Prime Minister & I[1] (Korean총리와 나; RRChongriwa Na; lit. Prime Minister and I) is a 2013 South Korean television drama starring Im Yoon-ah, Lee Beom-soo, Yoon Shi-yoon, Chae Jung-an and Ryu Jin.[2][3] It aired on KBS2 from December 9, 2013 to February 4, 2014 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 22:00 for 17 episodes.[4]

Prime Minister & I
Promotional poster
Also known asPrime Minister is Dating
GenreComedy
Romance
Drama
Written byKim Eun-hee
Yoon Eun-kyung
Directed byLee So-yeon
StarringIm Yoon-ah
Lee Beom-soo
Yoon Shi-yoon
Chae Jung-an
Ryu Jin
Theme music composerNoh Young-shim
Country of originSouth Korea
Original languageKorean
No. of episodes17
Production
Executive producerKim Hyeong-il
ProducerPark Man-young
Production locationSouth Korea
Camera setupMultiple-camera setup
Running time60 minutes on Mondays and Tuesdays at 22:00 (KST)
Production companySM Culture & Contents
Original release
NetworkKBS2
ReleaseDecember 9, 2013 (2013-12-09) –
February 4, 2014 (2014-02-04)
Korean name
Hangul
총리와 나
Hanja
總理와 나
Revised RomanizationChongriwa Na
McCune–ReischauerCh'ongniwa Na

Plot

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At 42 years old, Kwon Yul (Lee Beom-soo) is South Korea's youngest prime minister ever. On top of his reputation as an honest man of the utmost integrity, he's also a widower as his wife died in a car accident 7 years ago and raises his three children alone. But what the public doesn't know is that despite his perfect image, Yul is actually a struggling father devoid of even the most basic of parenting skills. Nam Da-jung (Im Yoon-ah) is a journalist from Scandal News who resorts to writing for a trashy tabloid to support her ailing father, but when she chases Prime Minister Kwon for a lucrative exposé, she ends up scooping a whole lot more than she bargained for and the two ended up in a contract marriage and later on fell in love with each other.[5]

Cast

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Main characters

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Nam Da-jung is a 28-year-old tabloid reporter. She has been working for her paper for three years, and is in charge of covering romance scandals. She is actually a very clumsy woman, constantly making mistakes and embarrassing herself. She once dreamed of becoming a novelist like Jane Austen; however, in a society where one cannot make money out of "arts and culture," becoming an author is a distant dream for her. In the end, she ends up using her writing and editing skills, as well as her photographer's eye to become a reporter for Scandal News. Because of her Alzheimer's-afflicted father's extended stay in a nursing home, she has to work tirelessly to support him. For the sake of achieving "the next big scoop," she follows Kwon Yul day and night in an attempt to score an exclusive.[10]

Kwon Yul, 42 years old, is Korea's youngest Prime Minister. Yul is a widower who lost his wife in a car accident seven years ago and is now raising his three children alone. He has a reputation of being an honest man with high integrity, but at home, Yul has a troubled relationship with his children, and has a tactless mouth that phrases nice things into horrible words. He is a world-renowned leader, yet at the same time, he cannot even cook a bowl of noodles.[10]

Kang In-ho, 32 years old, is the new Chief of Staff in the Prime Minister's office. He speaks at least four other languages other than his native tongue of Korean - those languages include Chinese, Japanese, English, and Spanish. Ever since the first time he had met Nam Da-jung, he found her unique and interesting. However, when she started pestering Kwon Yul to marry her, In-ho began to perceive Da-jung as just another woman who wants to get close to the Prime Minister, and despised her greatly. Later on, when he got to know the reason behind Da-jung's actions, he regrets misunderstanding her. Deciding that he doesn't want to have any more regrets in life, he falls further in love with her. He just wants to prove to Da-jung that when he said he would protect her, he truly meant it.[10]

Seo Hye-joo, 35 years old, was Kwon Yul's hubae from university and is the staffer closest to him. She has also been his secretary and confidant since his assemblyman days. Calmer than anyone, she is a decisive and smart woman, but a fool when it comes to love. In college, she fell in love with Yul at first sight, but never disclosed her affection for him. She continued to hide her feelings as they worked together, and is satisfied with just being able to always stay beside Yul. Until one day, Nam Da-jung appears in their lives and puts herself on a path that Hye-joo has never crossed. This drives her mad.[10]

Park Joon-ki, 42 years old, Minister of Strategy and Finance, is Kwon Yul's brother-in-law and political opponent. He is a man full of confidence and ambition, and is currently in a political marriage with Na Yoon-hee. He works hard for his career, and awaits his time to shine. During his university years, he and Yul were very good friends, but their friendship ended when he found out that his first love, Seo Hye-joo, was in love with Yul. He assumed that his sister Na-young's death was due to the weariness caused by her husband, and thus cannot forgive Yul. His only ambition is to win against Kwon Yul in every field.[10]

Supporting characters

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  • Choi Soo-han as Kwon Woo-ri

Kwon Woo-ri, 15 years old, is the eldest of Kwon Yul's children. Woo-ri is in his first year of high school.

Kwon Na-ra, 12 years old, is the second child and only daughter of Kwon Yul. Na-ra is a sixth grader in middle school.

  • Lee Do-hyun as Kwon Man-se

Kwon Man-se, 7 years old, is the youngest child and son of Kwon Yul. Man-se has just recently started primary school as a first grader.

