The Lady in Dignity

The Lady in Dignity^[1] (Korean: 품위있는 그녀) is a South Korean television series starring Kim Hee-sun, Kim Sun-ah, Jung Sang-hoon with Lee Tae-im and Lee Ki-woo.^[2] The series aired on cable network JTBC on Fridays and Saturdays at 23:00 (KST) time slot from June 16 to August 19, 2017.^[3] It became one of the highest-rated Korean dramas in cable television history.^[4]

The Lady in Dignity
Promotional poster
Also known as	Lady with Class
Hangul	품위있는 그녀
Hanja	品位있는 그女
Literal meaning	Woman of Dignity
Revised Romanization	Pumwiinneun Geunyeo
Genre	Drama Mystery Thriller
Written by	Baek Mi-kyung
Directed by	Kim Yoon-chul
Starring	Kim Hee-sun Kim Sun-ah Jung Sang-hoon Lee Tae-im Lee Ki-woo
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	20
Production
Executive producers	Jo Joon-hyung Lee Jin-suk Park Joon-seo
Producers	Jang Min-ae Kim So-jung Na Ye-seu-ran
Running time	60 minutes
Production companies	JS Pictures Drama House
Original release
Network	JTBC
Release	June 16 (2017-06-16) – August 19, 2017 (2017-08-19)

Synopsis

The story of an elegant Cheongdam-dong woman named Woo Ah-jin (Kim Hee-sun), who relished a life of luxury by marrying a quasi-chaebol son, until Park Bok-ja (Kim Sun-ah) walks into her life.

Cast

Main

• Kim Hee-sun as Woo Ah-jin

A cheerful, elegant and charismatic woman who married into a rich family, but hit rock bottom after her husband's betrayal.

• Kim Sun-a as Park Bok-ja

A cool and unfazeable woman who climbs her way up the social totem pole despite coming from a small village.

• Jung Sang-hoon as Ahn Jae-suk

Youngest son of Ahn Tae-dong and also Ah-jin's cheating husband.

• Lee Tae-im as Yoon Sung-hee

Ji-hoo's sexy art teacher who is overwhelmed with greed for fame and honor. She betrays Ah-jin who helped her into the art world and cheats with her husband Jae-suk.

• Lee Ki-woo as Kang Ki-ho

A coma patient turned lawyer. He had feeling toward Ah-jin and willing to help her either with her father-in-law's business or her divorce process

Supporting

People around Ah-jin

• Yoo Seo-jin as Cha Ki-ok
• Lee Hee-jin as Kim Hyo-joo
• Jung Da-hye as Oh Kyung-hee
• Oh Yeon-ah as Baek Joo-kyung
• Moon Hee-kyung as Mrs. Geum, Ah-Jin's mother
• Choi Yoon-so as Heo Jin-hee, Ah-jin's assistant

People around Jae-suk

• Kim Yong-gun as Ahn Tae-dong, Jae-suk's father
• Seo Jeong-yeon as Park Joo-mi, Ahn Jae-goo's wife
• Han Jae-young as Ahn Jae-goo, Jae-suk's brother
• Oh Na-ra as Ahn Jae-hee, Jae-suk's sister
• Yoon Sa-bong as Yoon-su,
• Lee Chae-mi as Ahn Ji-hoo, Ah-jin and Jae-suk's daughter
• Lee Geon-woo as Ahn Woon-kyu, Park Joo-mi and Ahn Jae-goo's son

Extended

• Song Young-gyu as Jang Sung-soo, a plastic surgeon
• Kim Bub-rae as Seo Moon-tak, who owns a hotel group
• Chae Dong-hyun as Kim Bong-shik, Kyung Hee's husband
• Hwang Hyo-eun as Chun Bang-soon, a friend of Park Bok-Ja
• Jo Sung-yoon as Goo Bong-chul, a personal trainer
• Lee Jung-eun as Gook Sun-young, Ki Ho's secretary
• Song Tae-yoon as Choi Ki-seok, Hyo-Joo's boyfriend
• Seo Kyung-hwa as Mrs. Jo, the housekeeper
• Yoon Ye-in as Kyung San-daek
• So Hee-jung as Oh Poong-sook, a restaurant owner
• Park Jin-woo as Mr. Park, Head of Department
• Lee Young-hoon as Mr. Kim, the lawyer
• Lee Kan-hee as Madam Kwak
• Kim Sun-bin as Han Min-ki
• Baek Seung-hoon as Bodyguard
• Baek Bo-ram as Se-hee
• Jeon Soo-kyeong as Director Seo
• Jun Hun-tae as Detective Lee
• Park Hoon

