Yoon Hyun-soo, Lee Jeong-sik, Choi Woo-sung, Hong Hwa-yeon, Lee Bong-jun, and Kim Ji-woo jump into the election war that they must win.

Tving original ‘Running Mate’ (directed and written by Han Jin-won)is a cheerful high teen political drama about Noh Se-hoon(played by Yoon Hyun-soo), who becomes the butt of jokes for the entire school due to an unexpected incident, and runs towards being elected as vice president of the student body election, overcoming all kinds of tricks.The boiling desires and joys and sorrows of youth in the fierce high school student body election, as well as the friendship that shines amidst it all and the warm story of growth are expected to provide a unique entertainment.The production team has summarized the key points to watch.

● A unique high teen cheerful political drama from Tving, the ‘school drama hot spot’

According to the production team, Tving, which has had success with unique school dramas such as ‘After School War Activities’, ‘Pyramid Game’, and ‘Study Group’, will present a new ‘high teen political drama’ that puts the student council president election at the forefront.The complicated relationships, thrilling psychological warfare, and unpredictable sure-win strategies that do not choose the means and methods in the midst of an election war where you have to be crazy to win and win for real are expected to create a dopamine-explosive, cheerful high teen political drama.It is also drawing attention for colorfully unraveling the dark side of the election campaign from the perspective of teenagers.

Director Han Jin-won said, “Through the story of the joys and sorrows of an ordinary boy’s election campaign, I want to encourage some people to recall the past, others to reflect on the present, and others to have the courage to push forward into the future.” He added, “I hope that through these characters who go through ups and downs, people will discover ‘the other side of power,’ ‘selfishness and altruism,’ ‘respect and inferiority complex,’ ‘the expiration date of friendship,’ and ‘the courage to find oneself even in despair.’”

● Expectations are high for the first directorial work of Han Jin-won, co-writer of ‘Parasite’, which won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay

‘Running Mate’ is receiving a lot of attention as it is the first directorial work of Han Jin-won, who won the Oscar for Best Screenplay as a co-writer for ‘Parasite’.The roller coaster-like upheaval of Noh Se-hoon, who jumps into the student body president election where truth and lies are intertwined, is expected to elicit sympathy.

Director Han Jin-won said,“ ‘Running Mate’ is not a one-man hero drama.The main character of this work is an ordinary person who is delicate, sometimes foolish, and easily broken.Noh Se-hoon in the drama could be me, or in a broader sense, he could be any of us, “emphasizing that” the special story experienced by the most ordinary of us is the charm and differentiating factor of ‘Running Mate.’ ”

The fierce election strategies of the two camps, each running with only ‘victory’ as their goal, are also a point of interest that cannot be missed.

Director Han Jin-won heightened curiosity by explaining, “It contains the conflict and frustration of two camps that are determined to win, the courage and friendship to find oneself in the midst of it all, and a warm growth story.” Director Han Jin-won also asked viewers to pay attention to the ‘emotions’ he wants to convey through the fierce student body president election war that contains the boiling desires of the youth.He said, “The emotions of ‘Running Mate’ arise from the contact between the ego called ‘Sehun’ and the other called ‘the world Sehun meets.’ The production crew and all the actors put in the most effort to breathe dynamism and liveliness into ‘Sehun and the world he meets.’ Please pay attention to the individuality of dozens of characters, the tiki-taka of acting based on solid fundamentals, and the various details that suit their personalities.”

● Exciting debut of young actors Yoon Hyun-soo, Lee Jung-sik, Choi Woo-sung, Hong Hwa-yeon, Lee Bong-jun, and Kim Ji-woo

The roller coaster ride of a month for students, where everything begins to change just because they are running for student body president, is being portrayed by a lineup of unique young actors including Yoon Hyun-soo, Lee Jung-sik, Choi Woo-sung, Hong Hwa-yeon, Lee Bong-joon, and Kim Ji-woo, which further stimulates anticipation.Yoon Hyun-soo plays ‘Noh Se-hoon’, who dreams of a major image makeover and runs as a running mate for the student body president election.He is innocent but also foolish and honest, and experiences growing pains as he goes through a stormy time.Lee Jung-sik plays ‘Kwak Sang-hyun’, a student body president candidate who does not easily reveal his feelings.Choi Woo-sung plays ‘Yang Won-dae’, the choir president who leads the camp with perfect leadership.The heated competitive spirit and desire for a reversal between Kwak Sang-hyun and Yang Won-dae, who are competing for the student body president, further heat up the election war.The strategist of Kwak Sang-hyun’s camp and the top student in the entire school, ‘Yoon Jeong-hee’ T is played by Hong Hwa-yeon.Se-hoon’s best friend and the mood maker of Youngjin High School, ‘Park Ji-hoon’, is played by Lee Bong-joon.’Ha Yu-kyung’, Youngjin High School’s first love with a strong competitive spirit, is played by Kim Ji-woo.

Director Han Jin-won said, “When all the stories are over, I hope that each of the viewers ‘favorite characters will remain in their hearts,” and added, “I put a lot of effort into casting actors with unique charms and personalities.I especially focused on finding actors who could communicate well and share ideas.”

‘ Running Mate’ will be released in full on Tving on the 19th.

Hong Se-young, reporter for 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.