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Pierce Conran

Lead cast: Kim Ji-eun, Bae In-hyuk, Kim Min-jung
Latest Nielsen rating: 2.7 per cent
Kim Ji-eun (One Dollar Lawyer) suits up as a man to score an internship at the premier inn of the Joseon Kingdom. Joining her among the new recruits is Bae In-hyuk (The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract), as a prince also in disguise.
Kim plays a young woman parading as “Hong Deok-soo”. We first meet “him” in a gambling den where she compels the man across the table who is losing to her to throw a rare red pass into the pot – an entry ticket to an internship at the famed Yongcheonru guest house.


She wins the hand but winds up in a chase anyway. Unfortunately for her, during her escape she bumps into Prince Lee Eun (Bae), whose stubborn sense of righteousness compels him to tear up the golden ticket in front of her eyes.
But Deok-soo forges a new pass and manages to enter Yongcheonru. Lee Eun also becomes an intern using a false identity.
Unbeknown to them, the reasons they have entered the guest house are connected. This has to do with a special brass key, half of which is tied to a necklace around Deok-soo’s neck.
Lee Eun is searching for the other half of the key, which is in the possession of Yongcheonru. The key opens a box containing a secret ledger that can prove who the real king is.
Lee Eun’s father was installed as a puppet king, and since Yongcheonru knows his secret, it blackmails him to do its bidding. Lee Eun plans to put a stop to this by finding the key.

Deok-soo is after Seoul Mae-hwa (Kim Min-jung, The Devil Judge), the general manager of Yongcheonru, who killed her father when she was just a child. Now she is back for revenge.
Deok-soo and Lee Eun are forced to bunk with two others – the conceited Cheon Jun-hwa (Jung Gun-joo), who is also not quite who he appears to be, and Ko Su-ra (Jae Chan), who aims to save his struggling family.
Together, the members of this unlikely quartet tackle the gruelling demands of their internship and butt heads with other interns who mistakenly believe themselves to be of a higher station.
Yongcheonru is designed to be a meritocracy, where only skill and dedication will allow one to rise to the top. Many interns are likely to learn this lesson the hard way.

Whether to satisfy the whims of viewers or to reflect the realities of society, Korean dramas tend to be structured around rigid narrative conventions. You need only watch a few to begin recognising familiar tropes.
Some are fairly innocuous – a healing midseason trip to the countryside, say. Others can be strangely specific, like the cross-dressing female lead trope commonly seen in period dramas.
This has long been a popular trope, fuelling hit dramas from Sungkyunkwan Scandal and Empress Yi all the way to The King’s Affection, Knight Flower and now Check-in Hanyang.
The irony is that this trope exists precisely because Korea has long been a conservative nation. During the staunchly patriarchal era of Joseon dynastic rule (1392-1897), opportunities for women’s social advancement were limited. Various schools, establishments and professions were closed to them.

Given the popularity of period dramas and since women make up the majority of K-drama viewers, it has become imperative to find new scenarios for female characters.
Check-in Hanyang does so, while also following several K-drama conventions – the royal prince hiding his identity, the power games surrounding the throne, and the high-end hotel drama, a trope usually reserved for series set in the present.
Set in immaculately landscaped grounds that could rival those of the royal palace down the road, Yongcheonru welcomes foreign dignitaries, wealthy merchants and anyone with enough coin to luxuriate in its top-of-the-line facilities and enjoy its services, which include fine dining and a spa.
Check-in Hanyang is not a fantasy series, but it may as well be given how unlikely an establishment such as Yongcheonru would have been during the Joseon era.

Then again, rather than striving for historical authenticity, the show is trying to align itself with another popular K-drama genre – the hotel drama, which includes popular shows like Hotel del Luna, King the Land and Curtain Call.
It may sound like an overstuffed pot, but so far the show has been reasonably successful in balancing these ingredients, with a plot that moves along at a steady pace. However, our stay at Yongcheonru has only just begun and long-term guests tend to be the hardest to satisfy.
Check-in Hanyang is streaming on Netflix.


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Kim Ji-eun masquerades as a male hotel intern, Hong Deok-soo, in a still from Netflix Korean period drama series Check-in Hanyang.

Bae In-hyuk as Prince Lee Eun in a still from Check-in Hanyang.

Jung Gun-joo as intern Cheon Jun-hwa in a still from Check-in Hanyang.

Jae Chan as intern Ko Su-ra in a still from Check-in Hanyang.

Kim Ji-eun as a young woman masquerading as the male “Hong Deok-soo” in a still from Check-in Hanyang.

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Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun, winner of the previous squid game, in a still from Squid Game season 2. The K-drama is among our pick of six coming to screens in December 2024. Photo: Netflix

Lee Byung-hun as Front Man, the master of the games, in a still from Squid Game season 2. Photo: Netflix

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Yang Dong-geun (left) as Park Yong-sik and Kang Ae-sim as Jang Geum-ja in a still from Squid Game season 2. Photo: No Ju-han/Netflix.

Lee Byung-hun as Front Man in a still from Squid Game season 2. Photo: No Ju-han/Netflix.

Choi Seung-hyun as Thanos in a still from Squid Game season 2. Photo: No Ju-han/Netflix.

Ju Ji-hoon in a still from Light Shop. Photo: Disney+.

Ju Ji-hoon in a still from Korean drama series Light Shop, created by Kang Full. Park Bo-young, Kim Min-ha and Bae Sung-woo co-star. Photo: Disney+.

Park Bo-young as hospital nurse Kwon Young-ji in a still from Light Shop. Photo: Disney+.

Kim Seol-hyun (left) as Lee Ji-young yanks stitches through the chest of Uhm Tae-goo, as her partner Kim Hyun-min, in a still from Light Shop. Photo: Disney+.

Lee Jung-eun (left) as Jung Yu-hee and Shin Eun-soo as her daughter Joo Hyun-joo in a still from Light Shop. Photo: Disney+.

Ju Ji-hoon as Jung Won-young, proprietor of the titular light shop, in a still from Light Shop. Photo: Disney+.

Lee Jung-jae in a still from Squid Game season 2, the most anticipated Netflix series of the year and the best K-drama show of 2024. Photo: No Ju-han/Netflix

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Neither lead character is who they appear to be in this tale set in the past but tapping themes usually seen in contemporary dramas


Neither lead character is who they appear to be in this tale set in the past but tapping themes usually seen in contemporary dramas.
