Acting: 7
Storyline: 6.5
Overall: 6.5
Grade: C+
Starring:
Park So Joon 朴敘俊 as Lee Young Joon 李英俊
Park Min Young 朴敏英 as Kim Mi-So 金微笑/金美笑
Lee Tae Hwan 李泰焕 as Lee Sung Yeon 李成延
Kang Ki Young 姜其永 as Park Yoo Sik 朴佑植
Hwang Bo Ra as Bong Se Ra 奉世拉
Kang Hong-suk 黄宝罗 as Yang Cheo 楊哲
Hwang Chan Sung 黄灿盛 as Go Gwi Nam 高贵南
Pyo Ye Jin 表艺珍 as Kim Ji Ah 金智雅
No matter how time passes, a romantic comedy (“rom-com”) remains as one of the long-withstanding favourite drama genres for the female masses. “Rom-coms” are relatively fairy-tale-like whereby the female lead would meet the perfect prince charming. The scriptwriters are also generous in bequeathing you with many heart-thumping, sweet moments.
There is a little girl who lives in many women’s hearts. She still believes in fairy tales, and is secretly hoping that a prince charming would take her away from the harsh reality someday.
Even when the drama has the most clichéd (almost predictable) story line, whereby a narcissistic chaebol would fall in love with his capable, beautiful secretary (with the loveliest smile), it would still become an instant hit.
“Rich Guy vs Ordinary Girl” may be an extremely old-fashioned plot, but as long as it still resonates well with the general public, who cares?
There’re always the hilarious, embarrassing, funny moments to look forward to when their relationship starts to change. That was when Mi So tendered her resignation and how Young Joon realised that he has been in love with her all along.
There are 2 possible consequences whenever a drama is being adapted from a web toon: either it becomes an instant success or it gets many viewers’ thrashings from deviating from the original web toon.
The drama adaption did not fall short of its original web toon series, but certainly has exceeded viewers’ expectations.
What makes this web-toon turned drama “What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim?” so swoon-worthy and being able to acclaim 5 to 10% viewership ratings on average?
The fundamental requirements of a successful “rom-com” include not only having good looking (and popular) male and female leads, tonnes of endearing moments, kiss scenes, funny elements, the most important would be the chemistry between the 2 leads and how the supporting roles would add on to the FUN on set.
Other than an almost perfect chaebol (who’s rich, intelligent, successful, good-looking, except being dense), the super gorgeous and capable secretary who has such a sweet smile, there is a considerable amount of effort put in creating the latest office fashion trend.
The outfits and bags that Park Min Young carried in the drama garnered much attention and became an instant favourite with the OLs. I’m sure many ladies would be taking her as a reference, from the outfits, bags, hairstyle, hair colour and accessories that she donned.
If you have been to Park Seo Joon’s SG fan meet last Nov, you’d probably remembered him mentioning that he was busy preparing for his next drama and he was sure it would be a production that audience of all ages love. Well, he does make good his words.
This drama is a big, big hit and it certainly helps him to maintain his status at the peak of his career.
Apart from the above mentioned reasons as to why many love this drama (which I do like to a certain extent), I would also go into the reasons why I felt it was lacking.
I had my share of laughter, but it did not live up to my initial expectations of how engaging it would be.
Much as I love romantic comedies because they just perk you up, “What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim” failed to make me fall head over heels, because it lacked depth to the characters’ development or their relationships (other than our main love line). It was very much on the surface or in shallow waters. Relationships with their family members were merely 微微带过。
I was anticipating some fierce competition from the “love triangle”. However, most viewers would be dismayed like me.
We all know that in 90% of the dramas (except in Dream High 1), the female lead would always end up with the 1st male lead. The “forever-alone” 2nd male lead would never get the girl.
Though this drama brought me some laughter and heart-fluttering moments, it lacked in the following ways:
- Not enough depth to the respective love lines or family relationships
- Weak character build-up for supporting roles, especially disappointed in how they portrayed Lee Tae Hwan’s role as Sung Yeon
- There wasn’t much takeaway from the love triangle
Well, after all it is meant to make us chuckle and forget our daily worries for a while, so just take it with a pinch of salt.
