SBS's Mongle Counseling Center is generating significant buzz.
Directed by Go Hye-rin—who won the Baeksang Arts Awards' Best Work prize for Hakjeon and Deutgeot Kim Min-ki—SBS Special My Heart Is Warm and Fuzzy — Mongle Counseling Center (hereafter Mongle Counseling Center) follows young people with developmental disabilities (referred to in the show as "Mongle" participants) who dream of love but haven’t had the chance. Over an eight-week journey, 14-year-married couple and counseling chiefs Lee Hyori and Lee Sang-soon coach the participants through dating as they search for their first love.
In the March 8 premiere, Lee Hyori and Lee Sang-soon met three Mongle participants—Oh Ji-hyun, Yoo Ji-hoon, and Jung Ji-won—each with distinct charms. The couple listened to each participant’s struggles and helped arrange their first blind dates. The trio’s personalities—innocent and clear-hearted, and awkward yet genuinely considerate—struck a chord with viewers, offering heartfelt comfort and softening common prejudices about disability.
Since the premiere, social platforms have been filled with praise: "As a social worker, this addresses issues I’ve long worried about," "I’m grateful Lee Hyori and Lee Sang-soon supported a program like this," and "I actually preferred this to typical dating shows with non-disabled casts." Viewers have described it as a "villain-free romance" that warmed their hearts.
Mongle Counseling Center, praised for its sincere portrayal of dating and growth among young people with developmental disabilities, proved its appeal in its first week by reaching No. 10 on Netflix Korea’s "Today’s Top 10" chart (as of March 10). A clip of Oh Ji-hyun’s first blind date, posted to SBS’s official social channels, surpassed 1.3 million views within 24 hours (as of March 10), an unusually strong response. As the show gains momentum in an attention-saturated media landscape, industry watchers are eager to see how far its ripple effect will reach.
Meanwhile, SBS Special My Heart Is Warm and Fuzzy — Mongle Counseling Center will air its second episode on Sunday the 15th at 11:05 p.m. KST.
Kim Se-a, TenAsia reporter haesmik@tenasia.co.kr
