[HanCinema's News] Defectors Rank Top Three "Crash Landing on You" Actors in Terms of Dialect

One major factor behind the success of "Crash Landing on You" is the unusual authenticity the drama manages to exert in regards to its North Korean characters. This fidelity to such minor factors as dialect has also been praised by actual North Korean defectors. On February 19th, a segment on the YouTube channel of YouTuber Dave invited defectors on to share which actors in "Crash Landing on You" they felt did the best job.

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Yang Kyung-won, Yoo Su-bin, and Lee Sin-young, in that order, were ranked as the three best. That these specific actors would be selected is of little surprise, as they had also enjoyed the most popular praise for their performances while "Crash Landing on You" was still airing.

The omission of leading star Hyun Bin was notable, though easily explained. The defectors explained that Hyun Bin's character, though heroic, was inherently unrealistic, and that no people like him existed in the North Korean military. This comment likely was less a political statement and more a reference to his character's inherently bombastic actions. Kim Soo-hyun of "Secretly and Greatly" fame, who reprised that role in a cameo on "Crash Landing on You", was similarly deemed unrealistic.

The defectors also had praiseful remarks for the depiction of department stores in "Crash Landing on You", as well as the drama's accurate depiction of North Korean fashion. Their impression of the drama's depiction of living quarters was more negative, however, as they described real North Korean homes as being more about practical function, rather than aesthetic form.

Written by William Schwartz

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"Crash Landing on You" is directed by Lee Jeong-hyo, written by Park Ji-eun, and features Hyun Bin, Son Ye-jin, Seo Ji-hye, Kim Jung-hyun, Kim Sun-young, Kim Jung-nan. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2019/12/14~2020/02/16, Sat, Sun 21:00 on tvN.