Strong Girl Bong-soon () is a 2017 South Korean television series starring Park Bo-young in the title role as a woman with superhuman strength, with Park Hyung-sik and Ji Soo. It aired on JTBC from February 24 to April 15, 2017.
The series received audience acclaim, with its final episode recording 8.96% in nationwide ratings, becoming the "highest viewership rating among JTBC dramas" at that point of time.
Synopsis Do Bong-soon (Park Bo-young) was born with superhuman strength. Her strength is hereditary and passed along only to the women in her family. She dreams of creating a video game with herself as the main character. She desperately wants to become a delicate and elegant woman, which is the ideal type of her crush, In Guk-doo (Ji Soo), a police officer who is also her childhood friend. Thanks to her strength, she gets a job as a bodyguard to rich heir Ahn Min-hyuk (Park Hyung-sik), the CEO of a gaming company, Ainsoft. A series of kidnapping cases happen in Dobong-dong, the district Bong-soon lives in, and she is determined to catch the culprit who targeted her best friend. With help and training from Min-hyuk, she manages to control her strength to use it for good causes. Min-hyuk and Bong-soon find their relationship growing into something more. Their relationship at work and in pursuit of the kidnapper creates comical and dangerous situations, which bring them closer.
Cast Main Park Bo-young as Do Bong-soon Shin Bi as young Do Bong-soon A young woman born with superhuman strength who tries not to use her powers but does not hesitate to use them for good when needed. She has had a crush on Guk-doo for a long time but eventually falls for Min-hyuk. She will lose her powers if she harms an innocent with them. Park Hyung-sik as Ahn Min-hyuk Choi Seung-hoon as young Ahn Min-hyuk A chaebol heir and CEO of a video game company who hides his pain underneath his cheeky demeanour. He knows Bong-soon even before the "Bus incident" but is not aware of it until much later. Ji Soo as In Guk-doo Choi Min-young as young In Guk-doo An idealistic rookie detective who is passionate about justice. Known for being crazy and extremely aggressive, he is continuously transferred from one department to another. He was initially unaware of Bong-soon's powers.
Supporting People around Do Bong-soon
Ahn Woo-yeon as Do Bong-ki Lee Hyo-dan as young Do Bong-ki Bong-soon's twin brother. He cares for Bong-soon. Shim Hye-jin as Hwang Jin-yi Bong-soon's mother. She corners Bong-soon and always prioritises Bong-ki. She often assaults her husband. Yoo Jae-myung as Do Chil-goo Bong-soon's father. He is naive and cares deeply for both his children. Despite being beaten by his wife frequently, he tries to maintain a positive attitude. Park Bo-mi as Na Kyung-shim Bong-soon's best friend from Busan. She was Kim Jang-hyun's fourth kidnapping victim. She knows about Bong-soon's powers. Baek Soo-ryun as Lady Soon-shim Bong-soon's maternal grandmother. Kim Mi-hee as Myung-soo's mother Kim Soo-yeon as Jae-soon's mother
People around Ahn Min-hyuk
Jeon Seok-ho as Secretary Gong Min-hyuk's secretary. Han Jung-kook as Ahn Chul-do Min-hyuk's father, Chairman of Ohsung Group. Kim Sung-bum as Ahn Dong-ha Min-hyuk's half-brother. Shim Hoon-gi as Ahn Dong-suk Min-hyuk's formerly trusted half-brother. Lee Se-wook as Ahn Kyung-hwan Min-hyuk's half-brother.
People around In Guk-doo
Seol In-ah as Jo Hee-ji Guk-doo's girlfriend. Yoon Ye-hee as Jung Mi-hwa Guk-doo's mother.
People at Baek Tak Party
Im Won-hee as Baek Soo-tak Kim Min-kyo as Ahgari Kim Won-hae as Kim Kwang-bok Kim Ki-moo as Hwang Hyun-dong Lee Ho-cheol
Do Bong Police Station Criminal Team 3
Choi Moo-in as Team Leader Yook Oh Soon-tae as Bulgom (Brown Bear) Joo Ho as Neokboi (Knock Boy) Choi Hyung as Heollaengyi (Hell Angel) Kim Won-suk as Dotbogi (Magnifying Glass)
Ainsoft Employee Kim Won-hae as Oh Dol-ppyeo Head of Development Planning Team; doppelgänger of Kim Kwang-bok.
