[SPOTV News=Reporter Bae Seon-young] Byun Woo-seok and IU played modern-day versions of Prince Suyang.
In the first episode of MBC’s Friday–Saturday drama 21st Century Daegun's Wife, which premiered on the 10th, viewers see Seong Hee-ju (IU) and Grand Prince Ian (Byun Woo-seok) meet for the first time at the king’s birthday reception in a constitutional-monarchy South Korea.
At the reception, Grand Prince Ian and Queen Dowager Yoon Yi-rang (Gong Seung-yeon) clash, exposing Ian’s long-standing wound from being constantly sidelined by the crown prince. Yoon confronts him and warns that his mere existence threatens the king, ordering him to marry a woman she selects to prove his loyalty to the throne.
Grand Prince Ian responds bitterly: “The royal household can do nothing. All we can do is nothing.”
Although their positions differ, Seong Hee-ju faces a similar predicament. Born into a chaebol family but illegitimate, she receives a marriage proposal from her father and realizes it’s intended to minimize her standing — a move that infuriates her.
Meanwhile, 21st Century Daegun's Wife is set in a 21st-century constitutional-monarchy South Korea and follows a status-defying romance: a chaebol-born woman who remains legally a commoner and a prince who has been denied any claim to wealth or status.
