Miss Korea (TV series)

Miss Korea (Korean: 미스코리아) is a South Korean television series starring Lee Sun-kyun, Lee Yeon-hee, Lee Mi-sook, Lee Sung-min, Song Seon-mi, and Lee Ki-woo.^[2] It aired for 20 episodes on MBC from December 18, 2013, to February 26, 2014.^[3][4]

Miss Korea
Promotional poster for Miss Korea
Genre	Romance Drama Life Comedy
Written by	Seo Sook-hyang
Directed by	Kwon Seok-jang
Starring	Lee Yeon-hee Lee Sun-kyun
Composer	Every Single Day[1]
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	20
Production
Executive producer	Kim Sang-ho
Producer	Kim Ho-young
Running time	59 minutes
Production company	S.M. C&C
Original release
Network	Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation
Release	December 18, 2013 (2013-12-18) – February 26, 2014 (2014-02-26)

Plot

Set in the year 1997, a cosmetics company is in bad financial shape during the IMF crisis, so to save the company, Hyung-joon along with his fellow employees attempt to make 25-year-old Ji-young into Miss Korea, a nationwide beauty pageant winner. Back in their high school days, Ji-young was the most beautiful and popular girl on campus, but she now works as an elevator girl.

Cast

Main

• Lee Yeon-hee as Oh Ji-young^[5][6]

25 years old, "Dream" department store's elevator girl. She was Kim Hyung-joon's junior in high school and his first love.

• Lee Sun-kyun as Kim Hyung-joon^[7]

29 years old, president of ViVi cosmetics, who has huge debt to loan sharks (for his cosmetics factory) and additionally needs money to launch a new developed product of his company - BB cream.

• Lee Mi-sook as Ma Ae-ri

54 years old, ex-Miss Korea, owner of Queen Beauty Salon, coach of future Miss Korea.

• Lee Sung-min as Jung Seon-saeng

39 years old, gangster working for a loan shark. He is assigned to Kim Hyung-joon to ensure collecting debt from him. His given name (Seon-saeng) means teacher in Korean. Because of that, his full name sounds like family name with title (teacher Jung).

• Song Seon-mi as Go Hwa-jung

31 years old, chief researcher of ViVi cosmetics.

• Lee Ki-woo as Lee Yoon^[8]

29 years old, investment agent of M&A company Human Partners Korea. He was Kim Hyung-joon's classmate in high school.

Supporting

Queen Beauty Salon

• Ko Sung-hee as Kim Jae-hee, Miss Korea candidate, coached by Queen Beauty Salon. Daughter of congressman Kim Sung-chul.
• Heo Seung-jae as Yoon Sil-jang, Ma Ae-ri's assistant
• Park Guk-sun as Choi Soo-yeon, Miss Korea candidate, coached by Queen Beauty Salon.
• Kang Tae-oh as Ma Ae-ri's son

Cherry Beauty Salon

• Hong Ji-min as Yang Choon-ja, owner of Cherry Beauty Salon. Ma Ae-ri's ex-assistant who become her rival.
• Kang Han-na as Im Seon-joo, Miss Korea candidate, coached by Cherry Beauty Salon.
• Ha Yeon-joo as Shin Sun-young, Miss Korea candidate, coached by Cherry Beauty Salon.

ViVi Cosmetics

• Oh Jung-se as Kim Heung-sam,^[9] planning director of ViVi cosmetics
• Choi Jae-hwan as Kim Kang-woo, researcher of ViVi cosmetics
• Jo Sang-ki as Kim Kang-shik, director of BaDa cosmetics, Kim Kang-woo's older brother

Oh Ji-young's family

• Jang Yong as Oh Jong-goo, Oh Ji-young's grandfather
• Jung Kyu-soo as Oh Myun-sang, Oh Ji-young's father
• Jung Suk-yong as Oh Woong-sang, Oh Ji-young's uncle
• Baek Bong-ki as Oh Ji-seok, Oh Ji-young's brother

