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Pierce Conran

Lead cast: Jung Ryeo-won, Wi Ha-joon
Latest Nielsen rating: 5.2 per cent
Following last year’s hit romantic drama Crash Course in Romance, tvN invites us to return to the stormy world of cram schools in Gangnam, Seoul, in new series The Midnight Romance in Hagwon.
The latest production of veteran small-screen director Ahn Pan-seok, the series is led by May It Please the Court’s Jung Ryeo-won and Wi Ha-joon, who starred in Squid Game and Little Women.


The Midnight Romance in Hagwon is set in Daechi-dong, a neighbourhood in Gangnam notorious for its ultra-competitive hagwon (after-school academies). In the shadow of the gleaming Lotte World Tower, Seo Hye-jin (Jung) is a star instructor at Daechi Chase, one of the top schools in the area.
Her face is plastered all over ads that appear at bus stops, and students clamour to get on the waiting lists for her classes – although the mothers of these students are equally desperate to get them on, if not more so.
Much of Hye-jin’s job involves sitting down with mothers who try to twist her arm into granting their children, already studying at the ultra-exclusive school, even more special treatment.
Education is famously competitive in South Korea; it is not a question of if you enrol your children in after-school programmes but in how many and which ones. Yet hagwon are private institutions not officially connected with schools or the public exams students must navigate to reach college.

The Midnight Romance in Hagwon wastes no time in portraying the complexities of this sensitive ecosystem by unspooling a scenario that could only happen in South Korea.
One of Hye-jin’s students is in tears after getting an answer wrong on a school exam. Hye-jin believes the question has two correct answers and that her student chose correctly. The teacher concerned refuses to acknowledge this and the matter escalates.
Hye-jin makes the bold decision to call the teacher directly and go to the school to talk to him. Things get heated and the angry teacher, a man, grabs Hye-jin’s shoulder. Although it was not her intention, this gives Hye-jin the upper hand.
The teacher is forced to set a repeat exam and meets Hye-jin privately again to apologise; but in reality, he is declaring the start of a war. The teacher despises private academies and refuses to address Hye-jin using the honorific for teachers.
“You people are parasites,” he seethes.

This conflict provides a fascinating snapshot of South Korea’s unique educational environment. Yet while the scenario may be relatable for Korean viewers who have experienced private academy culture, the intricacies may be harder to understand for foreign viewers.
That said, the emotional stakes of the dispute are not hard to follow.
While that situation unfolds, the drama also sets up its main narrative by introducing the cocksure and charming Lee Joon-ho (Wi), a former student of Hye-jin’s who makes an unexpected return to her life.
Joon-ho is the first student to be featured on Daechi Class’ Hall of Fame board, having secured a scholarship to a prestigious university thanks to Hye-jin’s tutelage a decade earlier.
Having followed his parents’ wishes, he now works at a major corporation, but he has had a change of heart and, seemingly on a whim, decides to quit his job and try his hand at becoming a star instructor just like his former mentor.

He applies for a coveted position at Daechi Class, thus entering a tough selection process which includes teaching a 10-minute class in front of the academy’s staff.
Hye-jin finds Joon-ho’s sudden career switch impetuous and tries to dissuade him from applying. She even goes so far as to ask a colleague to reject him.
Joon-ho’s star shines too brightly, however, and there is no way that her boss will pass up a clear talent like his, not least because he is a successful ex-pupil who will only further bolster the academy’s brand.

Hye-jin’s personal concern for Joon-ho’s future is destined to morph into professional anxiety, as the seeds have also been sown for what is likely to be a complicated workplace relationship.
This is the first series to be directed by Ahn Pan-seok, who is famous for his romantic dramas, since 2019’s One Spring Night. Ahn brings texture to the setting and the relationships depicted, although it is too early to say if Hye-jin and Joon-ho’s relationship will spark.
The Midnight Romance in Hagwon is streaming on Viu.


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Jung Ryeo-won in a still from The Midnight Romance in Hagwon.

Jung Ryeo-won as cram school instructor Seo Hye-jin in a still from K-drama series The Midnight Romance in Hagwon on Viu. Wi Ha-joon co-stars.

Wi Ha-joon in a still from The Midnight Romance in Hagwon.

Jung Ryeo-won as cram school instructor Seo Hye-jin in a still from The Midnight Romance in Hagwon.

Wi Ha-joon (left) as Joon-ho and Jung Ryeo-won as Hye-jin in a still from The Midnight Romance in Hagwon.

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Jung Ryeo-won plays a star instructor at an after-school academy in Gangnam, Seoul, who is surprised when former star pupil Wi Ha-joon applies to teach there
Jung’s instructor thinks Wi’s character should stick at his corporate job and tries in vain to stop his appointment, which sets them up for a putative romance


Jung Ryeo-won and Wi Ha-joon star as an instructor and her former star pupil at one of the after-school private academies ubiquitous in South Korea in this tvN series on Viu directed by Ahn Pan-seok.
