What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim? is a charming office Romcom staring Park Min-young (Her Private Life) as Secretary Kim Mi-so and Park Seo-joon as her boss, Vice-chairman Lee Young-joon. After working for her demanding, self-centered boss for nine years, Secretary Kim informs Vice-chairman Lee that she plans to quit. This stuns the Vice-chairman, who has come to rely on Secretary Kim for everything. The more he digs into the reason for her leaving, the more he realizes he has true feelings for her. In turn, as the Vice-chairman’s attitude toward her changes, Secretary Kim begins to see her boss in a new light.
- Series Title: What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim? (Korean: 김비서가 왜 그럴까)
- Starring: Park Min-young, Park Seo-joon, Lee Tae-hwan, Kang Ki-young, Hwang Chan-sung, Pyo Ye-jin
- Written by: Jung Eun-young
- Directed by: Park Joon-hwa
- Network: tvN
- Where to watch in the US: Hulu
- Premier Date: June 6, 2018
- # of episodes: 16
- KafeNook Rating: 4.6 sips
What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim? — !! Spoilers Ahead!!
I have never been a secretary in real life, but I played one as a child. My best friend and I would gather up “office supplies” – Kleenex box, stapler, cup for pens and pencils – around my house and organize them on our make-believe desks in the living room conversation pit (yes – those were a thing in the 70s). We pretended to take phone calls, type notes, get coffee – the epitome of the efficient secretaries we had seen on TV. If only Secretary Kim had been available to be our role model – how much more we could have been! We certainly did not imagine having a handsome, albeit self-centered boss. We were ten after all.
In What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim?, Park Min-young shines as an intelligent, resourceful assistant, perfectly playing off of Park Seo-joon’s, egocentric Vice-chairman Lee Young-joon. At first glance, they are simply an employee and employer, but this is a Kdrama so, of course, it is more complicated than that. As a boy, Young-joon was left alone by his older brother in an unfamiliar neighborhood and subsequently abducted by a scary woman. During his abduction, a young girl appears and is tied up with him. The young girl gives Young-joon courage and the two of them are eventually able to escape.
Years later, Young-joon hires Kim Mi-so, despite her lack of qualifications, because he believes her to be the girl who stayed with him during his abduction. Kim Mi-so has memories of the event, but her family does not believe it really happened. Little does she realize that her own Vice-chairman is the boy from her childhood.
Older brother Lee Sung-yeon played by Lee Tae-hwan felt wracked with guilt for leaving his brother alone and blocked out his true memories of the event. To make matters worse, he imagined that he had been abducted instead, and, as famous writer, Morpheus, writes a story about it. Mi-so recognizes herself in the story and believes that Sung-yeon is the abducted boy. Sung-yeon, in turn, develops feeling for Mi-so much to his brother, Young-joon’s, chagrin.
The fun of this drama comes from the little moments between Secretary Kim and Vice-chairman Lee as they go from boss and secretary to love interests. Along the way, their budding romance suffers through rejection by family members, workplace gossip, mistaken identities and their own insecurities. The scene that signifies the depth of their relationship comes when Mi-so shows up at Young-joon’s house in a pale, pink blouse and black skirt. She tells him she won’t be going home that night and plans to stay with him. He says if she comes in, he won’t be able to hold himself back. Mi-so smiles and walks in the door.
Supporting Storylines
My favorite subplot of What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim? involves Hwang Chan-sung (So I Married My Anti Fan) as Go Gwi-nam and Pyo Ye-jin as Kim Ji-a, the rookie secretary with a crush on Gwi-nam. Gwi-nam is so frugal that he only has one suit, a fact that Ji-a picks up on. It’s fun watching Ji-a’s attempts to plan moments with Gwi-nam only to have him subvert her due to his distaste for spending money. However, like Ji-a, you can’t help but love him when he reveals the reason behind his frugality. He is saving up to one day provide a home and a good living for the woman he wants to share his life with. It takes him a minute, but he finally realizes Ji-a is that woman. Phew!
Best Tear-jerker Moments
The best tear-jerker moment in What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim? happens in Vice-chairman Lee’s office. There he confesses to his parents that he does remember being abducted as a child and that he lied about it to protect his brother’s sanity and his family. What is it with grown men and tears that is so heart-wrenching? Park Seo-joon gets the tears flowing and by the end of the scene, the entire family (and me!) are crying.
Random things I Liked
The number of times and ways that Young-joon proposes to Mi-so. He is adorably clueless about how to convince her to marry him.
Moon Woo-jin, who plays the young Lee Young-joon. Woo-jin is apparently the go-to kid to cast as the younger version of a drama’s male lead. As of this writing, I have watched just under twenty-five Kdrama’s and he has been in six of them! Way to go kid!
The most adorable kiss in the drama comes after Young-joon is stuck in Mi-so’s closet for hours. Instead of coming out, he pulls her into his lap and goes in for a lovely kiss.
What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim? Ending
Surprisingly, not a lot of the Romcom Kdrama’s I’ve watched end with a wedding of the lead characters. Happily, What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim? does. And what a wedding it is! Park Min-young is stunning as Mi-so in her wedding dress surrounded by a bazillion flowers. Add Park Seo-joon’s Vice-chairman Lee, dressed in a tailored black suit with his hair slicked back and — WOW! The two of them sitting together surrounded by flowers is one of the most gorgeous visuals on screen I have ever seen.
Then, standing before their guests with a breathtaking fountain behind them, they take their first kiss as husband and wife. This is followed by a montage of all the times they kissed throughout the drama including their stirring proposal scene. What a beautiful ending to their love story.
What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim? Soundtrack
The What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim? Soundtrack contains a number of nice duos including Love Virus sung by Kihyun (MONSTA) and Seola (WJSN) and A Little Bit More by Jinho (PENTAGON) and Rothy. Kim Na Young sings the lovely, Because I Only See You.
