Ha ji-won, a preponderant actress of South Korea, has an incredible acting profile! Over 20 Years, she rules the Korean industry with diversifying acting skills. She has not restricted her acting skill into one or two genres! By playing in ALMOST all genre-centric roles , she is considered as one of the most sought after actresses in South Korea!
Here are the Allsorts Kdrama’s Top 4 Dramas of Ha ji-won!
Empress Ki
This is one of the highly regarded dramas of Ha ji-won! She acted a Gi Seungnyang, a normal woman who later becomes the Empress of Yuan!
The series is about Gi Seungnyang, a Goryeo-born woman who pretended as a man and finally ascends to power in spite of the restrictions on class system! Later, She became Empress Ki of the Yuan dynasty by marrying the Emperor of Mongol Empire, Toghon Temür , a weak, puppet king, yet determined to win Seungnyang from her first love, Wang Yu. Empress Ki highlights her political ambitions, and how she is torn between the loves she had for the King of Goryeo, Wang Yu and the Emperor of Yuan Dynasty (Ji Chang-wook).
The drama centres mainly on the character of Seungnyang and her political tactics! She is a strong-willed and sometimes cunning woman who would do anything to destroy her rebels! Though her love is true, “power” is her foremost priority!
With an Average audience share of 21.9%(According to AGB Nielsen), The series is a domestic and Overseas hit and won Golden Bird Prize for Serial Drama at the 9th Seoul International Drama Awards.
Ha Ji-won also won the Grand Prize, the highest award at the MBC Drama Awards for her terrific performance.
Secret Garden:
Secret Garden is a fantastic Cinderella story between Gil Ra-im (played by Ha Ji-won), a stuntwoman, and Kim Joo-won (played by Hyun Bin), a CEO of a renowned department store. while trying to resolve a scandal of his cousin, Oska (played by Yoon Sang-hyun), a famous singer, Joo-won meets Ra-im and gets impressed by her stunning coolness though she does not meet his expectations to be his woman. Ask his feelings for her started growing strong; he went on to propose her. After several meetings, Ra-im gradually started liking him.
Now the real story starts when Joo-won’s mother disagrees with their relationship. Despite her strong approval, they both get married.
However, when Yoon Seul (played by Kim Sa-rang), lover of Oska, set her eyes on Joo Won instead of Oska. The story takes a complete turn and becomes even more complicated when Ra-im and Joo-won magically start switching bodies.
Secret Garden was a huge success and created another Korean wave after jewel in the Palace. The profit was huge as well, with an approximate estimation of more than 20 billion won worth of economic effect.
Stunt Queen, Ha ji-won several awards at 2010 SBS Drama Awards and the 47th Baeksang Arts Awards that includes Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Drama Special, Netizen Popularity Award – Actress, etc.
Ha ji-won and Hyun-bin won Best Couple Awards. This drama won in almost all nominations.
What Happened in Bali:
Ha ji-won acted as Lee Soo-Jung, an Orphan who works as a Tour Guide in Bali, a famous destination in Indonesia. She struggles with a mischievous and useless brother who always ends up in prison. Her troubles deepen after she meets three tourists, Jung Jae-min, Choi Young-Joo and Kang In-Wook.
Otherwise known as Something Happened in Bali, This drama revolves around Lee Soo-Jung (Ha Ji-won), Jung Jae-min (Jo In-sung), Kang In-Wook (So Ji-sub), and Choi Young-Joo (Park Ye-jin). Soo-Jung works as a tour guide in Bali and has a difficult brother. Jae-Min comes from a wealthy family, playboy, arrogant, and uninterested in the family business. Jae-Min meets soo-Jung in Bali because of his fiancé young-Joo who came with her ex-boyfriend. Soo-Jung learns the love triangle between them and things get complicated when they all meet again in Seoul.
The Final episode has reached a peak rating of 39.7% Nationwide. With an average nationwide rating of 26.4%, What Happened In Bali (2004) is one of the Breakthroughs in ji-won’s fantabulous acting career!
Ha Ji-won won Best Actress (TV) at 40th Baeksang Arts Awards and Top 10 Stars at SBS Drama Awards!
Hwang Jini
Ha ji-won took the role of Hwang Jini, the most famous gisaeng(Government’s legal entertainers) in Korean history.
The series was based on the turbulent life of Hwang Jini, who lived in 16th-century Joseon and became the most famous gisaeng in Korean history.
The story dramatizes the biopic of Hwang jinni, who is acclaimed as a famous gisaeng at those times where women are oppressed and considered as a mere living being without any social status! The story starts with her childhood days, tells her infamous love, and how she acclaimed a celebrated life in spite of obscurity!
With a Nationwide rating of 21.7%, this 2006 drama is another blockbuster of Ha ji-won following the series “Something happend in Bali”.
Other Notable Dramas of Ha Ji Won:
Damo:
Ha ji-won acted as Jae-hui/ Chae-ok, Intelligent and a great treasure to the law enforcement establishment.
Chae-ok, a child after losing his family for framed conspiracy, went on as a slave of (the kid ) Hwangbo Yoon’s family. she leads his childhood along with him and secretly loves him since childhood! When he becomes a police commander, she even joins his bureau as a damo just to see him always.
Her long one-side love is shaken when she meets the rebel leader Jang Sung-baek.
Damo was the first Korean drama to reach 1 million posts on the message board of its official website, which even caused the site’s servers to crash. It eventually passed 4 million posts.MBC earned an estimated amount of ₩10 million a day (online) through royalty fees!
The King 2 Hearts:
Ha ji -won acted as Kim Hang-ah, A North Korean Special Forces Officer who is deployed to train a military Exercise which was commissioned as a gesture of the cordial relationship between North Korea and South Korea.
The story revolves around the Crown Prince of South Korea, a pompous and incautious guy with attractive physical appearance. After his brother, King Jae-kang, ascended to the throne, in order to make him responsible, he tricked Jae-ha to participate in the military exercise between North and South Korea, commissioned by both countries authorities. He has to undergo a proper training under Kim Hang-ah (Ha ji-won), A North Korean Special Forces Officer, nicknamed as Iron Lady with zero feminine Qualities. This is one of the main dramas which played a pivotal role in Lee’s successful acting carrier.
Ha ji Won Drama List:
Dragon’s Tears(1998)
Dangerous Lullaby(1999)
School 2(1999)
Secret(2000)
Life is Beautiful(2001)
Sunshine Hunting(2002)
Damo(2003)
What Happened in Bali(2004)
Fashion 70’s(2005)
Hwang Jini(2006)
Secret Garden(2010)
The King 2 Hearts(2012)
Empress Ki(2013)
The Time We Were Not in Love(2015)
Hospital Ship(2017)
Chocolate(2019)
Ha ji Won Movie List:
Truth Game(2000)
Nightmare(2000)
Ditto(2000)
Phone(2002)
Sex Is Zero(2002)
Reversal of Fortune(2003)
100 Days with Mr. Arrogant(2004)
Love, So Divine(2004)
All for Love(2005)
Daddy-Long-Legs(2005)
Duelist(2005)
Miracle on 1st Street(2007)
Miracle of a Giving Fool(2008)
Tidal Wave(2009)
Closer to Heaven(2009)
Sector 7(2011)
As One(2012)
The Huntresses(2014)
Chronicle of a Blood Merchant(2015)
Life Risking Romance(2016)
Manhunt(2017)
Collateral(2019)