Park Seo Joon secures his throne as the “Nation’s Boyfriend”
Park Seo Joon has taken on several rom-coms whereby his characters were well-received, such as “Kill Me, Heal Me”, “She was Pretty”, “Fight for My Way” and “Midnight Runners”.
It may not be his 1st time assuming the role of a Chaebol, but it’s definitely one that you cannot help but applaud and shake head (almost at the same time) at his hilarious, narcissistic behaviour.
他的 “自我感觉”异于常人的良好。He’s someone who thinks he is a gift from heaven, being so intelligent, rich and handsome that he seems more like some superhuman existence.
His favourite word “Aura”~~
I may like Park Seo Joon and he has his own charms, but he does not belong to the superbly handsome category.
There is this saying which goes “you need to love yourself before you can love another person”. For Young Joon’s case, he probably needs to learn how to allocate some of his precious self-love to the people around him.
Undeniably, only Mi So can spark that change in him. He’s a stern person towards others and only shows his gentler demeanour towards Mi So.
While he may be the most difficult boss, you would always laugh at how Mi So can just handle him so well, on many different levels, be it at work, personal or social events.
We see the changes in Young Joon, when he began to heed Director Park’s advice to slow down.
You can see from his little actions like slowing down his strides so that Mi So can catch up and walk alongside him. 
It’s a manifestation of how he sees Mi So as his equal half, evolving from their long-time superior-employee relationship. He always chauffeurs her around whenever they go on dates, and he would cut her steak for her. Awwww.
Wouldn’t you melt if your boyfriend gazes so lovingly at you like Park Seo Joon does?
He’s pretty adorable at times.
Even when he really didn’t want Mi So to leave his side as his secretary, for she has fought alongside him in many business battles. He would be lost without her but he wanted her to look for what makes her happy in life. She has spent most of her life living for others. She had to pay off loans for her sisters’ education as well as supporting her dad’s dream of being a rockstar.
That’s when you realised Young Joon is so sweet not just as a boyfriend, but in nature too. He began to reveal more of his real personality over time.
Mi So finally understood that she gets joy and satisfaction in helping others to solve issues by being someone’s secretary, Young Joon’s definitely.
He began to showcase more “humanly” emotions such as being the overzealous boyfriend, who would freak out at the thought of Mi So adjusting the tie for other men (due to her occupational disease/职业病) than exclusively for him.
What Young Joon thought was Exclusive:
When it’s just “Occupational Disease”/职业病 in reality….
They also took turns to take care of each other when the other was drunk, but at the same time being angry at the other party not controlling their limits. He would also try his best to get into Mi So’s family’s good books.
I do love the surprise back hugs that he springs on Mi So at times.
Who wouldn’t like a back hug from your loved one?
Perhaps it’s due to age or I’m a more practical person, such “far from reality” dramas are not as heart-gripping for me. I prefer “Fight for My Way” because it not only shows the cute interactions, funny moments, but also how real the obstacles that the characters meet in life are.
Much as the “Park-Park” couple looking so compatible and cute together, Park Min Young seems to have the best chemistry with Ji Chang Wook in “Healer” somehow (personal opinion). As for Park Seo Joon, he’s got oozing chemistry with all his female leads but it was so good with Kim Ji Won and Hwang Jung Eum, that Park Min Young pales in comparison.
Park Min Young first made the headlines during City Hunter, especially after she ended up as a real life couple with Lee Min Ho. Through the years, she has co-starred with dream male leads such as Song Seung Heon, Song Joong Ki, Ji Chang Wook but her pretty looks have become an obstacle.
What I like about her is that, she has no qualms in admitting that she did look enhancement procedures. She is very open and abroad about it. You would admire her guts, honesty and confidence .
Park Min Young’s acting is average but since it is a rom-com, you do see her giving some cute expressions such as an evil sneer. More often than not, you would see her with big, doe eyes looking lovingly or angrily at Young Joon.
Both leads manage to act on a level of understanding that complements each other. It is very important to have a 好对手。
Just like every other couple, they have their 定情信物 and that’s the “Hardworking Cow” aka “辛苦了牛” plushie. I was hoping they could just kiss when Young Joon tried to sneak a kiss but Mi So pushed him away with the cow plushie. That disappointed pout on Young Joon’s face is just too adorable to disregard.
