King the Land

King the Land (Korean: 킹더랜드) is a 2023 South Korean television series starring Lee Jun-ho and Im Yoon-ah. It aired on JTBC from June 17 to August 6, 2023, every Saturday and Sunday at 22:30 (KST) for 16 episodes.^[6] It is also available for streaming on TVING in South Korea and on Netflix in selected regions.^[7][8]

King the Land
Promotional poster
Hangul	킹더랜드
RR	Kingdeoraendeu
MR	K'ingdŏraendŭ
Genre	Romantic comedy[1]
Created by	Cheon Sung-il[2]
Written by	Choi Rom[3]
Directed by	Im Hyun-wook[3]
Starring	Lee Jun-ho Im Yoon-ah
Music by	Moon Seong-nam[4]
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	16
Production
Production locations	South Korea Thailand[5]
Production companies	Npio Entertainment[2] By4m Studio[2] SLL[3]
Original release
Network	JTBC
Release	June 17 (2023-06-17) – August 6, 2023 (2023-08-06)

Synopsis

King the Land tells the story of Gu Won who is the heir of The King Group, a luxury hotel conglomerate, who was thrown into an inheritance war, and Cheon Sa-rang, a hotelier who always has a smile on her face till she meets Gu Won.

Cast

Main

• Lee Jun-ho as Gu Won^[9]

The heir and head general manager of King Hotel.

• Im Yoon-ah as Cheon Sa-rang^[9]

A hotelier and the "smile queen" of the King Hotel.

Supporting

People around Gu Won

• Son Byong-ho as Gu Il-hoon^[10]

Gu Won's father who is the chairman of King Group.

• Kim Seon-young as Gu Hwa-ran^[11]

Gu Won's older half-sister and the eldest daughter of King Group.

• Kim Dong-ha as Yoon Ji-hoo^[12]

Hwa-ran's son.

• Ahn Se-ha as Noh Sang-sik^[13]

Gu Won's friend and secretary.

People around Cheon Sa-rang

• Go Won-hee as Oh Pyung-hwa^[14]

Sa-rang's best friend who is a flight attendant of King Air.

• Kim Ga-eun as Kang Da-eul^[15]

Sa-rang's best friend and a working mother who is a "sales king" of Alanga, a duty-free store affiliated with King Group.

• Kim Young-ok as Cha Soon-hee^[16]

Sa-rang's grandmother.

Employees at King Group

• Kim Jae-won as Lee Ro-woon^[13]

A flight attendant of King Air who has a crush on Pyeong-Hwa.

• Gong Ye-ji as Kim Soo-mi^[17]

The manager of King Hotel. She took a disliking to Sa-rang because of her talents and her status.

• Kim Jung-min as Jeon Min-seo^[17]

The general manager of King the Land, King Hotel's VVIP Lounge.

• Choi Ji-hyun as Ha-na^[17]

A member of King the Land's team.

• Kim Chae-yun as Doo-ri^[17]

A member of King the Land's team.

• Lee Ho-seok as Se-ho^[17]

A member of King the Land's team.

• Lee Ji-hye as Do Ra-hee^[17]

A supervisor of Alanga, King Group Fashion.

Others

• Choi Tae-hwan as Seo Chung-jae^[12]

Da-eul's husband.

• Lee Ye-joo as Seo Cho-rong^[12]

Da-eul's only daughter.

• Jo Won-jo as Professor Yoon^[12]

Hwa-ran's husband.

Special appearances

• Nam Gi-ae as Han Mi-so (Ep. 14–16)^[10]

Gu Won's mother.

• Ahn Woo-yeon as Gong Yoo-nam (Ep. 1–5)^[18]

Sa-rang's ex-boyfriend.

• Kim Sung-eun as a senior flight attendant of King Air (Ep. 1)^[19]
• Lee Hye-sung as an interviewee for new hotelier (Ep. 1)^[20]
• Kang Ki-doong as Choi Tae-man (Ep. 1)^[21]
• Jin Seon-kyu as a policeman (Ep. 4)^[22]
• Anupam Tripathi as Prince Samir (Ep. 7–8)^[23]
• Jang Mi-ja as Chairman Han's Mother (Ep. 2-4, 7, 11)^[24]

Original soundtrack

Part 1

Released on June 18, 2023

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Yellow Light"	Humbler Kim Ah-hyun Lee Chang-woo	Humbler Kim Ah-hyun Lee Chang-woo	Gaho	3:30
2.	"Yellow Light" (Inst.)		Humbler Kim Ah-hyun Lee Chang-woo		3:30
Total length:					7:00

Part 2

Released on June 25, 2023

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Confess To You"	Park Jeong-jun Naiv	Park Jeong-jun Naiv	Lim Kim	3:08
2.	"Confess To You" (Inst.)		Park Jeong-jun Naiv		3:08
Total length:					6:16

Part 3

Released on July 2, 2023

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Get To You" (너에게 닿을게)	Kim Ah-hyun Humbler	Humbler	Jung Seung-hwan	3:27
2.	"Get To You" (너에게 닿을게; Inst.)		Humbler		3:27
Total length:					6:54

