Misaeng: Incomplete Life

Misaeng: Incomplete Life^[1] (Korean: 미생 - 아직 살아 있지 못한 자; RR: Misaeng - Ajik Sara Itji Mothan Ja) is a 2014 South Korean television series based on the eponymous webtoon series by Yoon Tae-ho. It aired on tvN from October 17 to December 20, 2014, on Fridays and Saturdays at 20:30 (KST) for 20 episodes.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Misaeng: Incomplete Life
Promotional poster
Also known as	An Incomplete Life
Genre	Workplace Drama
Based on	Misaeng by Yoon Tae-ho
Developed by	Choi Jin-hee and Park Ji-young for tvN
Written by	Jung Yoon-jung
Directed by	Kim Won-seok
Starring	Im Si-wan Lee Sung-min Kang So-ra Kang Ha-neul Byun Yo-han Kim Dae-myung Shin Eun-jung Park Hae-joon
Composers	Kim Jun-seok Park Seong-il
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	20
Production
Executive producers	Kim Mi-na Lee Chan-ho
Producers	Lee Jae-moon Ham Seung-hoon Lee Esther
Production locations	Korea, Jordan
Cinematography	Choi Sang-mook
Editor	Kim Na-young
Running time	65 minutes
Production company	Number 3 Pictures
Original release
Network	tvN
Release	October 17 (2014-10-17) – December 20, 2014 (2014-12-20)

The title translates to Go terminology meaning "an incomplete life" (literally "not yet" (미) "living/birth" (생), meaning "not yet alive"). Misaeng: Incomplete Life was the first Korean drama to film on location in Jordan, where actors Im Si-wan and Lee Sung-min shot the series's prologue in Amman, Petra, and Wadi Rum.^[7] Yim reprised his role as the protagonist, which he played in an earlier film adaptation, Incomplete Life: Prequel (2013).^[8][9][10]

The series became a cultural phenomenon and recorded high viewership ratings for a cable network program in Korea. tvN is known for its record-breaking dramas.^{[11][12][13][14][15][16][17]}

Synopsis

Since he was a child, the board game baduk has been everything to Jang Geu-rae (Im Si-wan).^[18] But when he fails at achieving his dream of becoming a professional baduk player, Geu-rae must leave his isolated existence and enter the real world armed with nothing but a GED high school equivalency diploma on his resume. Through an acquaintance's recommendation, he gets hired as an intern at One International, a large trading company.

There, Geu-rae meets his boss, manager Oh Sang-shik (Lee Sung-min), who's a workaholic and has a warm personality; fellow intern Ahn Young-yi (Kang So-ra), who attracts her colleagues' ire because of her impressive educational credentials and by being extremely competent at any task; and Jang Baek-gi (Kang Ha-neul), a geeky co-worker whose anxious nature masks his inner ambition. Geu-rae learns to navigate and adapt to corporate culture, with baduk as his guide.^[19]

Cast

Main

• Im Si-wan as Jang Geu-rae^[20][21]
  • Kim Ye-jun as young Jang Geu-rae^[22]

He formerly aspired to be a professional baduk player, to which he had devoted his life since childhood, but, unable to achieve this goal, he joins One International, although he has no formal skills or training. He joins Sales Team 3 as a two-year contract employee at One International.

• Lee Sung-min as Oh Sang-shik
• Kang So-ra as Ahn Young-yi^[23] She joins Resource Team as permanent employee at One International.
• Kang Ha-neul as Jang Baek-gi^[24] He joins Steel Team as permanent employee at One International.
• Byun Yo-han as Han Seok-yool. He joins Textile Team as permanent employee at One International.

Supporting

One International Sales Teams

Team 3 (to which Geu-rae is assigned)

• Kim Dae-myung as Kim Dong-shik
• Park Hae-joon as Chun Kwan-woong
• Kim Hee-won as Park Jong-shik^[25]
• Seo Yoon-ah as Lee Eun-ji (ep. 14)
• Kim Won-hae as Park Young-ho (ep. 20)

Team 1

• Shin Eun-jung as Sun Ji-young
• Kim Sang-won as Mr. Um
• Shin Dong-hoon as Cha Soo-jin

Team 2

• Ryu Tae-ho as Go Dong-ho
• Park Jin-soo as Assistant Manager Hwang
• Kim Ga-young as Jang Mi-ra

Others

• Yoon Jong-hoon as Lee Sang-hyun
• Yeo Eui-joo as Jang Ki-seok
• Kim Jong-soo as Kim Boo-ryun
• Shin Eun-jung as Sun Ji-young
• Kim Kyung-ryong as Lee Shin-tae
• Nam Kyung-eup as CEO of One International
• Lee Geung-young as Choi Young-hoo
• Son Jong-hak as Ma Bok-ryul
• Jung Hee-tae as Jung Hee-seok
• -- as Cha Jung-ho
• Jang Hyuk-jin as Moon Sang-pil
• Choi Gwi-hwa as Park Yong-gu
• Shin Jae-hoon as Yoo Hyung-ki
• Jeon Seok-ho as Ha Sung-joon
• Oh Min-suk as Kang Hae-joon
• Tae In-ho as Song Jeon-shik
• Park Jin-seo as Shin Da-in
• Hwang Seok-jeong as Kim Sun-joo
• Jo Hyun-sik as Kim Seok-ho
• Kim Jung-hak as Lee Seok-joong
• Kwak In-joon as Audit team leader
• Han Kap-soo as One International Jordan branch manager
• Choi Jae-woong as One International Jordan branch employee
• Sung Byung-sook as Geu-rae's mother
• Nam Myung-ryul as Geu-rae's baduk teacher
• Lee Si-won as Ha Jung-yeon
• -- as Senior colleague Kim
• Oh Yoon-hong as Oh Sang-shik's wife
• Lee Seung-joon as Shin Woo-hyun