The Overprotective & Zealous Boyfriend
It is rather confusing in a way that Young Joon didn’t seem to realize he likes Mi So all along till she made known her decision to resign. In the later part of the drama, he revealed that he has liked her since Day 1 when they met after she joined the company.
That’s where the story buildup is weak in terms of how the love line develops. From someone who knows close to nothing about the intricacies of human relationships, Young Joon made a 360-degree transformation to a Sensitive New Age Guy (SNAG). He began to behave more like any other man who’s in love.
He’s just like someone who started “Kindergarten” level in this subject called “Romance”.
Sometimes, it feels as though Young Joon loves Mi So much more than she ever knew.
It does feel like Young Joon is the very possessive one, but indeed, he is the one who cares more. Mi So seems to be more career-minded .
He would also try to find chances to take care of her like cutting her steak for her, but Mi So was just too used to be the one serving him.
Young Joon let his emotions took the better of him after hiding them for 9 years. We could understand how eager he wanted to announce their newfound relationship to everyone else.
However, from Mi So’s perspective, she has long considered all possible consequences of dating her superior (who’s a “Golden” bachelor). She needs to withstand all rumors or accusations thrown at her on how she managed to win Young Joon’s heart.
Both have weighed their pros and cons before going ahead with this relationship. Young Joon’s thoughtfulness in pretending not to know that Mi So’s colleagues had a fight with others in the midst of standing up for her, so that she would not feel terrible. Neither did she mention a word to him, so that he could focus on his career.
The ever-so-sweet Young Joon took Mi So for a ride out to ease her tension, in the name of attending some off site meeting. Mi So knew his intentions immediately. That’s likely the 默契 that they have cultivated over the 9 years.
While the rekindling memories of the childhood kidnap scene was an attempt to beef up their relationship, it may have taken a notch too far. Audience may be skewed towards thinking that the 2 of them are just holding on to a childhood promise, instead of genuinely falling for each other.
We could already tell in the earlier episodes that the 2 of them do feel something for each other. Even when Sung Yeon was mistaken as the “Oppa” who saved Mi So back then, Mi So also made it clear to him that she was just being grateful and it isn’t love.
Guess this is what the director is trying to put across that whether it was Young Joon who saved Mi So, it does not matter that much because it was real love that blossomed between them.
However, you would definitely feel different if you know that the man you love was also the little boy who saved you.
The Competent New Age Woman
Mi So can possibly consider publishing a book or giving a talk on “How to Handle your Boss cum Boyfriend”. It may seem that Young Joon had the upper hand at the beginning since he is her boss. However, when the relationship started to change and the tables turned around, you could see how Mi So had him twirling round her fingers.
Do not be fooled by her appearance. Not all pretty women are hollow vases. She could be tough, gentle or even nasty towards him, but he was just so hopelessly in love that he would do things that he wouldn’t have normally done so.
Mi So is the new age competent woman who doesn’t compromise if she is being treated badly and she will say no even to her most difficult boss.
It’s plausible Young Joon finds this alluring and challenging about her.
Men do not like totally submissive women. They prefer to conquer with some level of challenge, and that’s when they would appreciate you more.
“女人心海底针“
While Mi So can 察言观色 very well, she has seemingly overlooked the fact that it is not just Young Joon in a one-sided relationship, but it also involves her. She has disregarded Young Joon’s feelings time and again while they were making wedding preparations like shopping for household appliances or even turning up extremely late for her gown fitting. However, she knew she had gone overboard and found a way to appease him.
It is usually the ladies who would lament that their other halves do not seem to bother much. In this drama, this role takes a reversal turn. In a way, it shows that it takes 2 hands to clap in a relationship. Regardless of your gender, you would feel the same way if you are being neglected.
Since prehistoric days, it is tough for men to ever fully understand women, especially so for a chaebol like Young Joon, who’s a 100% narcissist.
“女人心海底针“。对于尤其自恋的 Young Joon 来说, Mi So 的心更是如此。
He may be successful, witty and can solve the most appalling or difficult business situation, but he lacks the basic understanding to women’s hearts. He never knew Mi So is allergic to pollen till his brother told him before their wedding day.
That is something I totally couldn’t fathom.
How could someone be dense till this extent?
Favourite Top 3 Kisses
Our favourite OTP shared many kisses in this drama.
