Misaeng (TV series)

Misaeng
Promotional poster for Misaeng
Also known as	An Incomplete Life
Genre	Workplace Drama Comedy
Based on	Misaeng by Yoon Tae-ho
Written by	Jung Yoon-jung
Directed by	Kim Won-seok
Starring	Yim Si-wan Lee Sung-min Kang So-ra Kang Ha-neul Byun Yo-han Kim Dae-myung Shin Eun-jung Park Hae-joon
Composer(s)	Kim Jun-seok Park Seong-il
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language(s)	Korean
No. of episodes	20
Production
Executive producer(s)	Kim Mi-na Lee Chan-ho
Producer(s)	Park Ji-young Choi Jin-hee Lee Jae-moon Ham Seung-hoon
Location(s)	Korea, Jordan
Cinematography	Choi Sang-mook
Editor(s)	Kim Na-young
Running time	65 minutes Fridays and Saturdays at 20:30 (KST)
Production company(s)	Number 3 Pictures
Release
Original network	tvN
Picture format	1080i
Audio format	Dolby Digital 2.0
Original release	October 17 (2014-10-17) – December 20, 2014 (2014-12-20)
Chronology
Preceded by	Plus Nine Boys
Followed by	Heart to Heart
External links
Website

Misaeng (Hangul: 미생 - 아직 살아 있지 못한 자; RR: Misaeng - Ajik sala ittji mothan ja) is a 2014 South Korean television series based on the webtoon series of the same title by Yoon Tae-ho. It aired on tvN from October 17 to December 20, 2014 on Fridays and Saturdays at 20:30 for 20 episodes.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

The title translates to "an incomplete life" (literally "not yet" (미) "birth" (생), meaning "not yet alive"). Misaeng was the first Korean drama to film on location in Jordan, where actors Yim Si-wan and Lee Sung-min shot the series's prologue in Amman, Petra, and Wadi Rum.^[6] Yim reprised his role as Misaeng's protagonist, which he played in an earlier film adaptation, Incomplete Life: Prequel (2013).^[7][8][9]

Misaeng became a cultural phenomenon and recorded high viewership ratings, with a peak of 8.4%, the all-time second highest for a cable network program in Korea.^{[10][11][12][13][14][15] [16]}

Plot

Since he was a child, the board game baduk has been everything to Jang Geu-rae.^[17] 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 high school equivalency exam 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, who's a workaholic and has a warm personality; fellow intern Ahn Young-yi, who attracts her colleagues' ire because of her impressive educational credentials and by being extremely competent at any task; and Jang Baek-gi, 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.^[18]

Cast

Ratings

Awards and nominations

Source material

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 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.^[27][28]

International broadcast

Country	Network(s)/Station(s)	Series premiere	Title
Thailand	PPTV	October 28, 2015	หนุ่มออฟฟิศพิชิตฝัน (Num Office Pichit Fun[29])
Malaysia	8TV (Malaysia)

References

External links

• Misaeng official tvN website (Korean)
• Misaeng at HanCinema
• Misaeng at the Internet Movie Database
• Misaeng webtoon on Daum (Korean)