Special appearances

• Ryu Seung-soo as Ah-jin's father
• Jung Yu-mi as Client (Episode 6)
• Yoon So-yi as Fishmonger (Episode 20)

Original soundtrack

The Lady in Dignity OST
Soundtrack album by Various artists
Released	2017
Genre	Soundtrack
Language	Korean, English
Label	Poong Entertainment Warner Music Korea Ltd.

Part 1

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"When the Cold Wind Blows" (찬바람이 불면)	E-QLO	E-QLO B.O.K	Ivy	04:57
2.	"When the Cold Wind Blows" (Inst.)		E-QLO B.O.K		04:57
Total length:					09:54

Part 2

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Fly with the Wind" (돌려놔)	Kun-yo	Kun-yo Yudam Lee Won-suk Lee Seong-hyun	Navi, Lina	03:37
2.	"Fly with the Wind" (Inst.)		Kun-yo Yudam Lee Won-suk Lee Seong-hyun		03:37
Total length:					07:14

Part 3

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Only Love You" (너만 사랑하다가)	Han Sang-won The Brothers	Han Sang-won	The Brothers	03:36
2.	"Only Love You" (Inst.)		Han Sang-won		03:36
Total length:					07:12

Part 4

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Don't Want To Believe" (믿고 싶지 않아)	Blueblack	Jion	Lee Si-eun	03:58
2.	"Don't Want To Believe" (Inst.)		Jion		03:58
Total length:					07:56

Part 5

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"I Miss You" (보고싶어)	Oh Sung-hwan Jung Young-a	Oh Sung-hwan Jung Young-a	Kim Seong-ri	03:46
2.	"I Miss You" (Inst.)		Oh Sung-hwan Jung Young-a		03:46
Total length:					07:32

Part 6

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Drunken Night (Drama ver.)" (보고싶어)	Norwegian Wood Kun-yo	Norwegian Wood Kang Seung-hyun Blue Mangtto Rubatov	Norwegian Wood	03:38
Total length:					03:38

Part 7

No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"Anything"	B.Heart	03:15
2.	"Anything" (Inst.)		03:15
Total length:			06:30

Part 8

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Why" (왜)	E-QLO B.O.K	E-QLO B.O.K	The NuTs	04:04
2.	"Why" (Inst.)		E-QLO B.O.K		04:04
Total length:					08:08

Part 9

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Anding"	E-QLO B.O.K Stephanie	E-QLO B.O.K Sui.Jay	Stephanie	03:49
2.	"Anding" (Inst.)		E-QLO B.O.K Sui.Jay		03:49
Total length:					07:38

Reception

The Lady in Dignity is one of JTBC's highest rated drama with a single episode rating of 12.065%.^[4] Culture critic Jung Duk-hyun says that the drama is not just a soap opera about couples' affairs, but a "social drama" where the two women's confrontation symbolizes the power and class structures of the society.^[5]

Due to its popularity, JTBC did a rerun of the series from October 2–6, 2017 with four-episode marathon per day starting from 7:00 (KST).^[6]

