The Spies Who Loved Me

The Spies Who Loved Me
Promotional poster
Also known asThe Spy Who Loves Me
Hangul
나를 사랑한 스파이
Revised RomanizationNareul Saranghan Seupai
McCune–ReischauerNarŭl Saranghan Sŭp'ai
GenreAction
Romance
Comedy
Written byLee Ji-min
Directed byLee Jae-jin
Starring
Country of originSouth Korea
Original languageKorean
No. of episodes16
Production
ProducerHwang Ji-woo
Running time70 minutes
Production companyStory & Pictures Media
Original release
NetworkMBC TV
ReleaseOctober 21 (2020-10-21) –
December 17, 2020 (2020-12-17)

The Spies Who Loved Me (Korean: 나를 사랑한 스파이; RR: Naleul Saranghan Seupai) is a South Korean television series starring Eric Mun, Yoo In-na,[1] and Lim Ju-hwan.[2] The series revolves around Kang Ah-Reum (Yoo In-na), a wedding dress designer, and her two husbands; ex Jun Ji-Hoon (Eric Mun) and current husband Derek Hyun (Im Joo Hwan), who both hide their real identities from her.[3] It premiered on MBC TV on October 21, 2020, airing twice a week. It is also available on iQIYI for streaming worldwide.[4]

Synopsis

Kang Ah-Reum is a wedding dress designer who has been married twice. Her ex happens to be an undercover Interpol agent, while her current husband is an industrial spy. After a close friend is murdered for her involvement in the well-known EcoSun project, Ah-Reum seeks the help of Ji-Hoon and his team in finding out the truth, along the way uncovering dark and shocking secrets about those closest to her.

Cast

Main

  • Eric Mun as Jun Ji-Hoon, Kang Ah-Reum's first husband who is a secret Interpol agent disguised as a travel writer.
  • Yoo In-na as Kang Ah-Reum, a wedding dress designer and owner of the shop Areumdaun Dress. She is married to Derek Hyun.
  • Lim Ju-hwan as Derek Hyun, Kang Ah-Reum's second husband and a cold-blooded industrial spy, who works as the CEO of an industrial spy agency.

Supporting

People around Jun Ji-hoon

  • Kim Tae-woo as Ban Jin-min, Director of Asian Affairs at Interpol's Industrial and Confidential Bureau.
  • Jeong Suk-yong as Kang Tae-ryong, the head of the second Asia Branch of Interpol's Industrial Confidentiality Bureau disguised as a representative of the publishing company, Gulliver's Publishers.
  • Cha Joo-young as Hwang Seo-ra, an Interpol secret agent with an IQ of 157. She is the one who Ah-Reum believes Ji-Hoon had an affair with, though in reality, it was all a misunderstanding.
  • Bae In-hyuk as Kim Young-goo, a junior agent of the Bureau disguised as the sales manager of the publishing company. The youngest of the team who specializes in analytics.

People around Kang Ah-reum

  • Park So-jin as Bae Doo-rae, Ah-reum's business partner and best friend, and the co-CEO of the wedding dress shop
  • Kim Chung as Han Bok-sim, Ah-reum's mother and the hostess of the Dongbaekjudan
  • Yoon So-hee as Sophie Ahn, a genius scientist in charge of the EcoSun Project, and Ah-reum’s friend. She is the informant that Ji-Hoon is looking for early in the series.

People around Derek Hyun

  • Jeon Seung-bin as Peter, Asia division industrial spy.
  • Lee Jong-won as Tinker, an agent, M Classic Car CEO and a classic car restoration specialist.
  • Kim Hye-ok as Hye Ra-sin, Derek Hyun's grandmother.

Others

  • Lee Joo-woo as Kim Dong-ran, DDK Group's second daughter and CEO of DDK Bora Food.
  • Moon Ji-hoo as Doo-bong's underling
  • Lee Ha-eun as Yoon Yeo-jung
  • Jang Jae-ho as Kim Dong-taek
  • Ji Hyun-joon as Jang Doo-bong

Special appearance

Production

It is the first drama by screenwriter Lee Ji-min, who has previously produced films such as The Man Standing Next, Forbidden Dream and The Age of Shadows.[4] MBC confirmed the casting of Eric Mun, Yoo In-na and Lim Ju-hwan on June 22, 2020 in a press release that described the series as a "romantic spy drama".[4][5] The main poster was revealed on September 29.[6]

Original soundtrack

The Spies Who Loved Me OST
Soundtrack album by
Various artists
Released2020
GenreSoundtrack
Language
Label

Part 1

Released on October 29, 2020 (2020-10-29)
No.TitleLyricsMusicArtistLength
1."Shall We Kiss?" (키스해볼까?)
  • Choi Gap-won
  • Good Choice
ZigZag NoteJung Yong-hwa (CNBLUE)3:23
2."Shall We Kiss?" (Inst.) ZigZag Note 3:23
Total length:6:46

