Park Min-young’s Time Travel K-Drama Perfectly Flips Her Most Famous Role 6 Years Later

Park Min-young’s character in the time travel K-drama Marry My Husband perfectly flipped her most famous role, Kim Mi-so from What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim. One of the most acclaimed actors of her generation, Park Min-young has starred in several successful shows. This includes hits like What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim and Forecasting Love and Weather, the former of which is widely considered one of the best K-dramas of all time. Following a two-year hiatus from Korean dramas, Park Min-young recently starred in Marry My Husband, which ran from January 1 to February 20, 2024.

While shows like Her Prive Life and Forecasting Love and Weather were very well received, What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim arguably remains Park Min-young’s most famous role six years later. Released in 2018, What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim featured Park Min-young as Kim Mi-so, a highly efficient secretary who was now reconsidering her priorities. The show also starred Park Seo-joon as Young-joon, Mi-so’s boss. There are some interesting parallels between Marry My Husband and What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim, especially when it comes to the differences between Park Min-young’s characters.

Park Min-young’s Marry My Husband Character Flips Her Secretary Kim Role

Kang Ji-won has the opposite goal from Kim Mi-so

In Marry My Husband, Park Min-young plays Kang Ji-won, who, at the start of the series, has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. On the same day she received her diagnosis, Ji-won found out her husband was cheating on her with her best friend. Not only that, but the two of them were counting the days for Ji-won to die so that they could get the insurance money. To accelerate things, Ji-won’s husband tried to kill her once she found out about his affair. While Ji-won did tie in this timeline, she instantly woke up 10 years in the past.

Ji-won was mysteriously given the chance to rebuild her life in Marry My Husband, after which she decided not only to plot her revenge against her soon-to-be-husband but also to ditch everything that was hurting her. Ji-won built new friendships, stopped caring about pleasing everyone, and focused on her professional career instead of living for her fiancé. Ji-won regained control of her life after leaving an abusive marriage as part of a toxic family that also included an abusive mother-in-law. Her character arc in the time travel K-drama was the opposite of what Mi-so went through in What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim.

In What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim, Park Min-young’s character is somewhat happy professionally but dreams of building a family and wants to focus more on her personal life. Secretary Kim had built an incredible reputation as the trustable, competent executive secretary of an important CEO, yet she was not fully happy. Mi-so was tired of being known as “Secretary Kim” and wanted to build a life outside of work. Mi-so’s story was not as tragic as Ji-won’s, yet both of these characters realized there was something wrong with their lives and decided it was time to change.

How Marry My Husband Is Different From What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim

Marry My Husband was about Ji-won finding her strength

Marry My Husband and What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim play with some similar tropes, including but not limited to romance at the workplace. That said, they are very different shows with very different tones. Marry My Husband adds a supernatural element to a classic tale of revenge, with the time travel aspect of the story setting the narrative for Kang Ji-won’s journey. Most of the show is told from the perspective of Ji-won, allowing viewers to connect with her as her plan for revenge progresses. Most Marry My Husband characters are oblivious to Ji-won’s secret, except for her boss, Ji-hyuk.

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What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim, on the other hand, tells its story from the perspective of Park Min-young and Park Seo-joon’s characters. It becomes clear right from episode 1 that Secretary Kim and Young-joon have feelings for each other and might become a couple. From then on, the show explores how Mi-so’s decision to leave her job affects not only her life but also her boss’ life. Their pasts are slowly revealed as the show progresses, with audiences learning that their connection is deeper than anyone imagined. Compared to Marry My Husband’s time travel plot, What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim is more grounded.

Marry My Husband & What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim Do Have Things In Common

Both K-dramas were about second chances

Despite the differences between What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim’s Mi-so and Marry My Husband’s Ji-won, both shows are essentially about the same thing – second chances. Even though they were facing different challenges, these two characters were given a second chance in life and reconsidered their priorities. Ji-won’s tragedy led her to distance herself from all the toxic people in her life, which is why Marry My Husband was not only about revenge but also about fresh starts. Park Min-young’s character in What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim was in a relatively good place, yet she rightfully felt like she deserved more.

Stream Marry My Husband on Prime Video

Stream What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim on Hulu