Lee Jun Ho is set to take on his first-ever non-human character since his debut. On July 23, the production team behind tvN's upcoming drama 'Exotic Land Embassy in Korea' (working title, written by Shin Ha Eun and directed by Bae Hyun Jin) announced the casting of Lee Jun Ho and Hong Hwa Yeon. The series is set in a world where a secret diplomatic mission oversees the peaceful coexistence of humans and non-human beings that have crossed over from another realm. The story follows a rookie human diplomat who is accidentally assigned to the Embassy of Exotic Land in Korea, where she becomes entangled with the embassy's mysterious ambassador, who is secretly a dragon. The drama is an original work created by writer Shin Ha Eun, known for 'Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha' and 'Love Next Door.' It combines the modern, institutional setting of an embassy with an imaginative fantasy world, offering a unique take on coexistence between humans and supernatural beings.
Director Bae Hyun Jin, who previously co-directed 'Big Mouth' and 'Alchemy of Souls 2' and directed 'Hierarchy,' will helm the series, promising a heart-fluttering fantasy romance. Lee Jun Ho will play Cha Yeon, the enigmatic head of the embassy and a dragon spirit who governs water. Like water itself, Cha Yeon is gentle and tranquil by nature, but can also become as fierce and overwhelming as a force capable of leveling mountains. After remaining on this land for more than a thousand years, the beautiful yet lonely immortal's quiet existence is disrupted when an ordinary human with a lifespan of less than a century unexpectedly enters his world, creating the first crack in his long, uneventful life. Hong Hwa Yeon has been cast as Go Mi Woo, a rookie human diplomat. A former Asian Games gold medalist in archery, Mi Woo is unexpectedly assigned to the Embassy of Exotic Land in Korea—a place where humans are not supposed to work. She is expected to showcase lively romantic-comedy chemistry with Lee Jun Ho.
