What's Wrong with Secretary Kim

Chemistry between Leads made it work

The story is ordinary, nothing over the top. It's lead chemistry that made it so much popular.

Loved Lee Young Jun house.

Lee Young Jun is arrogant, full of himself, narcissistic, egotistical, loves to praise himself, but he has a character development throughout the drama. There is a reason why he is like this. But he is considering a person who thinks about others, who will suffer alone but won’t let others.

Kim Mi So is Lee Young Jun's secretary who does all the work for him, from selecting his dress to his daily schedule. She is hardworking, workaholic, sharp witted, quick at work, has solutions to everything. In short, she is an all-rounder.

I laughed at Lee Young Jun expression when Kim Mi So & Go Gwi Nam were running together & everyone telling them to date & him being so jealous.

It was funny when Lee Young Jun got scared to see Kim Mi So in flash face in dark.

Loved Lee Young Jun & Kim Mi So silly arguments.

It’s sweet how Lee Young Jun sends Kim Mi So away whenever his brother comes to visit him. He is scared that his brother will take her away from him.

I laughed so much when Lee Young Jun pushed Kim Mi So chair when they were going to kiss, later on, her reaction & his scared look.

Lee Young Jun always noticed Kim Mi So & liked her. There’s a reason why he hired her. He never forgot their promise.

Loved Lee Young Jun & Kim Mi So awkwardness at the beginning of their relationship. They weren’t able to get out of their boss & secretary phase.

Laughed so hard when Kim Mi So sisters were bad-mouthing Lee Young Jun & him listening to everything with those expressions.

I appreciated it that Kim Mi So asked Lee Young Jun if it was okay for her to go & sort everything out with her brother.

Lee Young Jun helped Kim Mi So in every way without her knowledge.

Kim Mi So expression when Kim Ji Ah was bad-mouthing Lee Young Jun. I thought Kim Ji Ah character would go after Lee Young Jun. She will be creating misunderstandings between them & all, but thank god she is a positive character.

I laughed so much when Park was explaining to his ex-wife about the situation & both Lee Young Jun & Kim Mi So expressions.

Everyone’s reaction when they saw Lee Young Jun & Kim Mi So hugging each other.

It's sweet how Lee Young Jun had a nervous breakdown on his wedding day.

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Funny and touching but nonsense.

The story is supposed to be funny with romance and maybe a little bit of drama. I can see where they tried, but the whole premise is off. The romance is fine, I actually think they had decent chemistry but if you watch it more than once, it will be more and more difficult to get into the fun of it. The side characters and romances were fun and some people said they were more interesting than the main pairing, but I have to disagree. I think they added to the show, but they weren't so interesting that they stole it. The main couple: Secretary Kim and Narassistic Boss don't have much character arc, considering the content of the show, but it was still very interesting and I enjoyed watching the entire series once. The music was good, but not outstanding. The acting was also good and I thought very in character. To understand why the underlying story behind the main couple, you have to hear some spoilers, but without spoilers, I can say it wasn't well done and was so nonsensical as to have been ridiculous. I would watch it once, but not twice because those moments of understanding will annoy you more if you rewatch.

With spoilers: the main couple have a history. This explains why a totally arrogant and impatient boss would pick a secretary who wasn't fluent in English and experienced enough in the field. She needed to work super hard to catch up to his needs. Over time as they work together, he grows used to how amazing she is and when he thinks of his life without her, he doesn't want her to quit. He tries mulitiple ways to get her to stay and eventually realizes that he loves her. Naturally, he has to overcome his gigantic ego to get to that point, but still. The process is funny and entertaining. She begins to fall in love with him as she sees his emotional sides. Naturally, the catalyst needed to make them both realize how they feel is the return of the boss's self-centered brother who decides that he wants Secretary Kim. Either because he's so arrogant as to think he can have anyone or because he wants to take her from his brother -- he causes problems between them just as they are getting closer.