Cameo appearances

• Cho Hun-hyun (cameo)
• Yoo Chang-hyuk (cameo)
• Oh Jung-se as Husband of Chungsol's CEO (cameo, ep. 20)
• Yoo Jae-myung as Factory worker (ep. 16)

Original soundtrack

Part 1

Released on October 24, 2014 (2014-10-24)^[26]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Roman" (로망)	Taibian	Vladimir Vysotsky	Rose Motel	4:05
2.	"Roman" (Inst.)				4:05
Total length:					8:10

Part 2

Released on October 31, 2014 (2014-10-31)^[27]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Tomorrow" (내일)	Seo Dong-sung	Park Seong-il	Han Hee-jung	3:34
2.	"Tomorrow" (Inst.)				3:34
Total length:					7:08

Part 3

Released on November 21, 2014 (2014-11-21)^[28]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Fly" (날아)	Park Asher	Park Asher	Yi Sung-yol	4:46
2.	"Fly" (Inst.)				4:46
Total length:					9:32

Part 4

Released on December 5, 2014 (2014-12-05)^[29]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Hidden Road" (가리워진 길)	Yoo Jae-ha	Yoo Jae-ha	Bolbbalgan4	4:22
2.	"Hidden Road" (Inst.)				4:22
Total length:					8:44

Part 5

Released on December 12, 2014 (2014-12-12)^[30]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Be Alright" (그래도.. 그래서)	Im Si-wan Cheongdam Super	Im Si-wan Park Seong-il Cheongdam Super	Im Si-wan	3:26
2.	"Be Alright" (Inst.)				3:26
Total length:					6:52

Ratings

Ep.	Original broadcast date	Average audience share
		Nielsen Korea
		Average rating	Peak rating
1	October 17, 2014	1.7%	2.8%
2	October 18, 2014	2.5%	3.1%
3	October 24, 2014	3.4%	4.6%
4	October 25, 2014	3.6%	4.9%
5	October 31, 2014	4.6%	6.0%
6	November 1, 2014	3.7%	5.4%
7	November 7, 2014	5.2%	6.4%
8	November 8, 2014	5.0%	6.6%
9	November 14, 2014	5.2%	6.7%
10	November 15, 2014	5.9%	7.0%
11	November 21, 2014	6.1%	7.1%
12	November 22, 2014	6.3%	7.8%
13	November 28, 2014		7.9%
14	November 29, 2014	5.8%
15	December 5, 2014	7.2%	9.4%
16	December 6, 2014	7.4%	8.6%
17	December 12, 2014	7.6%	9.7%
18	December 13, 2014	8.0%	9.5%
19	December 19, 2014	7.6%	9.3%
20	December 20, 2014	8.4%	10.3%
Average		5.6%	7.1%
In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings. This drama airs 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

Year	Award	Category	Recipient	Result
2015	9th Cable TV Broadcasting Awards[31]	Grand Prize (Daesang)	Misaeng: Incomplete Life	Won
		Star Award - Best Actor	Yim Si-wan	Won
			Kang Ha-neul	Won
	51st Baeksang Arts Awards[32]	Best Drama	Misaeng: Incomplete Life	Nominated
		Best Director (TV)	Kim Won-seok	Won
		Best Actor (TV)	Lee Sung-min	Won
		Best New Actor (TV)	Yim Si-wan	Won
			Kim Dae-myung	Nominated
	10th Seoul International Drama Awards	Best Miniseries	Misaeng: Incomplete Life	Won
		Best Director	Kim Won-seok	Nominated
	8th Korea Drama Awards	Best Drama	Misaeng: Incomplete Life	Won
		Best Production Director	Kim Won-seok	Nominated
		Best Screenplay	Jung Yoon-jung	Nominated
		Top Excellence Award, Actor	Yim Si-wan	Nominated
		Excellence Award, Actor	Kim Dae-myung	Won
		Special Jury Prize	Yim Si-wan	Won
	4th APAN Star Awards	Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries	Lee Sung-min	Won
		Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries	Yim Si-wan	Won
		Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries	Kang So-ra	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor	Kim Dae-myung	Nominated
			Lee Geung-young	Won
		Best New Actor	Byun Yo-han	Won
			Kang Ha-neul	Nominated
2016	tvN10 Awards	Best Actor	Lee Sung-min	Won
		Best Content Award, Drama	Misaeng: Incomplete Life	Won
		Made in tvN, Actor in Drama	Yim Si-wan	Nominated
		Made in tvN, Actress in Drama	Kang So-ra	Nominated
		Scene-Stealer Award, Actor	Byun Yo-han	Nominated
			Kang Ha-neul	Nominated

Source

Main article: Misaeng (manhwa)

With his webtoon, author Yoon Tae-ho drew an analogy between life in modern society and the game of baduk, a chess-like strategy board game. He also wrote vivid descriptions of the everyday life and struggles of Korean corporate culture as his flawed characters deal with the fierce competition for survival, interpersonal work relationships and office politics. Misaeng: Incomplete Life gained immense popularity among Korean white-collar workers in their twenties and thirties largely because its realism resonated with their experiences. It drew 1 billion hits when it was published on online portal Daum from September 2012 to October 2013, and the nine-volume paperback version sold 900,000 copies. It is now considered a must-read comic in the country.^[33][34]

Remake

• HOPE〜期待ゼロの新入社員〜
• Ordinary Glory; starring Bai Jingting, Mark Chao and Qiao Xin.^[35][36]