Park Hae-young's New Drama Is Already Breaking Hearts Before It Airs

Park Hae-young, the screenwriter behind two of the most emotionally devastating K-dramas ever made, is back — and her latest work is set to premiere this weekend. Everyone Is Fighting Their Own Worthlessness (모두가 자신의 무가치함과 싸우고 있다), starring Koo Kyo-hwan and Go Youn Jung, will air its first episode on JTBC on April 18 at 10:40 PM KST. At a press conference held today in Seoul, the cast and director gave audiences a first real look at what to expect.

If the combination of Park Hae-young's name and that title alone is enough to put a lump in your throat, you are not alone. The writer, known internationally for My Mister (2018) and My Liberation Notes (2022), has a rare talent for finding the exact language for feelings people carry around silently for years. Her new drama promises more of the same — only this time, the central wound is envy.

A Story About the Jealousy Nobody Talks About

The drama follows Hwang Dong-man (Koo Kyo-hwan), a member of a tight-knit friend group called "The Eight" — eight people from the same film industry circle, most of whom have made their mark. Dong-man is the exception. For two decades, he has been trying to debut as a film director while watching everyone around him succeed. The pressure, the comparison, the creeping sense that something is fundamentally wrong with him — that is the story the drama tells.

Director Cha Young-hoon was clear at the press conference about what kind of story this is not. "This is not a drama where a failed director triumphantly breaks through and becomes the next big name," he said. Instead, the goal is something more honest. "We want to offer a small piece of comfort," he added. "The message is: today's frustration, failure, shame, and self-doubt — they are not yours alone. We are all living like this."

For viewers who have grown up watching K-dramas reward the exceptional and punish the ordinary, this framing feels genuinely different. Cha Young-hoon previously directed When the Camellia Blooms (2019) and Welcome to Samdal-ri (2023), both beloved for their warmth and emotional precision. Paired with Park Hae-young's writing, the combination has been one of the most anticipated in Korean television this year.

Koo Kyo-hwan's First Lead Role in a TV Series

Koo Kyo-hwan has spent the last several years becoming one of Korean cinema's most in-demand supporting actors. He appeared in Escape from Mogadishu (2021), Decision to Leave (2022), and the Netflix series Bloodhounds (2023), each time leaving a bigger impression than the role seemed to promise on paper. Industry insiders have nicknamed him "casting priority zero" — meaning he is the first call on any production's wish list.

This is his first time carrying a television drama as a lead, and the role of Hwang Dong-man seems built for him. The character's intensity, his carefully suppressed bitterness, his genuine love for the craft that has cost him so much — all of it maps onto what Koo Kyo-hwan does best. At today's press conference, he described reading the script for the first time: "I just wanted to do it. There was nothing else in my head."

Opposite him, Go Youn Jung plays Byun Eun-ah, a sharp and perceptive producer at a film company who crosses paths with Dong-man's world. Go Youn Jung became a global name after her terrifying performance in The Glory (2022–2023), and this role marks a significantly different register — more grounded, more nuanced, with less of the supernatural edge that defined her breakout work.

A Cast That Reads Like a Wish List

The supporting ensemble is just as carefully assembled. Oh Jung-se, one of Korean television's most consistently excellent character actors — known for It's Okay to Not Be Okay and Move to Heaven — plays Park Gyeong-se, a fellow member of "The Eight" who has succeeded as a film director. Kang Mal-geum, who earned widespread praise in My Liberation Notes (making this something of a Park Hae-young reunion), plays the CEO of a film production company.

Park Hae-jun, who most viewers will recognize as the cold and calculating Song Hye-kyo antagonist in The Glory, takes on a very different kind of role here — Hwang Jin-man, Dong-man's older brother, a welder who has made a quieter life. Han Sun-hwa rounds out the main cast as the lead actress in one of the group's films.

The full cast attended today's press conference alongside director Cha Young-hoon, and the atmosphere was described as warm and reflective — fitting for a drama about the weight of ordinary lives.

Why This Drama Feels Different

Part of what makes Everyone Is Fighting Their Own Worthlessness feel significant before a single episode has aired is its title. It is not a tagline or a thematic gesture — it is a blunt statement about a universal internal experience that most entertainment would rather avoid. The feeling of watching everyone else move forward while you stay in place is not dramatic in the traditional sense. It does not make for a clean villain or a triumphant moment. Park Hae-young's best work has always been about exactly that kind of emotional terrain, and this drama appears to be no exception.

Her previous dramas took on loneliness (Another Miss Oh, 2016), grief disguised as stoicism (My Mister, 2018), and the quiet desperation of people who feel like they have been forgotten by their own lives (My Liberation Notes, 2022). Each time, she found the language for something that had previously felt unspeakable. The anticipation surrounding this new work is rooted in the belief that she has done it again.

What to Watch For

Everyone Is Fighting Their Own Worthlessness premieres Saturday, April 18, at 10:40 PM on JTBC. New episodes will air every Saturday and Sunday in the same time slot. The drama will also be available on streaming platforms. Given the creative team's track record, and the emotional precision that Park Hae-young's writing has consistently delivered, this is one of the most compelling K-drama premieres of the year — not because it promises spectacle, but because it promises honesty.

For international viewers encountering Park Hae-young's work for the first time through this drama, My Mister and My Liberation Notes are the essential context. Both are available on Netflix and have earned lasting reputations as two of the finest K-dramas ever produced. If Everyone Is Fighting Their Own Worthlessness reaches even that standard, viewers are in for something genuinely special.