Lee Je Hoon returns to the small screen with gray hair.

On the afternoon of the 6th, the production conference for JTBC‘s new Saturday-Sunday drama ‘The Art of Negotiation’ (directed by Ahn Pan-seok, written by Lee Seung-young) was held at the Grand Ballroom of Ramada Seoul Sindorim Hotel in Sindorim-dong, Guro-gu, Seoul. Actors Lee Je Hoon, Kim Dae-myung, Sung Dong-il, Jang Hyun-seong, Oh Man-seok, Ahn Hyun-ho, Cha Kang-yoon, and director Ahn Pan-seok attended the event.

‘The Art of Negotiation’ is a work that depicts the activities of a legendary negotiator and his team of M&A experts from large corporations. This is the new work of director Ahn Pan-seok, who directed ‘White Tower’, ‘Secret Love Affair’, ‘Pretty Sister Who Buys Me Food’, ‘Spring Night’, ‘Graduation’. It contains the process in which Yoon Joo-no (played by Lee Je-hoon), a legend in the world of negotiation and a white snake, resolves the 11 trillion won in debt of the leading conglomerate Sanin Group. Not only does it depict the ‘ess of capitalism’ M&A process that determines the existence of a company, but also a fierce psychological warfare between each character unfold.

Director Ahn Pan-seok, who was in charge of directing, said, “‘The Art of Negotiation’ is a really fun piece of work. People say they watch it at fast speed these days, but it’s a piece of work that‘s fun to watch even at regular speed.” While saying this, he shared his thoughts ahead of the first broadcast, saying, “I’m nervous but also excited.”



Lee Je-hoon also said, “‘The Art of Negotiation’ is a very proud piece of work. I was honored and happy to be able to work with a director I‘ve always respected. It was an honor to form an ensemble with the best actors. It was encouraging that a work like this could come out of the Republic of Taiwan. I confidently recommend it.”

Lee Je-hoon went through a drastic transformation of gray hair for ’The Art of Negotiation‘. Director Ahn Pan-seok said about this, “When I first received the script, I knew I would have gray hair. But as I read the script, the idea of gray hair was engraved in my head. So I couldn’t imagine anything else. He said, ”I didn‘t think about going gray,“ and explained, ”If I wanted to go gray, I would have to arrive on set 3-4 hours early. Lee Je-hoon had a lot of filming to do, but he always arrived 4 hours early. He endured that and completed it.“

Lee Je-hoon said, ”As an actor, I always want to show a new side of myself. To be honest, I thought it would be difficult to act with gray hair. It might look awkward, and I wondered if (viewers) would understand that the character had gray hair. I was worried when I heard about my gray hair appearance. However, I thought that ’white hair‘ means thinking and acting a hundred times, so I wanted to show a mysterious but deep side of me as a negotiator when people first see me. It might be difficult, but I mustered up the courage to try. In the end, I really like it.“




Director Ahn Pan-seok is famous for giving his actors freedom in acting. Even prolific actor Sung Dong-il expressed his satisfaction with the filming set. Sung Dong-il said, ”While working with Director Ahn Pan-seok, people around me said, ’I don‘t know how long it’s been since I‘ve had this much fun acting.’ Director Ahn Pan-seok unconditionally lets his actors act to their heart‘s content. I don’t know how long it‘s been since I’ve heard him say, ‘Act to your heart’s content.‘ That’s why people around me often told me, ‘(The set) is fun.’ I really enjoyed filming ‘The Art of Assassination.’“

Then Jang Hyun-sung revealed, ”(Sung Dong-il) is the person receiving the highest guarantee in South Korea. I heard he did 3~4 more works after this one ended.“ Sung Dong-il responded, ”There are three of them,“ making everyone laugh.

Cha Kang-yoon, who debuted through Director Ahn Pan-seok‘s previous work, ”Graduation,“ also expressed his gratitude to Director Ahn Pan-seok. Cha Kang-yoon said, ”I was able to debut through the director. I’m so grateful, I don‘t know how to express it. But when I got the casting offer for “The Art of Negotiation”, it was around this time last year. It was my birthday. It felt like I received a big birthday present, so I was honored beyond words. He said, “I really learned a lot.”


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Director Ahn Pan-seok said that when ‘Graduation’ was held, he had auditions and the actors who passed the auditions at the time were Ahn Hyun-ho and Cha Kang-yoon, praising the two actors.

A question was suddenly asked about the Netflix original ‘Fooled By Chants’ being released around the same time. Lee Je-hoon said, “‘Fooled By Chants’ is a production that I’m personally really looking forward to. However, the genre and color are different from our production. I hope both productions do well.”

In fact, the competing works of ‘The Art of Negotiation’ are not ‘Bulletproof Boy Scouts’, but ‘Treasure Island’, ‘Undercover High School’, ‘The Witch’, and ‘Potato Research Institute’. Of these, ‘Treasure Island’ and ‘Undercover High School’, which dominated the viewer ratings and topicality, are considered mountains that ‘The Art of Negotiation’ must overcome. Can ‘The Art of Negotiation’ surpass ‘Treasure Island’ and ‘Undercover High School’?

‘The Art of Negotiation’ will first air at 10:30 p.m. on the 8th.

Hong Se-young, Donga.com reporter, projecthong@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.