Here are my personal favourites:
1) Wardrobe Kiss
Admit it. We almost had our hearts jumping out of our mouths. It was so sexy yet seductive. It was also hilarious before that kiss since Mi So “stuffed” Young Joon into the wardrobe when her sisters came to visit.
2) A First kiss attempt but to have Mi So pushed far, far away
I roared out loud at this scene.
How embarrassingly funny it must have been and how fun it was to shoot that scene.
3) When Young Joon started kissing Mi So in his home, Director Park barged in to the “crime scene”
Other than that spoiler, I felt this scene was beautifully shot. Young Joon wasn’t rushing, but was purposefully leaning towards Mi So, eyes locked on her and they shared a loving kiss. Just as things were about to heat up further, we have Director Park barging in to earn glares from Young Joon.
Fret not, Young Joon managed to get his revenge at the last episode (if you know what I mean).
New Way of Confessing your Love
“Manager Bong. You’re adorable. Do you want to date? Promise me you’ll drink it all by yourself.”
That was SWAG.
New way of confession, guys! Bring your creativity up to another level please!
Imagine writing your confession in black marker on a bottle of coke. The lady would not realise till she starts sipping coke. In no time, she would have gulped the entire coke to see what you have written.
She would be too overloaded with sweetness to even think about rejecting you (unless she doesn’t feel anything for you in the first place).
No one would expect the so-ever-shy Secretary Yang to pull off this trick.
Relationship Goals Quotes
“There’s nothing better than being honest” – Mi So
Well yes, Honesty is the Best policy in a relationship. Even if it means being brutally honest about wanting to get a kiss. Ahem.
“I want to be in the kind of relationship where I feel the tiredness of my day getting washed off just by hugging you once, even if you don’t make my heart flutter” – Young Joon.
This is what we call “细水长流，平凡的幸福”. I would say, 中肯。
“你是我的世界，也是我的所有瞬间。而我的所有瞬间，都是你。” – Young Joon
No doubt, 100% of the ladies would fall head over heels if your other half says this to you during proposal or at the solemnization ceremony.
Marriage is not just about making sky-high promises. It is about making and realising attainable lifelong promises. It is how both would go through the ups and downs in life together.
3 Distinct Office Romances
To take some focus off our main lead couple, we also have 2 other office romances blossoming under Yumyeon Group.
1) The Underground Love (Keep it “Hush Hush” under table)
While it’s best to keep office romances “low-key”, Manager Bong and Secretary Yang were too obvious for others not to smell a rat.
Manager Bong is definitely one of the supporting roles who added a lot more fun to the drama. She’s funny, quirky and not afraid to show the “ugly” side of her on screen as well.
While these 2 make a comical pair, it is true that many ladies would hope to have a “Hero” boyfriend. He does not need to have the abilities to scale walls like Spiderman to save your day. It can be small acts like catching your back, or saving your “bra padding” (in this drama’s context), to save you from embarrassment.
The role of a boyfriend is not just to shower you with tender, loving care, but also to be able to be your Black Knight.
2) The Boyfriend who can’t wait to flaunt his beautiful girlfriend
Because Young Joon is the boss of the company, all other jealous and zealous creatures would have much to gossip behind their backs. This is especially so for the poor secretary who is made believed to have seduced the boss.
That is the reason why Mi So wanted to keep things low profile.
No one would dare to voice any objection before Young Joon for he is the boss. However, it is totally different for Mi So. She needs to withstand all kinds of rumours or accusations thrown at her and also to have the EQ not to get angry or upset at such remarks.
Easier said than done, but all in the name of LOVE, she would endure it.
3) From Loggerheads to Lovers (and when Career prospects are more important)
Just like in many dramas, the leads or supporting leads would almost start from a “hate” /loggerheads relationship before it turns into admiration, and then finally blossoming into love.
Secretary Kim Ji Ah’s admiration for Elite employee Go Gwi Nam (who’s also a super workaholic) turned into dislike when he thought that she would go around exposing his secret of wearing the 1 and only office suit to work every day. As days went by, they began to understand each other better and realised they have mutual feelings. Ji Ah decided to pursue her happiness since there was no official confession from Gwi Nam.
Nonetheless, his goal in life is to become successful. Before he reaches his goal, he would be leading an extremely frugal lifestyle, which he felt would be unfair towards Ji Ah. It was till the last few scenes before he finally made up his mind that, he should not let such a good lady slip by.