The actual spoiler is why the premise is really messed up and nonsensical. You see, way back when Secretary Kim was 4-5 years old and her boss was 9-10 and self-centered brother was maybe 11-12, the brother bullies the young boy boss and eventually leaves him in a deserted street where he is kidnapped. Then baby girl Mi So (Secretary Kim) is also kidnapped. They help each other through the experience and end up home safe and sound but naturally with fears. Why Mi So's family doesn't tell her the truth when she asks if she was ever kidnapped makes absolutely no sense to me. Until you recognize and accept that you've been hurt you will never be able to deal with it on an emotional level. So keeping it from her is like telling her to pretend she doesn't feel the pain rather than taking her to the doctor. The young boss hires her because he remembers her, but she doesn't remember and he also doesn't explain. No reason, but that's more excusable. Last, boss's mom and dad who are supposed to be good, normal, loving parents, are actually full time idiots with hateful and stupid notions about family. When older brother feels bad for what he did, he has a mental break and decides that he was the one who was kidnapped. Then mom and dad decide that it's better to pretend that their arrogant, self-centered older son was actually kidnapped than to make him face his wrongdoing. Which is to say that young boss who was the one who was wronged, has to deal with an insufferable prick brother who treats boss as though he were the one in the wrong. Why would the parents take the side of the bully child over the one who has an actual trauma that needs to be dealt with? Because they are stupid, thoughtless, self-centered, and hateful bullies themselves. I mean, they did raise two sons who think they are perfect and hate each other. Who comes up with these plots? If you're going to make them thoughtless bullies, don't have the main character pretend with them. He was an adult, he should have told them the truth and said that their behavior was stupid and hurtful and then told them they needed to tell the truth and stop pandering to their favorite child (obviously the self-centered brother). I will never understand why people who are supposed to be smart and strong and well mannered never can seem to stand up for themselves or say no when something is wrong. Then again, if they were all people who had backbone and common sense and courage, the show would have been over in 3 episodes. Still, that's why I can't watch it twice. I want to ring the mother's neck and kick the older brother very hard in his self-centered face. I get too angry and annoyed at their behavior to be able to watch it twice, but that's me.

Ok, rant over. If you can deal with this amount of stupidity for the background story, the rest is really wonderful. I think they had great chemisty. I thought it was super funny and well acted. I enjoyed it so much that I was tempted to watch it twice (then I tried and had to go bake for 2 hours to get rid of my frustration).

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minor spoiler

meh not the best I've seen not the worst. It was a while ago i watched it but from what i remember it was enjoyable, cute and funny. Though I feel like they could have left it at that. I wasn't bothered by the whole rich ceo, "poor" secretary trope. Its alright once in a while but the whole kidnapping and them knowing eachother when they were younger felt a little out of place. Like they could have left it as it was. People can fall in love without having the whole "childhood friends/lovers reunited" thing. It just felt unnecessary. It could have been left alone as a little cute love story but they had to mash in the dark truamatic experience they had as kids together. Overall i wouldn't rewatch. It can be really enjoyable for certain people just wasn't my cup of tea. Actors did a good job as per ususal from what i remember and i think i liked the ost? nothing super memorable tho.

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Recomendo

Demorei pra ver mas gostei muito, super levinha e legal, confesso que o primeiro ep não me prendeu muito, eu ate demorei um pouco pra continuar, mas a parti do 2 eu começei a gostar mais e me fez querer assistir todo dia

Os personagens são super divertidos e engraçados, todo ep eu dava uma risada, os personagens principais tbm foram perfeitos

Park Min Young é maravilhosa, concerteza vou querer ver mais trabalhos dela, e o Park Seo Joon super lindo 😍

Outra coisa q eu gostei muito foi das Ost's do dorama, a unica coisa que eu achei meio confuso foi sobre o principal e o irmao dele nessa confusao de quem tinha sido sequestrado, mas enfim, muito bom recomendo

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Perfectly balanced mixture of laughter, romance , peculiar weirdness, diverse characters, good acting skills and timing. Maybe the script was not that great as many say and story not so unique but sufficiently different to others. So even though drama follows some common rom-com elements, it still managed to shine. There wouldn't be so many recommendations across the world if it wouldn't, right? 😁

When it comes to the leads, I definately prefer Kim Mi So over Lee Young Joon. His character was great don't get me wrong. Fantastic performance. But! Kim Mi So was way more realistic, current and common. He was a kdrama character all the way 😅 The further you go in the drama the more you notice that the story is shown from more her point of view than his. The focus went from her work, to her house, from the family to Young Joon. We slowly could see what is actually wrong with secretary Kim 😏 Mr Lee of course played a big role and there was a nice balance present through out whole serie but she was the centerpiece.

