8 Years Later, Hulu's Cult Classic Rom-Com Finally Has Its Successor
Discussions surrounding romance K-dramas are usually dominated by recent releases like Spooky in Love, Can This Love Be Translated, When Life Gives You Tangerines, and My Royal Nemesis these days, and it frankly can't be helped, given how exceptional these new releases have been. The last two years alone have delivered many hard-hitting romances, with some, such as Lovely Runner, even being cemented as modern masterpieces.
All that said, there are some romance K-dramas that are quite simply classics even close to a decade later, whether that's Goblin, Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo, Strong Girl Bong-soon, or, best of all, Hulu's workplace rom-com, What's Wrong with Secretary Kim. The latter, in particular, has held up as a cult classic that's still recommended to those new to the genre even after eight years, and after all this time, it finally has a potential successor on the way.
What's Wrong With Secretary Kim Has A Successor Coming in 2027
After eight years of blinding viewers with Park Seo-jun's "aura" and winning them over with Park Min-young's patient charm, What's Wrong with Secretary Kim finally has a potential successor in an upcoming romance K-drama, and it's fittingly also based on a webtoon. Iseop's Romance, one of the most popular romance manhwa on Webtoon, is finally getting a K-drama of its own with a star-studded cast, and it's releasing in 2027.
News of the K-drama adaptation first surfaced back in February 2026, when it was revealed that Lee Jong-suk would be taking up the lead role as Tae Iseop. Now, the series has found its other main lead in Choi Yoon-ji, who will be playing Iseop's secretary, Kang Min-kyung. As reported by Korean news outlet Sports Donga on August 11, the casting was confirmed by Choi Yoon-ji's agency, Ace Factory.
The series is set to begin production in the second half of 2026 and is expected to release in 2027. It has also been confirmed that the series will be broadcast on tvN in Korea, though a streaming platform release has yet to be locked down just yet.
Iseop's Romance Will Be Bundled With Another Star-Studded Romance
Interestingly enough, Iseop's Romance will share its run with a K-drama adaptation of A Casual Lie, a web novel from the same creator which follows Tae Iseop's cousin, Tae Jun-seop. Evidently, both stories are set in the same universe, making them perfect for a split two-part series.
Furthermore, Tae Jun-seop will be played by Lee Jun-hyuk, who already made quite a splash this year as the detective in Netflix's The Art of Sarah alongside Shin Hye-sun. And sharing the screen with Lee Jun-hyuk as the other main lead in A Casual Lie is Gong Seung-yeon, who many may immediately recognize from her recent star performance as the queen dowager in Perfect Crown.
Most excitingly, Iseop's Romance and A Casual Lie are being produced by Bon Factory, which is also the studio behind highly successful K-dramas such as Lovely Runner, A Bona Fide Killer, Her Private Life, Mask Girl, My Girlfriend is a Gumiho, True Beauty, When the Phone Rings, and, most fittingly, What's Wrong with Secretary Kim as well. As such, the series is perfectly set up to be the spiritual successor that fans have been waiting for all these years.