The Spies Who Loved Me (Korean: 나를 사랑한 스파이; RR: Naleul Saranghan Seupai) is a South Korean television series starring Eric Mun, Yoo In-na,[1] and Lim Ju-hwan.[2] The series revolves around Kang Ah-Reum (Yoo In-na), a wedding dress designer, and her two husbands; ex Jun Ji-Hoon (Eric Mun) and current husband Derek Hyun (Im Joo Hwan), who both hide their real identities from her.[3] It premiered on MBC TV on October 21, 2020, airing twice a week. It is also available on iQIYI for streaming worldwide.[4]
| The Spies Who Loved Me | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster | |
| Also known as | The Spy Who Loves Me |
| Hangul | 나를 사랑한 스파이 |
| Revised Romanization | Nareul Saranghan Seupai |
| McCune–Reischauer | Narŭl Saranghan Sŭp'ai |
| Genre | Action Romance Comedy |
| Written by | Lee Ji-min |
| Directed by | Lee Jae-jin |
| Starring | |
| Country of origin | South Korea |
| Original language | Korean |
| No. of episodes | 16 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Hwang Ji-woo |
| Running time | 70 minutes |
| Production company | Story & Pictures Media |
| Original release | |
| Network | MBC TV |
| Release | October 21 – December 17, 2020 |
Synopsis
Kang Ah-Reum is a wedding dress designer who has been married twice. Her ex happens to be an undercover Interpol agent, while her current husband is an industrial spy. After a close friend is murdered for her involvement in the well-known EcoSun project, Ah-Reum seeks the help of Ji-Hoon and his team in finding out the truth, along the way uncovering dark and shocking secrets about those closest to her.
Cast
Main
- Eric Mun as Jun Ji-Hoon, Kang Ah-Reum's first husband who is a secret Interpol agent disguised as a travel writer.
- Yoo In-na as Kang Ah-Reum, a wedding dress designer and owner of the shop Areumdaun Dress, married to Derek Hyun.
- Lim Ju-hwan as Derek Hyun, Kang Ah-Reum's second husband and a cold-blooded industrial spy, who works as the CEO of an industrial spy agency.
Supporting
People around Jun Ji-hoon
- Kim Tae-woo as Ban Jin-min, Director of Asian Affairs at Interpol's Industrial and Confidential Bureau.
- Jeong Suk-yong as Kang Tae-ryong, the head of the second Asia Branch of Interpol's Industrial Confidentiality Bureau disguised as a representative of the publishing company, Gulliver's Publishers.
- Cha Joo-young as Hwang Seo-ra, an Interpol secret agent with an IQ of 157. She is the one who Ah-Reum believes Ji-Hoon had an affair with, though in reality, it was all a misunderstanding.
- Bae In-hyuk as Kim Young-goo, a junior agent of the Bureau disguised as the sales manager of the publishing company. The youngest of the team who specializes in analytics.
People around Kang Ah-reum
- Park So-jin as Bae Doo-rae, Ah-reum's business partner and best friend, and the co-CEO of the wedding dress shop
- Kim Chung as Han Bok-sim, Ah-reum's mother and the hostess of the Dongbaekjudan
- Yoon So-hee as Sophie Ahn, a genius scientist in charge of the EcoSun Project, and Ah-reum’s friend. She is the informant that Ji-Hoon is looking for early in the series.
People around Derek Hyun
- Jeon Seung-bin as Peter, Asia division industrial spy.
- Lee Jong-won as Tinker, an agent, M Classic Car CEO and a classic car restoration specialist.
- Kim Hye-ok as Hye Ra-sin, Derek Hyun's grandmother.
Others
- Lee Joo-woo as Kim Dong-ran, DDK Group's second daughter and CEO of DDK Bora Food.
