Hwarang confirms cast, secures summer broadcast on KBS

46 January 5, 2016April 3, 2016

Hwarang confirms cast, secures summer broadcast on KBS

by girlfriday

Summer? I have to wait until summer to see Park Seo-joon again? It’s like a cruel tease, this news. Though really, I’m just super happy that he signed on to headline the new youth sageuk Hwarang: The Beginning, about the original flower boys of the Silla dynasty. The new drama from Oh Boy Pictures (Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Shut Up: Flower Boy Band, Flower Boy Next Door) was announced in the fall, and has now secured a leading cast and a summer broadcast date on KBS.

The drama will be about the Hwarang warriors of Silla, who were known for being beautiful — they were a group of young, highly educated, elite aristocratic warriors, whose name hwarang literally means “flower boy.” Park Seo-joon (She Was Pretty) has been cast as a young man of low birth who rises above his station in life and becomes a legendary Hwarang warrior. His character is brave and has boundless energy, and is nicknamed “dog-bird” because he’s at times like a dog or a bird (it doesn’t make a lot of sense because it’s namely a pun — calling him gae-sae is how the drama can call him a son of a bitch without triggering the censor board).

Park Hyung-shik (High Society) will play King Jinheung, who ruled Silla from 540 to 576 during the Three Kingdoms period. He became king at the young age of 15, but went on to be one of Silla’s great rulers who expanded the nation’s territory. Because of constant threats to his life, his character lives his young life as a faceless king, wandering about with a secret identity. And when his mother founds the Hwarang warriors, he decides to join as one of them. There, he gradually changes from a weak, wounded young man into a king that will lead a nation.

And naturally, Go Ara (You’re All Surrounded) plays the woman they’ll both love. Her character is half aristocrat, half commoner, a young woman with a cheerful energy and a strong work ethic. She also has a hapless quality to her, which makes her sound more like a modern drama heroine.

PD Yoon Sung-shik of Gaksital and King’s Face is at the helm, and writer Park Eun-young of KBS drama specials Our Slightly Risqué Relationship, Young Deok Women’s Wrestling Team, and Like a Fairytale is penning the script. The series will be 100% pre-produced, and will air simultaneously in Korea and China, a la Descended From the Sun and Saimdang. I’m excited about this one — a coming-of-age sageuk with this cast (and many more flower boy warriors to fill the ranks, to be sure) already makes me antsy for summer to roll around.

Hwarang: The Beginning is scheduled to premiere in July on KBS.

Via Osen

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1 theredsnowflake

January 5, 2016 at 3:16 AM

CAn't wait for this..LOVE the casting

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2 dramapotatoe

January 5, 2016 at 3:37 AM

Ugh. So darn exciting about this. Park Seo Joon and Go Ara! (About time she came back to the small screen)

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dramapotatoe

January 5, 2016 at 3:37 AM

*Excited... Can't spell.

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3 dkaoru

January 5, 2016 at 3:38 AM

warrior Park Seo Joon OMG awesome!!!

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4 Kavitha Ravi

January 5, 2016 at 3:57 AM

too long too tooooo looooong a wait :/

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5 Shalini

January 5, 2016 at 4:21 AM

OMG YES! This more than makes up for the casting disappointment in Moon Lovers. Bring on the flower boys(and girl).

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kanz

January 5, 2016 at 4:42 AM

Speaking of Moon Lovers, can DB write about its casting news pretty please?

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6 wackycashew

January 5, 2016 at 4:41 AM

I'm excited they all signed on!! ^^ Will probably check this out.

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7 nami

January 5, 2016 at 5:01 AM

Yeahhhhh for this casting news!!! Park Hyung Sik and Park Seo Joon were destined to work together since 'High Society' but Seo Joon turned down the role that went to Sung Joon. I'm so looking forward to this drama now!! *excited*

"Summer? I have to wait until summer to see Park Seo-joon again? It’s like a cruel tease, this news."

lol, I do understand your impatience though what should a Hyung Sik fan like me say when his last drama was in summer 2015? *pull out hair in frustration*
Summer, please come faster!!

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blubluskye

January 5, 2016 at 7:21 AM

Haha yes, they are destined to work together!

I remember watching Park Hyung Sik and Park Seo Joon appearing together in an interview (TvN), and them two looked so charming, and I'd wondered when they would work together!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH5XqmnybyM

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nami

January 5, 2016 at 8:18 AM

Ohhhh, they look adorable in this video *swoon*...thanks for sharing :) I bet they will have awesome chemistry on screen *excited*

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8 kanz

January 5, 2016 at 5:04 AM

OMG.. Can't wait! 2016 seems a good year for sageuk. Moon Lovers, Saimdang, 6FD, Jang Yeong Sil and now Hwarang.

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9 nonski

January 5, 2016 at 5:43 AM

i think everyone else wrote OMG but can't help it i just have to OMG!!! Park Seo Jeon... faints! summer... hysterical... Park Hyung Sik... faints! okay... this pairing just gets me sooo excited i wish it's summer right now!

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10 tapiocapearl

January 5, 2016 at 6:27 AM

Finally! Been waiting for PSJ's confirmation. The other two ain't too shabby either. And the director of Gaksital? Even more reason to watch!

Also, I am assuming this won't be a 50+ episode long drama since it will be pre-produced, so yay for that too?

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11 sartorius

January 5, 2016 at 6:57 AM

M glad that more and more stars and tv stations are taking on fully pre-produced dramas! Hopefully, they are all successful - even the ones that i dont like - so that the industry as a whole will eventually shift to this model!

