New Employee Chairman Hits Record Ratings

JTBC's Saturday-Sunday drama "The Youngest Chairman Kang" is generating buzz as it broke its own viewership rating record with only two episodes left. The 10th episode, aired on the 28th, recorded 11.1% nationwide and in the Seoul metropolitan area for paid households, with the highest minute-by-minute rating soaring to 12.1%. The target viewership rating for men and women aged 20-49 also ranked first among all Sunday programs nationwide at 4.0%. After entering double-digit ratings with the 8th episode, "The Youngest Chairman Kang" has maintained a steady upward trend and is receiving high viewer interest until the very end.

"The Youngest Chairman Kang" is a "remind life" drama that tells the story of Kang Yong-ho (Son Hyun-joo), the chairman of a conglomerate known as the "god of business," whose soul inhabits the body of a young man, Hwang Joon-hyun (Lee Jun-young), after an accident. Based on the original work by San Kyung, Kim Soon-ok participated as a creator, and writer Hyun Ji-min and director Go Hye-jin collaborated on the project.

The 10th episode depicted Hwang Joon-hyun, possessed by Chairman Kang Yong-ho's soul, getting closer to identifying the culprit. Hwang Joon-hyun acted like a loyal subordinate to Kang Jae-kyung (Jeon Hye-jin) and tracked down clues from hospital CCTV footage on the day of the incident. Initially, Kang Jae-kyung appeared to be the prime suspect, but the clues led to a hospital security guard, Chairman Na Byung-mo's secretary, and his daughter Na Eun-se (Lee Seo-an). Hwang Joon-hyun neared the truth that Na Eun-se, harboring inferiority towards Kang Jae-kyung, had impersonated her to frame her for the crime. However, at the end of the broadcast, a shocking twist revealed that Chairman Kang Yong-ho, who everyone believed to be dead, was secretly being cared for by Kang Jae-seong (Jin Goo) at a villa, signaling that the events surrounding the Choi Sung family were far from over.

Lee Jun-young is leading the drama by perfectly embodying the demeanor and speech of the seasoned Chairman Kang Yong-ho while in the face of the young Hwang Joon-hyun. Going beyond a simple dual role, he naturally portrays the chairman's judgment and composure within the body of a young new employee, enhancing the character's believability. In the 9th episode, Hwang Joon-hyun shook up the Choi Sung family's dynamics by acting as if he had sided with Kang Jae-kyung, leaving Kang Bang-geul (Lee Joo-myung). He gained Kang Jae-kyung's trust by calculating even the crisis surrounding Kang Bang-geul's mother, Jo Sun-hee (Yoon Yoo-sun), and positioned himself at the center of the Choi Sung Group succession war by being appointed head of the future business team. This decision was a plan to rescue Kang Bang-geul and Jo Sun-hee from danger, but it led to a new phase in their relationship when Kang Bang-geul moved into the apartment next door to Hwang Joon-hyun instead of going to America.

Lee Joo-myung, as Kang Bang-geul, deepened the character's narrative by accumulating shock over her father Kang Yong-ho's death, feelings of betrayal towards Hwang Joon-hyun, and anger towards Kang Jae-kyung. She particularly revealed her sense of betrayal through her wavering gaze and expression in the scene where the trusted Hwang Joon-hyun seemed to have sided with Kang Jae-kyung. Jin Goo, as Kang Jae-seong, also transformed from a mere ambitious man into a character holding the key to the twist. While he initially confronted Kang Jae-kyung and revealed his desires, as the story progressed, he began to make different choices amidst the betrayals and guilt surrounding his family. His revelation that he had been protecting Kang Yong-ho, whom everyone believed to be dead, has positioned him as a key figure in unraveling the Choi Sung family's tragedy.