Lee Sun-bin and Kang Tae-oh present heart-fluttering laughter with their polar opposite charms even though they are different.

The production team of tvN‘s new Sat-Sun drama ‘Potato Research Institute’ (directed by Kang Il-soo and Shim Jae-hyun, written by Kim Ho-soo) released two character teaser videos on the 6th, featuring Kim Mi-kyung (played by Lee Sun-bin) and So Baek-ho (played by Kang Tae-oh), a cold-hearted maniac from Potato Research Institute ‘Official Madman’.‘Potato Research Institute’ is a healing comic romance that depicts the cold-hearted man Baek-ho appearing in front of Mi-kyung, for whom potatoes are her whole life, and swirling her around like a whirlwind of potatoes. It will contain a romance that involves the two contrasting men and women roasting, frying, and boiling each other as the backdrop of a potato research institute in a mountain valley. ‘Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung’, ‘Solomon’s Perjury’, director Kang Il-soo and writer Kim Ho-soo have teamed up for this project. Lee Sun-bin and Kang Tae-oh will play the male and female leads.

The two character teaser videos released by the production team raise curiosity with the unexpected charms of Kim Mi-kyung and So Baek-ho. First, Kim Mi-kyung, the passionate deputy manager of the potato research institute, catches the eye as she responds with an expert vibe, “Of course,” to the question, “Is there anyone who studies potatoes?” However, the unexpected researcher life that follows elicits laughter. “She‘s extremely professional, could anything be more perfect?” Contrary to her confident narration, “That’s me, a researcher!”, Kim Mi-kyung is working hard, going back and forth between being a researcher and a farmer.

The bold and easygoing Kim Mi-kyung may seem like a neighborhood slacker at first glance, but she‘s actually a 12-year veteran who’s been researching potatoes for 6 years. Kim Mi-kyung‘s hearty laughter, rough collar grabs, and ‘anger shouting’ added to the narration, “She’s so professional, she couldn‘t be more perfect,” make us even more curious about the daily life of ‘Official Dol-i Mi-kyung who stakes her life on potatoes’ who never gets a single day off. I wonder what kind of exciting changes So Baek-ho, the new research subject, will bring to Kim Mi-kyung’s monotonous daily life, who is all-in on potatoes.


The character teaser video of So Baek-ho, which was released together, adds to the laughter with its unexpected charm. As expected from the owner of a fatal charm that makes you think his MBTI is ‘SEXY’, So Baek-ho‘s daily life is perfect from head to toe. He has a bright smile that reminds you of your first love, but in reality, he is a heartless capitalist grim reaper and a man of principle. So Baek-ho’s puzzled face when he discovers the potato research lab at the very bottom of the organization chart of Seonnyeo Foods, and then he asks, “Potato research lab? A company pursues profit, and I don‘t think it has an obligation to take responsibility for people who do not help that goal... ” The meaningful words hint at the storm that will hit the Potato Research Institute.

However, the warning that he will clean up useless things at any time is meaningless, and the ‘Soul Threshing’ initiation ceremony where he is dragged here and there and rolls around the potato field foreshadows a turbulent entry into the Potato Research Institute. At the Potato Research Institute where principles do not apply, So Baek-ho meets the unpredictable variable Kim Mi-kyung, and attention is focused on whether he will be able to keep his promise that “I will never break the principles” and what kind of storm So Baek-ho, a ‘principled person colder than an iced Americano’, will bring.

‘Potato Research Institute’ will first air at 9:20 p.m. on March 1.

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

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