On the drama, I'm really hoping for a strong female lead. Saeguks have been disappointing on that end but m excited for the drama! Lets keep our fingers crossed!

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12 Kayla

January 5, 2016 at 7:02 AM

2016 seems to be stacking up to be a good year for kdramas ^^

I'm definitely looking forward to this
Also
Goodbye mr. Black
Moon lovers

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13 Ebo

January 5, 2016 at 7:47 AM

Well, followers of queen seon deok like me could be interested in this since that show has hwarangs in it.

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14 bbstl

January 5, 2016 at 8:00 AM

ohhhhhhhhh just YES!!!

and ... squeeeeeeee!!!

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15 jadea

January 5, 2016 at 8:12 AM

The cast alone makes me excited, especially Seo Joon! Hope this turns out well. And I hope these pre produced dramas do well too so the actors don't have to keep dealing with the stress of live shoots.

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16 Manin

January 5, 2016 at 8:46 AM

this sounds so awesome.

Love that the king joins the warriors. imagine all the potential hijacks when the king has to protect himself.

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17 bashful

January 5, 2016 at 9:18 AM

So Park Hyung-shik is playing the young version of the old king Mishil had killed off in Queen Seon-Deok? Obviously in that drama they played havoc with time.

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anne

January 6, 2016 at 12:43 AM

I watched Queen Seon Deok and I love it. So when this hwarang apprared and finally confirmed PSJ... I'm sooooo excited..

Ah that old king, is he king jiheung? I forgot him. I tought hyung sik will play the king after queen seon deok, the nephew prince, prince chun chu.. haha..

Anyway.. many good dramas go to KBS.

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18 Jam

January 5, 2016 at 9:53 AM

Im so happy how theyre doing pre-production and not live. Hopefully more dramas will start doing that. And PSJ ahhhhhh...yasssss!!!

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19 Cocoboo

January 5, 2016 at 10:29 AM

Great casting! Summer feels so far away! D;

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20 Abbie

January 5, 2016 at 11:14 AM

Love the cast and the setting (I grew to love the Silla era and the Hwarang thanks to Queen Seondeok). And the premise but the love triangle makes me roll my eyes. I'm currently burned out by love triangles but hopefully I'll be back into them by summer time. I kind of want Park Hyungsik to get the girl but since he isn't the lead I rather doubt it.

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Sancheezy

January 5, 2016 at 9:40 PM

I remember the hwarang competition in QSD too
It makes me miss bidam

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21 moochie

January 5, 2016 at 11:43 AM

I can't wait for the pretties.

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22 Excitable

January 5, 2016 at 11:59 AM

This looks super promising. The moment I saw gaksital, I knew I need to keep on reading. The synopsis sounds super great in paper too. I think this could really work.

Definitely keeping my eye on this one.

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23 mira

January 5, 2016 at 12:50 PM

noooooooooo I want to watch it for Park Seo Joon. But I can't stand Go Ara's facial expression T_T
She always looks as if she is trying to figure out what is going on around her and is having seriously hard time doing so :(
I thought may be in You're All Surrounded she had that expression because of her character. But I saw he in an MV recently and she still has the same look...
So no Park Seo-Joon for me ><

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24 nozomi

January 5, 2016 at 12:58 PM

Is this the same time period as the movie A Frozen Flower with Jo In Sung?

The warriors with all pretty in that movie.

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Kiara

January 5, 2016 at 2:04 PM

A Frozen Flower was a Goryeo era movie. Silla's Hwarangs was established during the 3 Kingdom era (Goguryeo, Silla, Baekje).

3 Kingdom era ->Unified Silla -> Goryeo.

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25 mindy

January 5, 2016 at 2:29 PM

PARK SEO JOOOOON. I love him so much and just yesterday I was thinking "I need Park Seo Joon back in dramaland soon!". So glad my wish has come true, even though I have to wait until summer!

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26 hawoojinruinedme

January 5, 2016 at 5:06 PM

Park Seo Joon as a flower boy sageuk warrior *SCREAMS ETERNALLY*

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27 Indira

January 5, 2016 at 7:32 PM

It might be the 1rst sageuk I'll see with that casting

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28 genuinecity

January 5, 2016 at 8:30 PM

Ooh~! Park Seo-joon is such a natural talent, is already gaining much popularity (with me, at least; he won me over in She Was Pretty), and is definitely a flower boy/eye-candy/so pretty!, along with Park Hyung-shik, who totally stole the spotlight from the leads in High Society. As for Go Ara, she was fun in Who Are You?, but totally winning in AM1994 and now I know has so much potential and ability to be natural and raw, so I'm definitely excited for this cast and drama! Yay!

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genuinecity

January 5, 2016 at 8:33 PM

Omg, I was so excited about this casting news that I forgot to actually comment about the drama itself! It sounds totally fun and interesting! I thoroughly enjoyed all the Flower Boy series, so I can't wait to see all the laughs, tears, and heart this one will bring.

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29 Sancheezy

January 5, 2016 at 9:38 PM

Hwarang story with seo joon,, hyung shik and go ra
On top of that pre production, I have every reason to watch

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30 Sophia

January 6, 2016 at 3:36 AM

Korean summer release....so that's winter for me....Probably be the first time I'm excited for winter to come around. Lol. Park Seo Joon is coming! ?? Arckkkkk!