Distorted (TV series)

Distorted^[1] (Korean: 조작; RR: Jojak; lit. 'Falsify') is a South Korean television series starring Namkoong Min, Uhm Ji-won, Yoo Jun-sang, Jeon Hye-bin and Moon Sung-keun. It aired on SBS from July 24 to September 12, 2017 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 22:00 (KST) for 32 episodes.^[2][3]

Distorted
Promotional poster
Hangul	조작
Hanja	造作
Lit.	Falsify
RR	Jojak
MR	Chojak
Genre	Legal thriller Political Drama
Written by	Kim Hyun-jung
Directed by	Lee Jung-heum
Creative directors	Park Bo-ram Kim Ji-yeon
Starring	Namkoong Min Uhm Ji-won Yoo Jun-sang Jeon Hye-bin Moon Sung-keun
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	32
Production
Producer	Park Hyung-ki
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	35 minutes
Production company	The Story Works (SBS)
Original release
Network	SBS TV
Release	July 24 (2017-07-24) – September 12, 2017 (2017-09-12)

Synopsis

Reporters and ex-Judo athlete Han Moo Young (Namkoong Min) and Lee Seok Min (Yoo Jun-sang), and Prosecutor Kwon Sora (Uhm Ji-won) struggle to unveil the truth that was falsified.^[4][5]

Cast

Main

• Namkoong Min as Han Moo-young^[6][7]

A disgraced ex-Judo athlete who witnesses his brother, a reporter, die while trying to report on a big corruption scandal. To avenge his brother's death, he becomes a reporter himself.^[8]

• Uhm Ji-won as Kwon So-ra^[9]

A prosecutor who graduated at the top of her class and became well known for becoming the youngest ever female rookie.

• Yoo Jun-sang as Lee Seok-min^[10]

A journalist who is cynical and stubbor, he is a prickly person who's a sceptic with a lot of injustice to vent.

• Jeon Hye-bin as Oh Yoo-kyung^[11]

A reporter from the Splash Team who has a long working history with Lee Seok-min.

• Moon Sung-keun as Koo Tae-won^[12]

Director of Daehan Newspaper.

Supporting

Aeguk Newspaper

• Jo Hee-bong as Yang Dong-sik
• Kim Kang-hyun as Lee Yong-sik^[13]
• Park Kyung-hye as Seo Na-rae^[14]
• Ahn Ji-hoon [ko] as Yang Sang-ho

Splash Team

• Park Sung-hoon as Na Sung-shik
• Oh Ah-yeon as Gong Ji-won^[15]

Prosecution

• Park Ji-young as Cha Yeon-soo
• Jung Hee-tae as Park Jin-woo
• Park Won-sang as Im Ji-tae

Extended

• Choi Gwi-hwa as Yang Choo-sung
• Kim Gi-nam as Lee Byung-kwan
• Ryu Seung-soo as Jo Young-gi
• Kim Min-sang [ko] as Jung Hae-dong
• Jung Man-sik as Jun Chan-soo
• Park Jung-hak [ko] as Park Eung-mo
• Lee Joo-seung as Yoon Seon-woo
• Bae Hae-sun as Choi Su-yeon
• Kim Hye-seong as Song Tae-joon
• Kang Shin-hyo as Moon Shin-nam
• Park Sang-Hui
• Ha Kyung-min
• Seo Bo-ik
• Seo Ho-chul
• Ji Sung-hwan
• Yoo Jae-hoon
• Kim Jong-ho
• Kim Kyung-min
• Jo Jung-moon
• Choi Young
• Kim Myung-sun
• Yoon Hee-won
• Choi Jae-young
• Kim Yoon-sang
• Yoon Seo-young
• Kang Deuk-jong

Special appearances

• Oh Jung-se as Han Chul-ho

Han Moo-young's brother who died for whistleblowing an article on a big corruption scandal.