Well, this is true to a certain extent in today’s context. Many young people are more career-minded and they would put off dating plans. However, if you have met that special one, please do not let them go. When years pass you by, you would realise how foolish you had been to let someone you love go, without even trying.
Why is it best to keep mum about your office romance?
It not just affects how people may perceive of you, but it would also affect your work performance and your “impartiality”. We are all human beings, and we do get carried away with our feelings.
When your relationships change, so will your working style. Your emotions will get the better of you.
Trendsetting Fashion, Clothes, Makeup, Hairstyle
Another reason why this drama is so popular is that female viewers can’t wait to see what Secretary Kim would be wearing in the next episode.
It’s not hard to see that Park Min Young is a trendsetter, both on and off screen. Her Instagram photos of her posing in different outfits whenever she travels, would set many young ladies following suit, as they take her as a fashion icon.
Secretary Kim’s signature long, flowy, wavy hair would always be flawlessly tied up in a long ponytail. Even her office shirts (from Common Unique, avouavou, Sezwick, Jill Stuart) were like uniforms in different styles and colours. These shirts would always be nearly tucked in her knee length skirts, matched with simple, nude heels and handbags. She tops it up with pretty, dangling earrings.
The bags she had were all designer brands, from Sandro, Jimmy Choo, Joy Gryson, Chloe, Mulberry, Fendi, Valextra to Loewe.
The 1st question that came to mind was, “how much does Secretary Kim earn a month”?
These are not items that your ordinary secretary could afford. While we know she is the Vice Chairman’s secretary, it’s still a little hard to justify her spending ability to afford such luxurious goods when she had been paying loans for her family members all these years.
When at home, she would be dressed in oversized tees or hoodie tops with training pants. Even when she takes a stroll along the neighbourhood, she would couple it with shorts.
I love her casual dress look more. Mi So’s dresses made her look more comfortable and relaxed, with her hair let down or tied in a half pony tail. The floral dresses also made her look more feminine and attractive. This feminine charm/ allure would definitely sweep the narcissistic Young Joon off his feet.
The red off shoulder dress from “Not Your Rose”, that she donned when following Young Joon to a cocktail party, definitely had many young ladies following suit.
Secretary Kim, Manager Bong and Little Secretary Kim were also spotted with this season’s luscious red lipstick. That has been the “IN” colour this year.
Manager Bong is bold in her office outfits and never does she have a boring day, with the clothing that would attract attention or accessories to top it up.
We can say that Secretary Kim Ji Ah’s fashion sense is “same same but different” compared to Mi So. She looks livelier with pastel colour clothing in that short hair. It is apparent with this “image” that she is “2nd Secretary Kim” training-in-progress.
Men’s Wear
While Park Seo Joon wore 90% shirts and suits in this drama, he has proven that you could add some life to the usual 3 piece suit (shirt, vest, blazer jacket).
It seems that societal perceptions about being successful = being rich and dressing well, have not changed in any part of the world. This is particularly so in a more conventional society like Korea.
While we are sad that Chansung had only 1 set of “office suit” in the drama, we do all agree that sometimes we wish we have just that 1 set of “office uniform”, so that we would not need to fret over “What should I wear tomorrow?”.
The Bittersweet Past they Shared
Because of the bittersweet past that they shared, there is literally no room for any 3rd party in their hearts, not even Sung Yeon could come in between them. This line from Young Joon touched me. He was truly considerate and sensitive towards Mi So’s feelings with regards to the childhood trauma that they had.
“I felt somewhat upset, but I thought it was fortunate at the same time. Because it was better for me to take the burden of that day alone forever.”
Never a day had he forgotten about that dreadful past ,but he acted nonchalant and as if he had lost his memories, so that everyone else (his family including Sung Yeon) could just carry on with their lives. He did not wish to revive Mi So’s painful memories even though this would mean that she would not remember him as well.
We can tell how different the 2 of them are, but both have each other’s interests at heart.
Young Joon hopes that he will be the only one who remembered the trauma during their childhood, while for Mi Soo to forget it all.
It seems he is in a more suffering state. He remembers all the hurt and pain, but also the love for her, yet he could tell no one.