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I know that WWWSK is a classic and I’m glad I watched it, but it’s a bit of a hot mess. Park Seo-joon is a beautiful man but there was nothing appealing about his character besides the fact that he’s rich. This was the first show of his I’d ever seen and I didn’t realize what a good actor he could be until watching some of his other work because his character is so over the top.

I think what really works for this show is Park Min-young. She is the queen of rom coms for a reason. She has amazing chemistry with everyone she’s ever worked with and Park Seo-joon is no exception. Their chemistry was the main thing that kept me watching the show.

The workplace dynamics were pretty fun to watch. I really struggled with the second Secretary Kim’s romance storyline. Maybe it’s a cultural difference, but that cheap man with one outfit and no personality was so unbelievable as an office heartthrob. On the other hand, I loved Bo ra’s romance storyline so much and I’m sad there was so little of it! I found that couple more interesting than the mains.

The childhood connection storyline started off somewhat interesting and then went off the rails so badly by the end. Everything about it was executed so poorly and it was dragged out so long. The entire brother part of it was the worst and it made me hate the entire family.

WWWSK would have been more successful if it was a shorter show, since parts of it were cute but it was incredibly boring by the end. There was not enough story to fill up that many episodes and it resulted in such drawn out, uninteresting plot lines. The ending also felt very unsatisfying, as it seemed like the whole point for Secretary Kim was to be able to go out on her own and figure out what she wants to do but then they just decided that she didn’t need to do that anymore.

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✒So Simple ☕️ But Soo-joon Will Make You Swoon °6.8° °good°

WWWSK is a mini romantic getaway. A just-for-fun romcom, there's nothing else going on. The leads are special actors. Park Min-young. (Secretary Kim) always delivers. Once again, she is quite lovely in this show. She wears fluid tops, feminine outfits, soft colors, and she always looks good. Park Soo-joon seems to be having a corkin time playing an egotistical boss. He actually makes the show. WWWSK is a 2018 release that is rated 85 on AWiki. It's 1 season consisting of 16 60ish-minute episodes. The directors are Park Joon-Hwa and Yoo Jong-Sun, & it's based on writer Jung Kyung-Yoon's novel. The filming is lighthearted & breezy and animation accents add to the whimsy.

The setting is at a large company. The current CEO, Lee Young-joon, works for his father, chairdad. He's comically arrogant. He's not the least bit mean-spirited, however; he just seems a little silly. Secretary Kim is his personal assistant, and has been for 10 years. In ep1, she gives notice.

He's a bit surprised but tries to act cool. Gradually, we see that things aren't cool with him at all. He tries to fathom how she could leave such a wonderful boss as he? To understand what her struggles and concerns are, we must get to know her more & he will have to get to know her quite a bit more. He also has a lot to learn about the complex world of interpersonal relationships. It's certainly no spoiler to say that they get together rather early in the show and the rest of it is trying to work out some of the struggles that they've had from back to the time they each were children.

Their first struggle in dating is how they fall back into the old habits of boss and secretary. She's making the reservations, when they're eating she's taking care of all his needs: His handkerchief, cell phone, making sure everything's laid out right. The restaurant employees look at each other and say: 'Wow, she seems more like a secretary than his girlfriend'.

He wants to spend more time with her, so he starts to lighten her load at work. He goes to makes his OWN copies, and the other employees almost have a collective stroke😮. Once his task is completed and he goes back to his office, he peeps out to her sitting at her desk in the foyer area. He points at the copies. He points at himself. He's /so proud/ of himself. It's cute.

He tries to take her places that she would enjoy, which lands them at an amusement park. He gets his first 🎢 coaster ride. Through the entire thing he sits upright, arms crossed, chin up, looking like he's on the bow of a ship. E'erbody else is squealing. It's good for some chuckles.

The supporting story arcs and romances are even more fun. Hwang Chan Sung (True to Love, My Holo Love-6.8) is the frugalmiser, and Go Gwi Nam & Pyo Ye Jin (Taxi Driver) plays the observant Kim Ji Ah. Hwang Bo Ra (Vagabond-8, Arang and the Magistrate) is the Kewpie-faced, curly-locked Bong Se Ra (she's a cutie) and Kang Hong Suk (Hotel del Luna-8.4) portrays Yang Cheol, a big-ol teddy bear. One guy in the office knows absolutely everything. He doesn't share any of it until precisely the correct time. When they're all standing around talking and wondering about something, he'll be the resource of all information. It's a funny running bit, especially given how assured and authoritative his character is when he's giving out information. Fabulous child actors also help light up this production.

