November 23, 2012 at 11:03 AM
I remember her on Runaway -- I liked her a lot, but maybe I'm shallow. I remember her being tall, very beautiful and spoke English flawlessly. Soo pretttty!!
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