Two of the most famous celebrities in South Korea are pairing up for a romance drama. On December 2, 2024, Kakao Entertainment confirmed to the public that IU and Byeon Woo Seok are confirmed to star in a new romance drama—and no, we can't hide our feelings about this anymore.
As we all (must) know, IU is a singer-actress in her own right. She is known for her songs, "Good Day," "Blueming," "Celebrity," "Love Wins All," and more. Recently, IU just wrapped up her world tour concert titled, HEREH, and released her latest album called, The Winning. IU's last K-drama, Hotel Del Luna aired ages ago in 2019. Since then, the celebrity has focused more on her craft as a musician. In 2025 though, she's set to make her grand comeback as an actress with back-to-back K-dramas lined up for her. ICYDK, IU's drama with Park Bo Gum, When Live Gives You Tangerines, is also slated for a 2025 release.
(BTW, fun fact: Park Bo Gum and Byeon Woo Seok were once co-stars in the 2020 K-drama, Record of Youth. In 2025, they will both (!) be IU's leading men.)
And then there's Byeon Woo Seok who's finally announced his next project after his global hit series, Lovely Runner. The actor gained prominence for his Lovely Runner stint, bagging several endorsements in a span of six months since the drama's finale. In an episode of the variety show, Yoo Quiz on the Block, Woo Seok admitted that after Lovely Runner, calls for him to be the next male lead in about 20 to 30 scripts poured in. Hence, the anticipation for the actor's new work was indeed high.
Now that the two are set to appear in their comeback K-dramas soon, fans are brimming with excitement over the announcement. Obviously, Uaenas (IU's fans) and Tongtongs (Woo Seok's fans) have been waiting for quite some time already.
This November 13, 2025, an update finally came through for the drama, which will have the official title of Perfect Crown. Disney+ announced the release of the much-anticipated K-drama early in 2026 (just a few months away!).
Along with everyone else, we're also rejoicing this recent development. So, without further ado, below we're sharing everything we've discovered about IU and Byeon Woo Seok's upcoming K-drama—as in everything!
Everything About IU and Byeon Woo Seok's Upcoming Romance Drama
The plot makes it more exciting.
First things first: as of writing, the working title for this drama was 21st Century Grand Prince's Wife. As of November 2023, MBC and Disney+ confirmed that Perfect Crown would be its English title.
Most importantly, you have to know that Byeon Woo Seok here plays the role of a prince. But no, it's not the kind of prince in the usual historical K-dramas out there or something like Prince Charming in Snow White. The drama revolves around the plot of a fictional South Korea where a constitutional monarchy is in place. So, picture the iconic K-drama Princess Hours or The Princess Diaries, except it's not Genovia we're talking about here, but South Korea. (Someone pinch me!)
According to Soompi's report, Perfect Crown will be a romance drama that will revolve around the story of a chaebol commoner and a prince with nothing but royal status.
In fact, in a December 2024 interview with Billboard, IU hinted at her upcoming drama. Although she did not mention the title, she confirmed that she will be filming it soon and that it will have a completely different vibe from her earlier dramas, specifically When Life Give You Tangerines.
"I'll also be filming a new drama with a completely different vibe—glamorous and fun," IU illustrated in the interview. The singer-actress also detailed that she will be focusing more on acting for the most part of 2025.
2. IU as the chaebol commoner, Sung Hee Joo.
Okay, we know you might be wondering what a "chaebol commoner" is, which IU will be portraying. ICYDK, chaebol basically indicates an extremely wealthy status in South Korea. Her character, Sung Hee Joo, was described as a competitive second daughter of one of the richest families in Korea. However, despite her economic status in life, her social status remains to be a commoner in the modern monarchy where they live. With the hopes of breaking free from her commoner status, her life gets entangled with Byeon Woo Seok's prince role, Lee Ahn (Wan).
P.S. We're so excited to see super chic and diva-like styling again from IU!
ALSO READ: Here's How You Can Copy IU's Hairstyles From Hotel Del Luna
3. Byeon Woo Seok as Royal Prince Lee Ahn
Byeon Woo Seok will portray the role of Prince Lee Ahn. Although he's a prince in this drama, he is described as the King's second son who chose to hide his identity for most of his life. He is of royal status, but he also has nothing. Korean media outlets have distinguished the drama's plot as a "love story that transcends social status."
(Some rumored spoiler we got from the internet: Lee Ahn's desire in life will change after meeting the overly competitive Sung Hee Joo—who is allegedly engaged to Lee Ahn's good friend in the story!)
4. The story of Perfect Crown won a scriptwriting contest.
An interesting fact about this drama is that its story was written and submitted for MBC's scriptwriting contest in 2022. South Korean media outlets reported that the script actually bested 997 scripts, and it was written by a female writer named Yoo Ah In.
An article summarized the judges' comments on the drama's script back in 2022. It was reported that writer Yoo's story caught the judges' attention by successfully detailing progressive and passionate characters. Moreover, it has a clear storyline and direction as to how a constitutional monarchy must work, even in an alternate South Korean setting.
5. Perfect Crown's release date
Some fans are saying that it'll be a Friday-to-Saturday drama that'll air in September 2025—but we're still waiting for an official confirmation from the production houses on this. What we can confirm for now is that Perfect Crown is slated to air in early 2026 and will be streaming on Disney+ for its international audience. The drama is also confirmed as part of the rich list of upcoming dramas by Korea's public channel, MBC, and it will be co-produced with Kakao Entertainment.
Stay tuned on cosmo.ph for more exciting updates about K-dramas!
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