WWWSK suffers a smidge from what I've labeled "MAL-content". They don't seem to have enough content to fill up the whole show. It starts to wander about two-thirds of the way in and loses focus. The plot isn't tight; it's a little sloppy. Some of the personality changes are too fluid.

8.1? This is rated 8.1 on IMDB, 8.3 on MDL, and 85 on AWiki. I was so excited to watch it - I saved it for when I needed a "sure-thing" and didn't want to take a chance. So I couldn't help but be disappointed. It makes me feel lonely, because there is no day of the week WWWSK deserves such a generous rating. I get it - the show is cute, and it's better than most of the junk that loveless Hollywood puts out. Shows should not be rated on technical aspects alone as a show that doesn't touch the emotional core is missing something. Conversely, an emotional connection will cause us to overlook all kinds of faux pas.

New viewers to Asian programming will overrate the first couple things they see out of sheer joy that this entertainment wonderland has opened up to them, and here, the leads are each fabulous, in their own rights. I saw WWWSK early in my Asian programming addiction. For a long time I just took notes but was suffering from an extreme illness and I got (almost hopelessly) behind on completing the reviews and posting them. I've since seen PMY in When the Weather is Fine-9 and Her Private Life-8, as well as a couple other shows in which her performance is better than the sum of the total production. Chemistry? She's Walter White - a walking chemistry set. She's fabulous in every role. I fell for Mr. Park from watching A Witch's Love-7.8. Additionally, I'm currently in the waning episodes of Itaewon Class. What an actor. He doesn't look the same at all. He has a serious and tragic part to play in IC, so it makes sense that he seems to be having the time of his life in this role. It makes sense that these 2 actors have beaucoup fans, and those fans are likely to view anything that they are in positively.

No doubt, WWWSK is a fun ride to take. But the romance itself is barely above average, it's IQ is medium-low, the plot has some weak points (particularly the backstory). There's lots of lesser known shows that are rated lower but are of better quality. Some examples are: Familiar Wife-8.5, Touch your heart-8.2, and Love Struck in the City 7.3 (I have to watch LSitC again. I liked it when I watched it quite a bit. Parts of the ending disappointed me, particularly with the secondary relationship, though I think they'll be fine going forward. It's stuck in my brain. I keep remembering it more and more fondly. I think there's something that my subconscious is telling me I missed. I'm going to have to revisit it and update my score eventually). These directors are capable and each have better shows. Park Joon-Hwa directed Touch your heart, Alchemy of Souls-8.3 and Because This Is My First Life (7.7 it's mostly exceptional but for the last 2 episodes), while Yoo Jong-Sun directed the fabulous Descendants of the Sun-8.3. Just go into this with your expectations set-to-mid and you shouldn't be disappointed.

In one sad scene, parents refuse psych treatment for a traumatized child. Saying "no" reflexively is a bad habit. Watching Kdramas is a good habit. WWWSK is imminently watchable - it's a good show. Romfans won't want to quit it early.

〰🖍 IMHO

📣6.5 📝6 🎭7.8 💓6 🦋6.4 🌞7 🎨7 ⚡3 🎵/🔊6 😅6 😭4 😱3.7 😯3 😖2 🤔4 💤3 🔚8

In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:

Workplace Romances:
Crazy Love-7.8,
Touch your heart 8.2,
Romance is a bonus book-7.9,
Her Private Life 8,
Love to Hate You 8.9,
Oh My Ghost 10,
Be Melodramatic-8.7,
Hospital Playlist 9,
Call It Love-8.4,
My Mister 9.5,
C🇨🇳: Find Yourself-8.9,
Boss & Me-7

🌐Modern Day -
Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha-8.2
Crash Landing On You 9.1,
Familiar Wife-8.5,
It's Okay Not To Be Okay 9,
Love Struck in the City 7.3,
Cheese in the Trap-7.7,
Our Blues-8.5,
My Liberation Diary-8.9,
I'll See You When the Weather is Fine 9
Something in the Rain-8.6,

🎎 -
My Only Love Song 8.7 ~ excellent comedy,
Mr. Queen 8.5,
My Sassy Girl 8.5,
Saimdang 8.5,
The King's Affection 8.3,
Mr. Sunshine 9