"Dream" department store

• Jang Won-young as Department head Park
• Yoo Eun-ho as Jung Eun-ah, "Dream" department store elevator girl
• Kim Ye-won as Lee Young-sun, "Dream" department store elevator girl
• Park Ha-na as Han So-jin, "Dream" department store elevator girl
• Moon Ji-in as Kim Yoo-ra, "Dream" department store elevator girl

Others

• Go In-beom as congressman Kim Sung-chul, Kim Jae-hee's father
• Im Ye-jin as Go Bong-hee, Kim Hyung-joon's mother
• Jung Seung-kil as President Hwang, loan shark
• Oh Min-ae as Director Choi
• Jung So-min as gas station attendant whom Ma Ae-ri targets to become Miss Korea 1998 (cameo, ep 20)^[10]

Ratings

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

Episode #	Original broadcast date	Average audience share
		TNmS Ratings[11]		AGB Nielsen[12]
		Nationwide	Seoul National Capital Area	Nationwide	Seoul National Capital Area
1	December 18, 2013	7.6%	8.7%	7.0%	8.0%
2	December 19, 2013	7.1%	9.5%	7.3%	8.4%
3	December 25, 2013	8.2%	10.6%	7.7%	8.1%
4	December 26, 2013	8.1%	9.9%	7.7%	8.5%
5	January 1, 2014	8.1%	8.9%	9.5%	10.8%
6	January 2, 2014	8.3%	10.2%	8.9%	9.6%
7	January 8, 2014	6.9%	7.6%	7.4%	8.4%
8	January 9, 2014	8.5%	11.0%	8.5%	9.4%
9	January 15, 2014	6.8%	7.9%	6.8%	7.7%
10	January 16, 2014	7.9%	9.8%	7.1%	7.6%
11	January 22, 2014	7.3%	9.0%	7.1%	7.2%
12	January 23, 2014	8.6%	8.6%	6.7%	7.5%
13	January 29, 2014	5.6%	6.5%	5.9%	6.8%
14	January 30, 2014	8.9%	9.8%	8.6%	10.0%
15	February 5, 2014	6.4%	7.4%	6.8%	7.8%
16	February 6, 2014	7.5%	8.2%	7.3%	8.2%
17	February 13, 2014	5.7%	6.2%	4.8%	4.9%
18	February 19, 2014	6.8%	7.9%	7.0%	8.6%
19	February 20, 2014	5.8%	7.0%	5.9%	7.3%
20	February 26, 2014	5.5%	5.6%	6.2%	7.0%
Average		7.2%	8.4%	7.2%	8.1%

Original soundtrack

Miss Korea Original Sound Track
Soundtrack album by Various Artists
Released	February 14, 2014
Genre	Pop, K-pop, soundtrack, R&B
Label	KT Music SM Entertainment

No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"Moonlight"	Onew	3:45
2.	"Take My Hands"	Every Single Day	2:46
3.	"Hero"	J-Min	3:04
4.	"New World"	Every Single Day	4:19
5.	"그럴 수 있잖아 (It's Just Me)" (It Happens (It's Just Me))	Oksang Dalbit
6.	"Heartbreaker"	Bada Kim feat. Every Single Day	2:46
7.	"Street of Angels"	Every Single Day	4:17
8.	"Boss Jung Sonatine"	Various Artists
9.	"Cynical View"	Various Artists
10.	"Drum Tension"	Various Artists
11.	"El Topo"	Various Artists
12.	"Hero Strings"	Various Artists
13.	"Ironic Waltz"	Various Artists
14.	"Long Live the Queen"	Various Artists
15.	"Nostalgia"	Various Artists
16.	"Pure Desire"	Various Artists
17.	"Transience of Life"	Various Artists
18.	"Wait Alone"	Various Artists
19.	"Warning"	Various Artists

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Recipient	Result
2014	7th Korea Drama Awards	Best New Actress	Ko Sung-hee	Nominated
	MBC Drama Awards	Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries	Lee Yeon-hee	Nominated
		Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries	Lee Sun-kyun	Nominated
		Golden Acting Award, Actress	Lee Mi-sook	Won
		Best New Actress	Ko Sung-hee	Won

See also

• Miss Korea