• Kim Jong-soo
• Jo Young-jin
• Lee Sang-hong
• Cha Soon-bae as Kim Sun-hong
• Yoo Ha-bok
• Kim Hyung-mook
• Jung Ok
• Park Hoon as an informant
• Joo Suk-tae as a lawyer (Ep. 7)

Production

Filming began in early May without the female lead. First script reading with the entire cast took place in June and filming commenced straight after.^[16]

Reception

Despite premiering later than its competitors by one week, the series topped ratings for its time slot.^[17] It received attention for revealing cases that remind viewers of the infamous "Sung Wan-jong List," one of the biggest political corruption scandals during the former Park Geun-hye administration, and swimmer Park Tae-hwan's doping test scandal.^[18]

Original soundtrack

Distorted OST
Soundtrack album by Various artists
Released	2017
Genre	Soundtrack
Language	Korean
Label	Blending Co., Ltd. SBS Content Hub Co., Ltd

Part 1

Release date August 1, 2017

No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"Where Are You" (어디있나요)	Suran	03:25
2.	"Where Are You" (Inst.)		03:25
Total length:			06:50

Ratings

• In the table below, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.

Ep.	Date	Average audience share
		TNmS Ratings[19]		AGB Nielsen[20]
		Nationwide	Seoul	Nationwide	Seoul
1	July 24, 2017	9.3% (18th)	12.3% (5th)	11.6% (6th)	13.5% (5th)
2		9.6% (16th)	12.4% (4th)	12.6% (4th)	14.6% (4th)
3	July 25, 2017	8.7% (12th)	11.4% (5th)	10.4% (6th)	11.7% (5th)
4		10.5% (7th)	13.3% (4th)	12.5% (4th)	13.8% (4th)
5	July 31, 2017	9.1% (14th)	10.8% (5th)	11.3% (5th)	12.3% (5th)
6		9.8% (13th)	11.6% (4th)	12.0% (4th)	13.3% (4th)
7	August 1, 2017	8.3% (15th)	10.6% (5th)	9.5% (7th)	10.6% (5th)
8		10.2% (10th)	12.7% (4th)	12.1% (4th)	13.3% (4th)
9	August 7, 2017	9.0% (15th)	11.7% (5th)	10.3% (8th)	11.1% (5th)
10		9.7% (14th)	12.7% (4th)	11.8% (4th)	12.8% (4th)
11	August 8, 2017	8.7% (12th)	11.2% (6th)	10.1% (6th)	11.4% (5th)
12		10.2% (9th)	12.7% (4th)	11.4% (4th)	13.0% (4th)
13	August 14, 2017	7.6% (19th)	8.6% (10th)	9.9% (9th)	11.1% (6th)
14		8.4% (15th)	9.5% (7th)	11.4% (4th)	12.6% (4th)
15	August 15, 2017	7.9% (15th)	8.8% (6th)	10.6% (6th)	11.8% (5th)
16		9.1% (8th)	10.5% (4th)	12.2% (4th)	13.8% (4th)
17	August 21, 2017	8.0% (17th)	9.6% (6th)	9.7% (11th)	10.7% (7th)
18		9.2% (14th)	11.2% (4th)	11.2% (6th)	12.5% (4th)
19	August 22, 2017	9.3% (11th)	11.2% (5th)	10.2% (7th)	11.4% (5th)
20		10.6% (8th)	13.1% (3rd)	11.6% (4th)	12.5% (4th)
21	August 28, 2017	8.7% (16th)	9.7% (10th)	9.6% (10th)	10.5% (7th)
22		9.6% (13th)	11.2% (4th)	10.9% (6th)	11.9% (5th)
23	August 29, 2017	8.0% (16th)	9.6% (8th)	9.9% (9th)	11.0% (5th)
24		9.0% (13th)	10.5% (5th)	11.6% (4th)	13.0% (4th)
25	September 4, 2017	8.6% (16th)	10.6% (5th)	10.0% (8th)	10.6% (6th)
26		9.2% (13th)	10.7% (4th)	11.6% (4th)	12.2% (4th)
27	September 5, 2017	7.5% (15th)	9.1% (6th)	10.3% (5th)	11.3% (5th)
28		8.7% (11th)	10.3% (4th)	12.2% (4th)	13.3% (4th)
29	September 11, 2017	9.1% (15th)	10.6% (9th)	10.3% (10th)	11.2% (5th)
30		10.4% (13th)	11.9% (4th)	12.4% (5th)	13.4% (4th)
31	September 12, 2017	11.0% (10th)	12.7% (4th)	11.0% (6th)	11.6% (5th)
32		11.8% (8th)	13.1% (3rd)	12.4% (4th)	13.0% (4th)
Average		9.22%	11.13%	11.08%	12.23%