Part 4

Released on July 8, 2023

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Dive"	LuckyClover (Avec)	LuckyClover (Avec)	Kim Woo-jin	3:39
2.	"Dive" (Inst.)		LuckyClover (Avec)		3:39
Total length:					7:18

Part 5

Released on July 9, 2023

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Keep Me Busy"	Sarah.J Glody	Sarah.J Kim Min-cheol Earn Glody	Punch	3:32
2.	"Keep Me Busy" (Inst.)		Sarah.J Kim Min-cheol Earn Glody		3:32
Total length:					7:04

Part 6

Released on July 15, 2023

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"You Are My" (그대는 나의)	Lee Da-hee	Lee Da-hee	Hynn	3:02
2.	"You Are My" (그대는 나의; Inst.)		Lee Da-hee		3:02
Total length:					6:04

Part 7

Released on July 16, 2023

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Fall in Love"	Yoda Charles	Kim Se-jin Hyunki	Jeong Se-woon	3:28
2.	"Fall in Love" (Inst.)		Kim Se-jin Hyunki		3:28
Total length:					6:56

Part 8

Released on July 23, 2023

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Perhaps Love" (사랑인걸까)	Kim Yeong-seong Seo Jae-ha	Kim Yeong-seong Seo Jae-ha	Minseo	3:54
2.	"Perhaps Love" (사랑인걸까; Inst.)		Kim Yeong-seong Seo Jae-ha		3:54
Total length:					7:48

Part 9

Released on July 30, 2023

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Everyday With You"	Park Ho-kyung	Park Ho-kyung Baek Chang-jae	KyoungSeo	2:50
2.	"Everyday With You" (Inst.)		Park Ho-kyung Baek Chang-jae		2:50
Total length:					5:40

Reception

Viewership

King the Land : South Korea viewers per episode (millions)

Season		Episode number																Average
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
	1	1.119	1.835	2.039	2.331	2.273	2.909	2.521	2.985	2.571	2.616	2.179	2.588	2.318	2.496	2.777	3.404	2.435

Source: Audience measurement performed nationwide by Nielsen Korea.^[25]

Average TV viewership ratings

Ep.	Original broadcast date	Average audience share (Nielsen Korea)[25]
		Nationwide	Seoul
1	June 17, 2023	5.075% (1st)	5.344% (1st)
2	June 18, 2023	7.544% (1st)	8.255% (1st)
3	June 24, 2023	9.145% (1st)	10.671% (1st)
4	June 25, 2023	9.645% (1st)	10.003% (1st)
5	July 1, 2023	9.672% (1st)	10.590% (1st)
6	July 2, 2023	12.017% (1st)	12.607% (1st)
7	July 8, 2023	10.607% (1st)	11.496% (1st)
8	July 9, 2023	12.317% (1st)	13.427% (1st)
9	July 15, 2023	10.196% (1st)	11.174% (1st)
10	July 16, 2023	11.303% (1st)	12.351% (1st)
11	July 22, 2023	9.003% (1st)	10.062% (1st)
12	July 23, 2023	10.977% (1st)	11.552% (1st)
13	July 29, 2023	9.388% (1st)	9.506% (1st)
14	July 30, 2023	10.651% (1st)	10.965% (1st)
15	August 5, 2023	11.943% (1st)	13.583% (1st)
16	August 6, 2023	13.789% (1st)	14.534% (1st)
Average		10.205%	11.008%
In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings. This series aired on a cable channel/pay TV which normally has a relatively smaller audience compared to free-to-air TV/public broadcasters (KBS, SBS, MBC, and EBS).

Awards and nominations

Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination

Award ceremony	Year	Category	Nominee / Work	Result	Ref.
Asia Artist Awards	2023	Grand Prize (Daesang) – Actor of the Year	Lee Jun-ho	Won	[26]
		Popularity Award (Actor)		Won
APAN Star Awards	2023	Grand Prize (Daesang)		Won	[27][28]
		Best Couple	Lee Jun-ho and Im Yoon-ah	Won
		Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries	Lee Jun-ho	Nominated
		Best Character		Won
		Global Star Award		Won
		Popularity Award (Actor)		Won
		Popularity Award (Actress)	Im Yoon-ah	Won
		Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries		Nominated
		Global Star Award		Nominated
Consumer Rights Day KCA Culture & Entertainment Awards	2023	Viewer's Choice – Actor of the Year		Won	[29]
		Viewer's Choice – Drama of the Year	King the Land	Won
Fundex Awards		Grand Prize (Daesang)	Lee Jun-ho	Won	[30]
		Top Excellence Actress (Drama)	Im Yoon-ah	Won
Korea Communications Commission Broadcasting Awards	2024	Grand Prize	King the Land	Won	[31]
Korea Drama Awards	2023	Best Supporting Actor	Ahn Se-ha	Won	[32]
TVING Awards	2023	Content of the Year – Best 9	King the Land	Won	[33]

Remake

On February 14, 2024, it was reported that King the Land would be reproduced as a Turkish television drama.^[34]