Soundtrack

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Noh Young-shim was the music director and theme music composer of the drama series. "Footsteps," the first track to be previewed on the series at the end of its third episode, was composed and arranged by Kim Jung-bae with the vocals by Taemin of the K-pop boyband Shinee. A representative from the drama's production company said that the song "complements the snow fall of winter" and is "set to make the drama warmer." [15][16]

Ratings

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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[17] AGB Nielsen[18]
Nationwide Seoul National Capital Area Nationwide Seoul National Capital Area
1 December 9, 2013 5.4% 5.8% 5.9% 5.4%
2 December 10, 2013 5.0% 5.9% 5.4% 5.0%
3 December 16, 2013 5.5% 6.1% 7.3% 7.4%
4 December 17, 2013 5.8% 6.4% 6.5% 7.0%
5 December 23, 2013 6.0% 6.1% 5.9% 5.5%
6 December 24, 2013 5.5% 5.9% 5.7% 5.4%
7 December 30, 2013 9.0% 10.6% 11.9% 10.9%
8 January 6, 2014 6.0% 6.1% 7.3% 8.3%
9 January 7, 2014 7.3% 8.3% 7.3% 8.0%
10 January 13, 2014 6.7% 7.0% 9.9% 9.1%
11 January 14, 2014 8.6% 7.3% 9.5% 8.7%
12 January 20, 2014 6.2% 6.5% 6.1% 6.2%
13 January 21, 2014 5.5% 5.6% 6.0% 6.3%
14 January 27, 2014 5.8% 6.7% 5.5% 6.3%
15 January 28, 2014 5.8% 6.1% 6.1% 6.3%
16 February 3, 2014 5.7% 5.8% 4.9% 5.6%
17 February 4, 2014 5.9% 6.3% 6.1% 6.1%
Average 6.2% 6.6% 6.9% 6.9%

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Recipient Result
2013 27th KBS Drama Awards Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries Lee Beom-soo Nominated
Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries Im Yoon-ah Won
Best Couple Award Lee Beom-soo and Im Yoon-ah Won
2014 16th Seoul International Youth Film Festival Best Young Actress Im Yoon-ah Nominated

International broadcast

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  •   Philippines - It was aired on GMA Network on Mondays to Fridays from December 15, 2014 to February 13, 2015, with replays on GMA News TV from February 6 to March 10, 2017.
  •   Thailand - It was aired on PPTV on Mondays to Fridays on July 14, 2014.[19]
  •   Indonesia - It was aired on RTV on Mondays to Fridays from June 15, 2015 to July 7, 2015.

Notes

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  1. ^ Credited as Lee Min-ho.

References

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  1. ^ "Prime Minister & I". KBS World. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  2. ^ "Lee Beom-soo and Yoon A To Co-Star in New KBS Drama Premier and I". KBS Global. 24 October 2013. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
  3. ^ Oh, Jean (4 December 2013). "Korea's sweetheart goes for the big laugh". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
  4. ^ Lee, Cory (31 December 2013). "Prime Minister & I Confirms to Air 1 More Episode". TenAsia. Archived from the original on 26 January 2014. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
  5. ^ Hong, Grace Danbi (5 November 2013). "Prime Minister and I Kicks Off with First Script Reading". enewsWorld. Archived from the original on 7 December 2013. Retrieved 2013-12-10.
  6. ^ Lee, Sun-min (12 September 2013). "Yoona offered lead role on KBS drama". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2013-12-10.
  7. ^ Choi, Eun-hwa (21 October 2013). "SNSD's Yoona Confirms New Drama with Lee Bum Soo". enewsWorld. Archived from the original on 4 December 2013. Retrieved 2013-12-10.
  8. ^ Lee, Cory (15 November 2013). "Girls' Generation YoonA Turns Paparazzi for New TV Series". TenAsia. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 2013-12-10.
  9. ^ "K-pop stars make foray into small screen". The Korea Times. 1 January 2014. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
  10. ^ a b c d e 등장인물 > 드라마소개 > 총리와 나 > 드라마 >. KBS (in Korean). Retrieved 2013-12-10.
  11. ^ Park, Ah-reum (4 December 2013). "Lee Bum Soo is Embarrassed to Talk About Kiss Scenes With SNSD's Yoona". enewsWorld. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
  12. ^ Jeon, Su-mi (23 October 2013). "Yoon Shi Yoon Joins SNSD's Yoona for Prime Minister and I". enewsWorld. Archived from the original on 9 December 2013. Retrieved 2013-12-10.
  13. ^ Lee, Cory. "Yoon Si-yoon, Chae Jung-an Join YoonA's New Drama". TenAsia. Archived from the original on 2013-11-27. Retrieved 2013-12-10.
  14. ^ Choi, Eun-hwa (13 January 2014). "EXO's Su Ho to Cameo in Prime Minister and I". enewsWorld. Archived from the original on 30 December 2014. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
  15. ^ Hong, Grace Danbi (18 December 2013). "SHINee's Taemin Sings for Prime Minister and I OST". enewsWorld. Archived from the original on 19 February 2014. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
  16. ^ Lee, Cory (19 December 2013). "SHINee Taemin Lends Voice to Prime Minister & I". TenAsia. Archived from the original on 20 December 2013. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
  17. ^ "TNMS Daily Ratings: this links to current day-select the date from drop down menu". TNMS Ratings (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2013-11-28. Retrieved 2013-12-09.
  18. ^ "AGB Daily Ratings: this links to current day-select the date from drop down menu". AGB Nielsen Media Research (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2013-12-26. Retrieved 2013-12-09.
  19. ^ "Prime Minister and I รักวุ่นวายกับคุณชายนายก เริ่ม 14 กค". PPTV (in Thai). 15 August 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
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