Lee Gyu-lee is a business writer at The Korea Times, focusing primarily on IT & telecommunications, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KOTRA. Prior to this, she has covered a wide range of cultural news, from film, television and K-pop to lifestyle and fashion.
Lee Sun-kyun, Moon Chae-won to deliver message of justice with 'Payback'
Actors Moon Chae-won, right, and Lee Sun-kyun, center, in a scene from SBS series “Payback." The series follows the two as they fight against a dark, corrupt financial cartel. Courtesy of SBS
By Lee Gyu-lee
By Lee Gyu-lee
SBS' new series, “Payback,” starring actors Lee Sun-kyun and Moon Chae-won, is delivering a fast-paced, action-packed good-beats-evil story.
“'Payback' is about a revenge story of (characters) fighting against the evils in this world,” series director Lee Won-tae said during an online press conference for the series, Friday.
“The important theme (of the series) is the corruption and injustice evident in society and human desire. When I got the script, I liked the energy the story had. It has different portrayals of people dealing with money and power. But most importantly, I thought we could offer a message that justice can win so I decided to lead it,” Lee said.
The series debut of the director, who previously led the thriller film, “The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil” (2019), unfolds the story of a private equity firm owner, Eun Yong (Lee Sun-kyun), and a military judicial officer, Park Joon-kyung (Moon), going against a dark, powerful financial cartel.
The first episode, which premiered on Friday, showed Yong's past and how he came to collect his wealth while living a nomadic life in Mongolia. Yong was a smart boy but as an adolescent, went to a juvenile detention center for trying to rob a bank. After he met Joon-kyung's mom, who took care of him like her own son, he became a part of Joon-kyung's family.
Trying to get himself out of the loan shark business with its powerful boss, Yong leaves Korea for Mongolia, remotely running a private equity firm so as to gain enormous wealth. When Joon-kyung calls for his help to find the truth behind the entangled corruption that led to her mother's suicide and take revenge, Yong comes back to Korea.
A scene from the series, “Payback" / Courtesy of SBS
The series, written by Kim Won-suk, who co-scripted the smash-hit series, “Descendants of the Sun,” kicked off with a good start ― an 8.7-percent viewership rating on Friday ― although the rating slightly slipped to 7.4 percent for Saturday's episode.
Lee Sun-kyun and Moon recalled that they both were hesitant to take the lead roles at first.
“It wasn't a type of genre I've done before. And I felt like I'm not the right fit to play a charismatic, serious character. But I liked that the script had energy and was fast-paced, and because it felt like it has such a powerful genre, I wanted to take a stab at it,” Lee said. “The biggest reason was the director. I had high hopes for the director, seeing how he has made such a powerful movie (with his previous work).”
Moon said that she took the role because of actor Lee. “I've never played this kind of role so I was hesitant to do it. But I've always dreamed of working with him. So the biggest reason I took the role is him,” she said.
“Because I've been wanting to do a project together with him, I was really happy throughout the filming. I understood why people praise him and felt I could learn a lot from him,” she said.
“Payback” airs on SBS Fridays and Saturdays at 10 p.m.