Ratings

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

Ep.	Original broadcast date	Title	Average audience share
			AGB Nielsen[7]		TNmS
			Nationwide	Seoul	Nationwide
1	June 16, 2017	A Life With a Great View (전망 종은 인생)	2.044%	2.435%	2.2%
2	June 17, 2017	Matisse & Kandinsky (마티스와 칸딘스키)	3.108%	3.126%	2.5%
3	June 23, 2017	Dangerous Gossip (위험한 가십)	2.871%	3.273%	2.8%
4	June 24, 2017	Choice and Secret (선택과 비밀)	3.285%	3.149%	3.8%
5	June 30, 2017	Greed, With Love (탐욕은 사랑을 타고)	3.609%	3.658%	2.6%
6	July 1, 2017	Night Before the Storm (폭풍전야)	4.518%	5.250%	3.5%
7	July 7, 2017	Triangle (드라이앵글)	4.091%	4.346%	2.4%
8	July 8, 2017	The Glass Ceiling and The Glass Floor (유리천장과 유리바닥)	5.795%	6.285%	5.9%
9	July 14, 2017	Prologue of War (전쟁의 서막)	5.010%	5.196%	4.2%
10	July 15, 2017	The Last Brunch (마지막 브런치)	6.899%	7.326%	7.6%
11	July 21, 2017	Twisted Fate (억갈린 운명)	8.476%	9.062%	8.0%
12	July 22, 2017	Charm of Mutual Benefit (상생의 묘미)	8.944%	9.493%	8.3%
13	July 28, 2017	Show Me the Money (쇼 미 더 머니)	6.773%	7.068%	6.0%
14	July 29, 2017	Timing (타이밍)	9.131%	9.575%	8.5%
15	August 4, 2017	The Suspects (용의자들)	7.398%	8.089%	6.6%
16	August 5, 2017	Unpredictable Future (예측불허)	9.986%	10.364%	9.9%
17	August 11, 2017	Just Like Her (그 녀 처럼)	8.430%	8.982%	7.7%
18	August 12, 2017	The Point of No Return (돌아올 수 없는 지점)	9.748%	10.250%	9.2%
19	August 18, 2017	Nobody Knows (아무도 모른다)	9.694%	9.953%	7.2%
20	August 19, 2017	Curtain Call (커튼콜)	12.065%	12.692%	10.9%
Average			6.594%	6.979%	6.0%

• 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	Ref.
2017	10th Korea Drama Awards	Excellence Award, Actor	Lee Ki-woo	Nominated
		Hot Star Award	Lee Tae-im	Won
	1st The Seoul Awards	Best Drama	The Lady in Dignity	Nominated	[8]
		Best Actress	Kim Hee-sun	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor	Jung Sang-hoon	Won
		Best Supporting Actress	Seo Jeong-yeon	Nominated
	2nd Asia Artist Awards	Grand Prize (Daesang)	Kim Hee-sun	Won
2018	54th Baeksang Arts Awards	Best Director	Kim Yoon-chul	Won	[9][10]
		Best Actress	Kim Hee-sun	Nominated
			Kim Sun-a	Nominated
		Best Screenplay	Baek Mi-kyung	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor	Jung Sang-hoon	Nominated

References

1. "The Lady in Dignity". JTBC Worldwide. Archived from the original on February 16, 2022. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
2. '품위있는그녀' 대본리딩 포착, 김희선-김선아 첫만남 어땠나. Newsen (in Korean). October 5, 2016.
3. "김희선X김선아 '품위녀', JTBC 편성 확정 [공식]". TV Report (in Korean). March 22, 2017.
4. "August 19, 2017 Nationwide Cable Ratings". Nielsen Korea. 1st (JTBC) 금토드라마(품위있는그녀) 12.065%
5. "Actress plays double-face in 'Woman of Dignity'". The Korea Times. 2017-06-20.
6. "Instagram post by <더 패키지> 매주 금•토 밤 11시! • Oct 1, 2017 at 12:51am UTC". Instagram. Archived from the original on 2021-12-25. Retrieved 2017-10-22.
7. "Nielsen Korea". AGB Nielsen Media Research (in Korean). Retrieved June 16, 2017.
8. '서울어워즈' 송강호·나문희·지성·박보영 주연상…·'박열'·'비숲' 대상[종합]. TV Report (in Korean). October 27, 2017.
9. "[2018 백상예술대상 종합] tvN '비밀의 숲'·영화 '1987' 대상 영예+3·4관왕". Osen (in Korean). May 4, 2018.
10. "제54회 백상예술대상, TV·영화 각 부문별 수상 후보자 공개". JTBC (in Korean). April 6, 2018.

External links

• Official website (in Korean)
• The Lady in Dignity at IMDb
• The Lady in Dignity at HanCinema