That Humorous Buddy
Oh, just how we love Kang Ki Young’s role as Director Park Yoo Sik. He’s in a love-hate relationship with Young Joon. They are long-time friends but Young Joon is his irritating boss at the same time.
However, Yoo Sik is more like his Life and Love adviser, who rendered much earnest and valuable advice to help Young Joon’s personal life.
Director Park might have had a divorce but when he speaks from the heart as an experienced person, you would smile at his lame actions but also feel sad for him at the same time.
One such useful advice was when Mi So called Young Joon a “bulldozer”, he asked Young Joon to control his speed because “more haste, less speed” also applies in love relationships.
Since this is both Young Joon and Mi So’s 1st relationship, it would be wise that he slows down since it will pressurise Mi So to try to catch up with him all the time. Over time, she would just get sick of even trying. I think this applies to all relationships.
This humorous buddy is not just down on his luck in love, but also in work where he has a very blur and clumsy secretary who would always get into trouble. This strikes a huge contrast between the 2 secretaries they have.
Love and Hate Relationship between the Lee Brothers
I probably had my expectations set a tad too high regarding the sibling rivalry between Sung Yeon and Young Joon. We can sense hatred and resentment between the 2 of them. One thought that his capable younger brother had all the attention and good things in life, while he went through a traumatic childhood because of his prank.
While the other was in angst with having to act as the “bad” guy for many years, yet he did not have a single tinge of remorse (because he was the one who was kidnapped instead).
The situation worsened as Mi So came into the picture, with both brothers trying to pursue her.
We thought the clichéd “Rich parents would oppose” scenes would appear, but luckily there was no soap drama in this aspect.
I started noticing Lee Tae Hwan since his bodyguard role for Lee Jong Suk in “W – Two Worlds”. My hunch was, this tall lad would earn his lead role someday.
I thought his break would come as the 2nd male lead in “What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim”, but all I could ask was “What’s wrong with the script”?
They did not just waste such a good looking contender to Young Joon, but also made him seem as if he’s a weak opponent right from the very beginning.
While I agree Lee Tae Hwan has quite a fair bit to learn in honing his acting skills, the character lacked all the attributes he could leverage on to alleviate his attractiveness.
How would Mi So even admire someone who’s not on par at Young Joon’s level in terms of competency? While yes, he is a very popular and renowned novelist, that is all there is to his attractiveness.
His saving grace was at the last episode when he finally 冰释前嫌 with Young Joon and said that “I’m sorry. At that time, I couldn’t let it be me.” Perhaps the scriptwriter didn’t want the storyline to be too 撒狗血 and 煽情, it is more of like 点到为止 even when Sung Yeong expressed his remorse and regret.
Proposal : The Chaebol or Customised-for-So-Mi Style?
The advantage of being a Chaebol is, you can choose to fly to LA to plan a proposal or even have a marriage proposal on a private plane, but the viewers would already know, this would not be what low-profile Mi So prefer.
I love how Sung Yeon seems to understand Mi So on another level. Apart from the pollen allergy observation, he also made some suggestions to Young Joon on his proposal. Well, I just do not understand why Young Joon never realised this and Mi So never told him even when the wedding hall would be decorated with flowers, including her hand bouquet.
I also like the part where Young Joon spent a lot of effort crafting a proposal plan for Mi Soo.
A marriage proposal is not about copying what others do, but more of customising what is suitable for that individual.
Just think intently on what is it that she wants and you would come up with something that’s especially unique for her.
I do agree with this. Not everyone would love flamboyant marriage proposal tactics like having fireworks during a river cruise, booking the entire amusement park or even popping an expensive vintage wine at an expensive restaurant.
While this drama is ideal for a light-hearted laugh after a tiring day (with many swoon-worthy elements), the storyline is pretty forgettable in my opinion. It is not a drama that I would think of revisiting in another few months or even years.
I watch this drama for Park Seo Joon and of course, for some laughter.
Nonetheless, it is still worth watching at least once if you are a fan of Rom-Coms.
This also makes me wonder, which type of drama or movie genre would Park Seo Joon take on next?
If you have missed / or would like to reminisce moments of his Singapore Fan Meet, check it here:
https://www.livevizlife.com/park-seo-jun-guess-who-live-in-singapore/ !