⚡/ -🚀
Flex X Cop-8.5,
K2 8,
Private Lives 8.1,
The Golden Spoon-8.1,
Tunnel 8.5,
Why Her?-8,

💓Romance junkies only -
My Secret Romance-7 (if you ff thru overdone flashbacks),
Boys Over Flowers-8 ~ melodrama to the max,
The Bride of Habaek-7,
Heirs-7.3,
That Winter, The Wind Blows-7,

C🇨🇳: Well-Intended Love-7.5 Rom-porn - extra points for the dopamine,
When I Fly Towards You-7.8,
Wait, My Youth-8.4,
A Little Thing Called First Love-8.5,
Find Yourself-8.9, Hidden Love-7.8

Consider a Chinese 🎎/🔮 romcom: The Romance of Tiger and Rose 9.8, Love Between Fairy and Devil 8.9, Love and Redemption 10 or Japanese romcoms: Maid Sama 10, Mischievous Kiss Love in Tokyo 7.8, Love, Chunibyo And Other Delusions 8.4, or Toradora 8.5.

Originally 〰️🖋 1/2025

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Rewatchable hilarious rom com with great chemistry

Rewatching this drama in 2025 and it holds up so well. Still incredibly funny and romantic. The strange childhood trauma subplot can't ruin such a classic drama couple.

So many romantic comedies have aired since this drama was released but it still stands out. IMO because 1. the main couple are given so much quality screen time together 2. their acting and line delivery is excellent 3. they have great emotional AND sexual chemistry 4. very much 2 adult characters who very much care about each other and never stop trying.

#4 is so key to me -- you don't realize how much it means, until you miss it in other dramas. The way they keep TRYING. We get to see the relationship deepen step by step and how they both will accidentally do something that hurts the other and they do their best to fix it. I really love how both the FL and the ML care about each other's feelings and when they make a misstep they try their their best.

We get so much time of them dating and working things out. It's delightful!

Fantastic rewatch value because then you just fast forward past the subplots. All the core couple moments are perfect.

(If you don't like fluff and you want plot in your rom-com, you'll hate this one tbh. But if you just want a string of romantic moments and light comedy, this is perfect.)

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There's absolutely nothing wrong with 'what's wrong with secretery kim'

If perfection was a Korean Drama, I am sure this one would make the cut.

Character Development: Every character involving the leads and supporting alike, will grow on you. Their individual stories morphing into a whole within an office scenario will almost compel the viewer to feel the laughter, shock and turmoil with/within each one of them.
The depth and character development hence, comes out exactly on point. Not too fast neither too gradual, just perfect.

Plot: There as such, wasn't a well defined plot in here, a theme rather. Of reconciliation, mutual admiration, acceptance layered with a veil of enigma, that were some past memories. Which lemme tell you the drama pulled off. Brilliantly.

Acting: What more can I say of the overwhelming "aura" that is of Park Seo Joon that hasn't been said already. The guy himself is a masterpiece (even when he's trying to be an obnoxious douchebag).
Park Min Young complimented him thoroughly and I was impressed.
Everyone else kept me entertained throughout.
But I'll give the credit where it's due, the child actors especially Moon Woo Jin did the finest job.
For me, the excellent portrayal of the childhood trauma was in all honesty, the highest point of the show.

Extra: The love triangle could have been avoided but I forgive them cause they didn't stretch it pointlessly for too long.
Unpopular opinion, the blooming romance between Gwi Nam and Ji Ah was more fun than that of the lead pair. I mean the duo had their own quirks and toe curling moments which I enjoyed from the get go.

In conclusion, if you're into rom-coms you really can't miss out on this one!

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Originally written on Nov 13, 2022

I didn’t take any notes while watching this, so no long ass review this time, but this was just okay.

The premise of a secretary who’s quitting her job and slowly falling in love with her boss over the course of her last month at the company is interesting, but the whole thing is dragged down by a forced mystery side-plot about childhood trauma.

Vice-president Lee is a narcissistic clown, and while the show explains why that is, it doesn’t make him a very likeable person. Hearing him talk about himself like he’s the most perfect person in the world is incredibly off-putting. Secretary Kim is a saint, as she’s been putting up with this shit for 9 years, and seeing her reward this behaviour with her love doesn’t sit right with me. It doesn’t feel earned. It feels bought.

It’s fun enough, and around the mid-season point there are a couple episodes which are really funny, but there are better, similar K-Dramas out there. Business Proposal, for example.

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