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| ▲ This photo, provided by Netflix, shows Kim Seong-hun, the director of the "Kingdom" series and "Kingdom: Ashin of the North." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This photo. provided by Netflix, shows a scene from "Kingdom: Ashin of the North" starring actress Jun Ji-hyun. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This photo provided by Netflix shows actress Jun Ji-hyun. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, July 28 (Yonhap) -- Netflix's popular original Korean series "Kingdom" is back with a 92 minute special episode after a year-long hiatus.
During a video interview with Yonhap News Agency on Wednesday, Kim Seong-hun, the director of the special episode "Kingdom: Ashin of the North, said, "We tried our best to capture the most details we could in every minute of every scene. It took great consideration to decide what to present in each scene."
The spin-off episode of the widely popular "Kingdom" series, answers the question of the resurrection plant or "saengsacho" in Korean, which started the mysterious plague. In addition, when it was revealed that the backstory of Ashin, a descendant of a tribe in a northern border town and played by top Hallyu actress Jun Ji-hyun, would be unraveled, the episode drew more attention even before its release.
"We tried to express the story in depth and symbolically than the existing Kingdom series," said director Kim, who previously praised screenwriter Kim Eun-hee for writing a perfect screenplay for "Kingdom: Ashin of the North. "We focused on the texture and color of the screen, but I'm not sure if this effort was accurately delivered to the viewers."
Having worked with writer Kim Eun-hee for the third time after directing the first two seasons of "Kingdom," director Kim said, "The reason why I decided to work on 'Kingdom' together with Kim is because I had confidence in her writing and trust in her attitude. In particular, we share the same opinion on the future direction of 'Kingdom.'"
As for actress Jun Ji-hyun, who director Kim was able to work with through "Kingdom: Ashin of the North," he said, "The first scene with Jun alone proved why she has been recognized as a top actress in Asia for more than 20 years." Jun also said to have been very satisfied with the episode.
"This episode is about Ashin as a warrior," the actress said. "The first part of the episode needed to portray the life Ashin has been living in order to justify her tremendous anger and behavior shown at the end."
Jun didn't hesitate to praise actress Kim Shi-A, who plays Ashin's younger self in the episode, saying, "I thought the weight of emotions that needed to be delivered on screen would not be easy to handle, however Kim's performance in her audition stood out. I remember thinking Kim's talent was no different from that of an adult actress."
Director Kim, who has directed films such as "A Hard Day" (2014) and "Tunnel" (2016), has been in charge of the "Kingdom" series ever since he directed the first season in 2019.
Regarding the popularity of "Kingdom" around the world, Kim said, "It felt most rewarding to me when I was able to deliver the colors and beauty of Korean culture such as the 'Gat' (a Korean traditional hat worn by men) and Gyeongbokgung Palace to people all over the world through this work."
Kim added, "I went to Morocco once to film another work, and I was thankful that many people had watched 'Kingdom' and treated me favorably too."
"There were definitely times when I was concerned about having to produce numerous works of the same series one after the other," director Kim said. "I don't want to be tied to one idea when I feel the story line is too repetitive."
However, Kim expressed his expectations for the next season of "Kingdom," saying, "It felt like home when I was filming 'Kingdom: Ashin of the North,' and I learned that stretching out to other branches from existing stems could be a new challenge."
"It's hard to say for sure whether the next season for 'Kingdom' will be made, but it's true that I worked together with writer Kim Eun-hee in private."
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