- Moon Ji-hoo as Doo-bong's underling
- Lee Ha-eun as Yoon Yeo-jung
- Jang Jae-ho as Kim Dong-taek
- Ji Hyun-joon as Jang Doo-bong
Special appearance
- Ahn Hee-yeon as Hacker (ep. 8-9)
Production
It is the first drama by screenwriter Lee Ji-min, who has previously produced films such as The Man Standing Next, Forbidden Dream and The Age of Shadows.[4] MBC confirmed the casting of Eric Mun, Yoo In-na and Lim Ju-hwan on June 22, 2020 in a press release that described the series as a "romantic spy drama".[4][5] The main poster was revealed on September 29.[6]
Original soundtrack
| The Spies Who Loved Me OST | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Various artists | |
| Released | 2020 |
| Genre | Soundtrack |
| Language | |
| Label |
|
Part 1
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Shall We Kiss?" (키스해볼까?) |
| ZigZag Note | Jung Yong-hwa (CNBLUE) | 3:23 |
| 2. | "Shall We Kiss?" (Inst.) | ZigZag Note | 3:23 | ||
| Total length: | 6:46 | ||||
Part 2
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Only You Don't Know" (너만 몰라) |
|
| Lee Min-hyuk | 3:20 |
| 2. | "Only You Don't Know" (Inst.) |
| 3:20 | ||
| Total length: | 6:40 | ||||
Part 3
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Run To You" |
|
| Yoo Hwe-seung (N.Flying) | 3:54 |
| 2. | "Run To You" (Inst.) |
| 3:54 | ||
| Total length: | 7:48 | ||||
Special Track
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Let Me Dance" |
|
| Everglow | 3:20 |
| 2. | "Let Me Dance" (Inst.) |
| 3:20 | ||
| Total length: | 6:40 | ||||
Part 4
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Wherever" (어디라도) |
| Gaemi | Baek A-yeon | 4:05 |
| 2. | "Wherever" (Inst.) | Gaemi | 4:05 | ||
| Total length: | 8:10 | ||||
Viewership
| Ep. | Part | Original broadcast date | Average audience share (Nielsen Korea)[7] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationwide | ||||
| 1 | 1 | October 21, 2020 | 3.7% | |
| 2 | 4.3% | |||
| 2 | 1 | October 22, 2020 | 3.0% | |
| 2 | 3.2% | |||
| 3 | 1 | October 28, 2020 | 1.8% | |
| 2 | 2.4% | |||
| 4 | 1 | October 29, 2020 | 2.8% | |
| 2 | 2.6% | |||
| 5 | 1 | November 5, 2020[a] | 2.8% | |
| 2 | 3.2% | |||
| 6 | 1 | November 11, 2020 | 2.2% | |
| 2 | 2.4% | |||
| 7 | 1 | November 12, 2020 | 2.7% | |
| 2 | 3.1% | |||
| 8 | 1 | November 19, 2020 | 3.0% | |
| 2 | 2.8% | |||
| 9 | 1 | November 25, 2020 | 1.6% | |
| 2 | 1.5% | |||
| 10 | 1 | November 26, 2020 | 2.1% | |
| 2 | 2.5% | |||
| 11 | 1 | December 2, 2020 | 2.1% | |
| 2 | 2.2% | |||
| 12 | 1 | December 3, 2020 | 2.2% | |
| 2 | 2.6% | |||
| 13 | 1 | December 9, 2020 | 1.8% | |
| 2 | 2.3% | |||
| 14 | 1 | December 10, 2020 | 2.9% | |
| 2 | 2.8% | |||
| 15 | 1 | December 16, 2020 | 1.8% | |
| 2 | 2.0% | |||
| 16 | 1 | December 17, 2020 | 2.5% | |
| 2 | 2.8% | |||
| Average | % | |||
| ||||
International broadcast
The series is available same time as Korea, as an iQIYI Original and exclusively on iQIYI globally (except China and Korea) with multilingual subtitles.It is also available non-exclusively on iQIYI in South Korea.
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 39th MBC Drama Awards | Drama of the Year | The Spies Who Loved Me | Nominated |
| Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Wednesday-Thursday Miniseries | Eric Mun | Nominated | ||
| Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Wednesday-Thursday Miniseries | Yoo In-na | Nominated | ||
| Excellence Award, Actor in a Wednesday-Thursday Miniseries | Lim Ju-hwan[b] | Won | ||
| Best Supporting Actor | Kim Tae-woo | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Actress | Cha Joo-young | Nominated | ||
| Best New Actor | Bae In-hyuk | Nominated | ||
| Best New Actress | Park So-jin | Nominated | ||
| Best Couple | Eric Mun & Yoo In-na | Nominated |
Notes
References
External links
- Official website (in Korean)
- The Spies Who Loved Me on iQIYI
- The Spies Who Loved Me at IMDb
- The Spies Who Loved Me at HanCinema
