Tempest (2025) 북극성
Directed by Heo Myung-haeng and Kim Hee-won, starring Jun Ji-hyun as Seo Mun-ju and Gang Dong-won as Paik San-ho.
Watched 20 September - 3 October 2025 — 9 episodes (DISNEY+/KISSKH)
*I cancelled my subscription with Disney+ as of the 29th of September because of the Jimmy Kimmel case and I find the offer of K-dramas disappointing anyway. Lots of times the dramas are region restricted which is sooooo frustrating. Tempest is my last drama I watched on the channel. The last 2 episodes were being aired on 1 October so I had to go to KISSKH (my last resort!) to finish the drama.
*An espionage thriller with romance thrown in ... this looked like something I would like. Having seen the trailer, the leading actors Jun Ji-hyun and Gang Dong-won seemed appealing enough. (I've seen Jun Ji-hyun before in Jirisan and liked her. I had never seen Gang Dong-won play before but according to his MDL page he hasn't done a lot of dramas. I like him well enough, but he's not very expressive.)
*Jun Ji-hyun plays former ambassador to the United States, Seo Mun-ju, running for the presidency after her husband (a presidential candidate himself) is shot to death. Gang Dong-won plays a mysterious man who becomes her bodyguard.
*It started promising but when the romance became the focus, the series suffered. I think I would have preferred a hint at romance instead of going all the way.
*At first I was interested to see how the romance would develop and fortunately the OTP's chemistry was decent, but the love story was weak and not totally believable and there were some really stupid moments. The couple shared kisses in dangerous situations which irritated me. Like in the final episode, when they found each other at last — with Mun-ju hiding in the closet and San-ho joining her there — they started to make out while their situation was critical. Well, in the end it turned out to be a good thing to have seized the opportunity then and there because it was their last moment together. Honestly, I didn't mind it wasn't a happy ending and I thought the writers made the right decision to kill Paik San-ho off. Actually, they made it an ambiguous ending, since his body was never found.
*Apart from the weak love story, the plot with the political intrigue, international conspiracies, the threat of war, involving North Korea and the United States (and of course dealing with nuclear weapons), together with the family conflicts and the inheritance issue, became a bit messy.
*I was glad Oh Jung-se as Jang Jun-sang (from Jirisan, Good Boy and Mr Plankton) happened to be on Seo Mun-ju's side and did the right thing in the end.
*The show has an American feel, with American characters speaking English. At times the main Korean actors also speak English, in their interactions with the Americans, but they sound awful, so unnatural and mechanical.
*This drama has good production values but it's ultimately disappointing and it made me lose interest along the way. I was grateful for only 9 episodes.