‘Forecasting Love and Weather’ Park Min-young Is the Queen of Office Romances
Some South Korean actors are well known for a certain genre of Koran dramas. Fans of K-dramas know the name Park Min-young as she now stars in Netflix‘s Forecasting Love and Weather. The age-gap office romance drama is not Park’s first rodeo. She has many well-known K-dramas in her career, but she is tagged as the ‘Queen of office romances.’ K-drama’s most acclaimed office romances star Park in the leading female role. But some fans fear she is being typecasted.
‘Forecasting Love and Weather’ K-drama stars Park Min-young as a weather forecaster
Netflix’s new K-drama stars the ‘Son of Netflix’ Song Kang alongside Park. Forecasting Love and Weather tells the story of an office romance between two employees in the Korea Meteorological Administration. Park plays the role of Jin Ha-kyung, a 35-year old general forecaster who seemed to have had it all.
When her relationship with another coworker goes down the drain, she vows never to date another person from work. Song Kang plays the role of 27-year-old Lee Shi-woo. He is bubbly, bright, has a high IQ, and is passionate about his gift for weather forecasting.
He is transferred to Ha-kyung’s division. The two characters start to find common ground due to past broken relationships. Shi-woo develops feelings for Ha-kyung and is not afraid to express them. For Ha-kyung, she keeps herself guarded, afraid of the repercussions from her colleagues and for the age gap. Actor Park again stars in an office romance where she dazzles on screen.
Park Min-young’s office romance K-dramas before ‘Forecasting Love and Weather’ are staples
Why were fans excited to see Park star in a new office romance? The actor has had a good career starring in Healer, City Hunter, and the gender-bending K-drama Sungkyunkwan Scandal. But many K-drama fans came to know her for starring in two staple dramas every newbie has seen. When it comes to the office romance genre, everyone knows the titles What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim? and Her Private Life.
Park starred in the K-dramas back to back in 2018 and 2019. What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim? embodied all the tropes known in the genre, from a boss realizing he is in love with his secretary, the characters fated love, and traumatic intertwined childhood. The same concept occurs in Her Private Life but instead occurs between an art director and an artist.
NME describes, “At this point, Park Min-young has become somewhat of a staple in office rom-coms, thanks to her brilliant work in Her Private Life and What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim,” concerning Forecasting Love and Weather. Park is undoubtedly the most recognized actor in office rom-com, with the 2022 Netflix K-drama being her third.
Park has it all to perfectly portray the genre from her soft facial features, acting, and ability to create sizzling on-screen chemistry with her male co-star. Her kiss scenes with Park Seo-joon are still the most searched on the internet.
K-drama fans are afraid of Park Min-young being typcasted
Just like Hollywood, the Korean entertainment industry and its actors can be subjected to typecasting. While fans enjoy Park in Forecasting Love and Weather, they cannot help but feel she is taking on roles too familiar to her. A fan on Reddit explains, “I hate to say this, Park Minyoung is being typecast already in an office drama. She needs to get out of that comfort zone.”
A fan on another Reddit thread agrees and explains, “Her character in Secretary Kim was very much a stereotype, and in Her Private Life, she carried the same appearance and mannerisms and felt like the same person.” Park explained what drew her to the role in press interviews for Forecasting Love and Weather.
Despite it being an office romance, Park said, “The project felt refreshing to me since it is the first to deal with the Korea Meteorological Administration as the background,” according to Soompi. Park has helped establish the office romance genre for K-drama fans, but it is not the only great role in her career.