Part 2

Released on October 29, 2020 (2020-10-29)
No.TitleLyricsMusicArtistLength
1."Only You Don't Know" (너만 몰라)
  • Good Choice
  • Choi Gap-won
  • Sim
  • Jeon Geun-hwa (Weeky1)
  • CLEF CREW
Lee Min-hyuk3:20
2."Only You Don't Know" (Inst.) 
  • Sim
  • Jeon Geun-hwa (Weeky1)
  • CLEF CREW
 3:20
Total length:6:40

Part 3

Released on November 7, 2020 (2020-11-07)
No.TitleLyricsMusicArtistLength
1."Run To You"
  • Luka (Artmatic)
  • Yoo Su-jinGadeul
  • Park Geun-cheol
  • Jeong Su-min
  • Yoo Woong-yeol
Yoo Hwe-seung (N.Flying)3:54
2."Run To You" (Inst.) 
  • Park Geun-cheol
  • Jeong Su-min
  • Yoo Woong-yeol
 3:54
Total length:7:48

Special Track

Released on November 12, 2020 (2020-11-12)
No.TitleLyricsMusicArtistLength
1."Let Me Dance"
  • Park Kyung-jin
  • LE
  • Sypher Muzik
  • Kang Tae-won
Everglow3:20
2."Let Me Dance" (Inst.) 
  • Sypher Muzik
  • Kang Tae-won
 3:20
Total length:6:40

Part 4

Released on November 18, 2020 (2020-11-18)
No.TitleLyricsMusicArtistLength
1."Wherever" (어디라도)
  • Gaemi
  • Gadeul
GaemiBaek A-yeon4:05
2."Wherever" (Inst.) Gaemi 4:05
Total length:8:10

Viewership

Average TV viewership ratings
Ep. Part Original broadcast date Average audience share

(Nielsen Korea)[7]

Nationwide
1 1 October 21, 2020 3.7%
2 4.3%
2 1 October 22, 2020 3.0%
2 3.2%
3 1 October 28, 2020 1.8%
2 2.4%
4 1 October 29, 2020 2.8%
2 2.6%
5 1 November 5, 2020[a] 2.8%
2 3.2%
6 1 November 11, 2020 2.2%
2 2.4%
7 1 November 12, 2020 2.7%
2 3.1%
8 1 November 19, 2020 3.0%
2 2.8%
9 1 November 25, 2020 1.6%
2 1.5%
10 1 November 26, 2020 2.1%
2 2.5%
11 1 December 2, 2020 2.1%
2 2.2%
12 1 December 3, 2020 2.2%
2 2.6%
13 1 December 9, 2020 1.8%
2 2.3%
14 1 December 10, 2020 2.9%
2 2.8%
15 1 December 16, 2020 1.8%
2 2.0%
16 1 December 17, 2020 2.5%
2 2.8%
Average %
  • In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.
  • NR denotes that the drama did not rank in the top 20 daily programs on that date.

International broadcast

The series is available same time as Korea, as an iQIYI Original and exclusively on iQIYI globally (except China and Korea) with multilingual subtitles. It is also available non-exclusively on iQIYI in South Korea.

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Recipient Result
2020 39th MBC Drama Awards Drama of the Year The Spies Who Loved Me Nominated
Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Wednesday-Thursday Miniseries Eric Mun Nominated
Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Wednesday-Thursday Miniseries Yoo In-na Nominated
Excellence Award, Actor in a Wednesday-Thursday Miniseries Lim Ju-hwan[b] Won
Best Supporting Actor Kim Tae-woo Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Cha Joo-young Nominated
Best New Actor Bae In-hyuk Nominated
Best New Actress Park So-jin Nominated
Best Couple Eric Mun & Yoo In-na Nominated

Notes

  1. ^ No episodes were aired on November 4 due to a KBO League baseball game broadcast.
  2. ^ Lim won the award for his roles in The Spies Who Loved Me and The Game: Towards Zero.

References

  1. ^ "에릭-유인나 양측 "드라마 '나를 사랑한 스파이' 검토 중" [공식입장]" [Eric Mun and Yoo In-na in Talks for Drama "The Spy Who Loved me"]. Donga (in Korean). April 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-09-29.
  2. ^ 이정현 (2020-06-22). "에릭·유인나·임주환, MBC '나를 사랑한 스파이' 주연". 연합뉴스 (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2020-10-28. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
  3. ^ "The Spy Who Loved Me". September 18, 2020. Archived from the original on October 3, 2020. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c ""The Spies Who Loved Me" Starring Eric Mun, Yoo in-na and Lim Ju-hwan to Begin in October". HanCinema. Archived from the original on 2020-10-26. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
  5. ^ "Yoo In Na Accidentally Marries A Spy Twice In Upcoming Rom-Com "The Spies Who Loved Me"". Soompi. September 24, 2020. Archived from the original on October 7, 2020. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
  6. ^ "'나를 사랑한 스파이' 문정혁X유인나, '천장지구' 명장면 소환한 메인 포스터 공개" [“The Spy Who Loved Me” Moon Jung-hyuk x Yoo In-na, unveiled the main poster]. MBC 연예 스포츠 (in Korean). 28 September 2020. Archived from the original on 2022-07-08. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
  7. ^ "Nielsen Korea". AGB Nielsen Media Research (in Korean). Archived from the original on October 26, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020.