Extended
Jang Mi-kwan as Kim Jang-hyun A criminal. He was the true perpetrator of the serial kidnapping of young women, and throughout the series, especially the latter part, he was in an enmity with Bong-soon and tried ways to get rid of her. Eventually, Kim Jang-hyun was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and kidnapping. Son Hyo-eun as Jung Hyang-sook A murder victim. She was, in fact, Kim Jang-hyun's first intended kidnapping victim but was murdered by him due to her fierce attempts at self-defence. Choi Hyun-seo as Kim Ji-won High-school teacher; the first kidnapped victim. Choi Young-shin as Lee Joo-young Dance instructor; the second kidnapped victim. Min Ji-hyun as Pharmacist The third kidnapped victim. Kim Hyun-mok as Bullied student Kim Young-choon as Il Jin A high school student and the leader of Bong-soon's lackeys. Yoo In-soo as Kang Goo One of Bong-soon's lackeys. Choi Won-myeong as Jang Kyung-tae Hong Ye-ri as Ho Soon-yi Do Bong Walnut shop employee. Kim Tae-soo as Oh Hyun-joong The contract killer. Lee Ho-chul as Team Leader Jo Oh Hyun-joong's associate. Hapkie as Member of Baek Tak Party Kim Won-jun as Subway Molester Lee Jung-kwi as a High school boy bullied by Il Jin's gang Jun Byung-chul as Lee Woo-jin
Special appearances
Kang Ji-young as JTVC announcer (Ep. 2, 8, 10 & 13) as Fortuneteller (Ep. 4 & 7)
Song Won-geun as Song Won-geun, Theatre actor (Ep. 7 & 8) Yoon Sang-hyun as Charles Go (Ep. 8) as Voice Phishing specialist as Voice Phishing specialist Jang Sung-kyu as JTVC announcer Kwon Hyuk-soo as fake Indian Monk Nizamuddin / Jo Dal-bong (Ep. 12–14) Lee Sang as the Ainsoft Receptionist (Ep. 14) Clara Lee as Lee Bong-soon, Dental Hygienist (Ep. 16)
Production The drama was written by Baek Mi-kyung, who previously wrote Beloved Eun-dong and directed by Lee Hyung-min of Ms. Temper and Nam Jung-gi. Filming started in October 2016 and finished on April 11, 2017.
The drama served as a reunion between Park Hyung-sik and Yoo Jae-myung, who previously worked together in the KBS2 drama Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth, as well as Kim Won-hae.
Original soundtrack
Charted songs
Title Year Peak chartpositions Sales Remarks KOR "How Would It Be"(Standing Egg) 2017 93 KOR: 18,545 Part 3 "Double Trouble Couple"(Mamamoo) 46 KOR: 60,728Cumulative sales for "Double Trouble Couple":
Part 5 "I Fall in Love"(Vromance feat. Obroject) 99 KOR: 19,304 Part 6 "Because of You"(Park Hyung-sik) 85 KOR: 22,038+ Part 8
Ratings + Average TV viewership ratings Original broadcast date Title Average audience share Nielsen Korea TNmS Nationwide Seoul Nationwide 1 February 24, 2017 Ridiculous Punks() 2 February 25, 2017 Culprit's Thought() 5.758% 6.041% 6.1% 3 March 3, 2017 That Person's Secret() 6.081% 7.003% 5.5% 4 March 4, 2017 Her True Identity() 8.301% 8.669% 8.3% 5 March 10, 2017 Seems As If They're Friends, and Yet Not() 7.113% 8.025% 6.7% 6 March 11, 2017 Happy Together() 8.692% 8.632% 7.7% 7 March 17, 2017 Changes() 6.834% 7.119% 7.1% 8 March 18, 2017 One Step Closer() 9.603% 8.8% 9 March 24, 2017 Love Risking One's Life() 7.423% 8.019% 8.8% 10 March 25, 2017 Find A Hidden Heart() 9.286% 9.8% 11 March 31, 2017 Timing() 7.772% 8.572% 7.7% 12 April 1, 2017 Help Me() 8.477% 8.352% 9.1% 13 April 7, 2017 Nevertheless() 7.448% 8.036% 8.9% 14 April 8, 2017 A Prelude to the Battle () 8.597% 9.251% 15 April 14, 2017 Level Up () 7.834% 8.773% 7.9% 16 April 15, 2017 Final () 8.957% 9.625% 9.8% Average Special April 17, 2017 0.8% 0.6% In the table above, the represent the lowest ratings and the represent the highest ratings. N/A denotes that the rating is not known. This series aired on a cable channel/pay TV which normally has a relatively smaller audience compared to free-to-air TV/public broadcasters (KBS, SBS, MBC and EBS).
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Recipient Result Ref. 2017 53rd Baeksang Arts Awards Best Actress Park Bo-young Best New Actor Ji Soo 12th Seoul International Drama Awards Best Mini-series Strong Girl Bong-soon Best Actress Park Bo-young Outstanding Korean Actress 1st The Seoul Awards Best Actress Popularity award Park Hyung-sik Winners Of The Seoul Awards https://www.soompi.com/2017/10/27/winners-2017-seoul-awards/
Adaptation and spin-off Aborted American adaptation On November 9, 2018, it was announced that an adaptation of the series was in development at The CW from CBS Television Studios and writer Melissa Scrivner-Love, with Ronda Rousey and Ben Silverman also set to executive produce. The project, titled Strong Girl, would have followed "a former war photographer named Rayna who discovers she is indestructible and potentially the strongest woman in the world. Ghosted by [her Special Operations fiancé] when she reveals her newfound power to him, Rayna is hired as a bodyguard by a billionaire named Oliver, who sees her true potential." On February 8, 2019, it was revealed that the script was not picked up to pilot.
Malaysian adaptation In February 2024 it was reported that an adaptation of the series would be made in Malaysia, with no further news on which broadcasters nor the release date.
Spin-off The spin-off of the series titled Strong Girl Nam-soon, starring Lee Yoo-mi, Kim Jung-eun, Kim Hae-sook, Ong Seong-wu and Byeon Woo-seok, premiered on JTBC on October 7, 2023. Park Hyung-sik and Park Bo-young make a special appearance in Strong Girl Nam-soon as Min-hyuk and Bong-soon.
References
External links