Crash Landing on You
Crash Landing on You
Crash Landing on You

GENERAL INFORMATION

Crash Landing on You

KOREAN DRAMA

Synopsis

After getting into a paragliding accident, South Korean heiress Yoon Se Ri crash lands in North Korea. There, she meets North Korean army officer Ri Jung Hyuk, who agrees to help her return to South Korea. Despite the tension between their countries, the two of them start falling for one another.

A subplot follows Goo Seung Joon, a fraudster seeking refuge in the North, and Seo Dan, a musician and Jung Hyuk's fiancée.

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THE CAST

CHARACTERS SUMMARY

MAIN CHARACTERS

Note: Kim Seung Chan plays the young Jung Hyuk.

A captain in the Korean People's Army serving in the DMZ and the head of Company Five, and the youngest son of the Director of the General Political Bureau. A gifted pianist who studied in Switzerland before his military service, he gave up music after his older brother's mysterious death. Regulations demand Se Ri's execution; he hides and protects her instead.

Note: Kim Tae Yeon plays the young Se Ri.

A third-generation heiress and the illegitimate daughter of the chairman of Queens Group, who built a successful fashion brand and was named his successor. A tornado sweeps her across the border while she is paragliding. A steely pragmatist at first, she softens over her time in the North.

Note: Park Seo Yeon plays the young Seo Dan.

A musician, and Jung Hyuk's fiancée.

A British-Korean businessman and Se Ri's former fiancé — charming, persuasive and unscrupulous. He embezzles a fortune from her brother and flees to North Korea to evade the police and Interpol.

Others

Special appearances and cameos

Episodes 1, 5 and 7.

Episodes 10 and 15.

As herself, episodes 13 and 15.

A taxi driver, episode 4.

A fortune teller, episodes 11 and 16.

An officer, episode 1.

The fishing boat captain, episodes 3-4.

The coast guard chief, episodes 3-4.

The soldier who torments Jung Man Bok, episode 5.

Episodes 6 and 11.

Episodes 6 and 11.

A patient, and a BTS fan, episodes 7-8.

The hospital director, episodes 7-8.

The clothes shop owner, episode 7.

The military director, episodes 8, 9, 12 and 16.

The head of the detention centre, episode 9.

A military judge, episode 10.

The North Korean team coach, episodes 10, 13-14.

Chief Kim of the NIS, episodes 14-16.

An NIS executive, episodes 14-16.

EXTENDED CHARACTERS

People close to Se Ri

Her older brother.

Se Hyung's wife.

Sales manager.

People close to Jung Hyuk

His older brother.

Company Five
People close to Seo Dan
People close to Seung Joon
The North Korean village

A neighbour.

A neighbour.

A neighbour.

A shopkeeper.

The butcher.

Son of Jung Man Bok and Hyun Myung Sook.

Young Ae's son.

Ok Geum's daughter.

The pawnshop owner.

North Korean military personnel

A senior colonel.

One of Jo Chul Kang's subordinates.

VARIETIES

CORRELATION CHART

Audience

Date Episode National AGB Nielsen (%) Seoul AGB Nielsen (%) National TNmS (%) Seoul TNmS (%)
December 14th, 2019 01 6.074 6.558
December 15th, 2019 02 6.845 7.841
December 21st, 2019 03 7.414 7.689
December 22nd, 2019 04 8.499 9.409
December 28th, 2019 05 8.730 9.794
December 29th, 2019 06 9.223 9.535
January 11th, 2020 07 9.394 9.738
January 12th, 2020 08 11.349 12.031
January 18th, 2020 09 11.516 12.355
January 19th, 2020 10 14.633 15.903
February 1st, 2020 11 14.238 14.648
February 2nd, 2020 12 15.933 16.413
February 8th, 2020 13 14.097 14.620
February 9th, 2020 14 17.705 18.612
February 15th, 2020 15 17.066 17.406
February 16th, 2020 16 21.683 23.249
Average 12.150 12.862

MORE DETAILS

Broadcast period: December 14, 2019 - February 16, 2020
Air time: Saturday & Sunday 21:00
Runtime: 85 minutes
Drama OST: Crash Landing on You OST
Viewership ratings: 6.1% - 21.7% (AGB Nielsen, nationwide)

PRODUCTION CREDITS

Director: Lee Jung Hyo
Screenwriter: Park Ji Eun
Production companies: Studio Dragon, Culture Depot
Music: Nam Hye Seung

RECOGNITIONS

Year Award Recognition
2020 7th APAN Star Awards Daesang (Grand Prize) — Hyun Bin
2020 7th APAN Star Awards Best Supporting Actor — Kim Young Min
2020 7th APAN Star Awards Best Supporting Actress — Kim Sun Young
2020 Seoul International Drama Awards Outstanding Korean Drama
2020 Seoul International Drama Awards Outstanding Korean Actress — Seo Ji Hye
2020 56th Baeksang Arts Awards TikTok Popularity Award — Hyun Bin & Son Ye Jin
2020 56th Baeksang Arts Awards Bazaar Icon Award — Seo Ji Hye
2020 56th Baeksang Arts Awards Best Supporting Actress — Kim Sun Young

NOTES & VARIETIES

Park Ji Eun based the drama on an incident in which a South Korean actress drifted into North Korean waters. The script also draws on the paradox of the Korean division and on "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" and "The Little Prince".
Produced by Studio Dragon and Culture Depot on a budget of roughly US$20 million, it was filmed over six months, with location work in Switzerland, Mongolia and South Korea. The first script reading was held on July 31, 2019.
Hyun Bin and Son Ye Jin had already worked together on the film "The Negotiation". They married in 2022, and their first child was born later that year.
Episodes 7 and 8 were pushed back a week so that filming conditions stayed safe: with the winter cold, the producers decided to take the week off to keep the cast and crew healthy.
No episodes aired on January 25 and 26 because of the Lunar New Year holiday. "Crash Landing on You Special: Lunar New Year Present Set" and the film "Extreme Job" were shown instead.
On January 27 it was reported that Son Ye Jin had been taken to the emergency room while filming, from accumulated fatigue. Her agency said she had received the necessary treatment and returned to set, and that the emergency room was only used because it was a public holiday and the regular hospital services were closed.
The finale drew the highest ratings of any tvN drama, beating the record "Goblin" set in 2017.
It took the tvN Saturday-Sunday 21:00 timeslot left by "Melting Me Softly" and was followed by "Hi Bye, Mama!".
Kim Soo Hyun appears in episode 10 as Bang Dong Goo, his character from the film "Secretly Greatly".
In episode 12, when Ri Jung Hyuk faces Geum Eun Dong at the video game, the music from "Memories of the Alhambra" — which also stars Hyun Bin — can briefly be heard.
In episode 14, Se Ri watches the drama "Abyss" on the television in her hospital room.
On January 23, 2020 it emerged that the conservative Christian Liberty Party had filed a police complaint two weeks earlier, accusing the drama of violating the National Security Act and "glamorizing" North Korea by portraying its soldiers as peaceful. North Korean state media, for its part, condemned the series as a "provocative" distortion.
It was a major success of the Korean Wave, particularly in Japan, driving sales for the brands it featured and tourism to its Swiss filming locations. Copies circulated inside North Korea through the black market, where a line of its dialogue became a trend.
The series was adapted into a musical, and the Ministry of Unification named Park Ji Eun its "Unification Education Person of the Year" for what it did for cultural understanding.

ORIGINAL SOUND TRACK(S)

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COMMENTS

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1 comment

  1. Morher
    Morher
    August 21, 2026

    Good Drama