‘The Tale Of Nokdu’ ratings exceed 6 percent: Will Jang Dong-yoon pour sweet rice wine for fans as promised?

Oct 3, 2019

The Tale Of Nokdu kicked off its broadcast Monday night with a TV rating above the six-percent mark. Fans who have heard of his promise to be fulfilled if his new drama achieves high viewership ratings are now excited.

Lead actor Jang Dong-yoon said during the drama’s press conference on September 30, “if the first broadcast gets more than 6 percent [in TV ratings], I want to pour dongdongju for the fans.” Dongdongju is a sweet rice wine that is often served with a few floating grains of rice.

Main Cast of The Tale Of Nokdu. Jang Dong-yoon (left), Kim So-hyun (center), and Kang Tae-oh, pose for photographs during the press conference for their new series.

Jang Dong-yoon might really end up pouring drinks for his fans as the premiere of The Tale Of Nokdu achieved nationwide ratings of 5.6 and 7.1 percent. In addition, he might also sing a song while having a drink.

“I also want to sing Jang Beom-june’s ‘Your Shampoo Scent in the Flowers’ live while having a drink,” the actor said. The song is the third part of the OST of the recently concluded JTBC drama Be Melodramatic.

According to Nielsen Korea, up to 1.2 million viewers nationwide had tuned in to watch the first broadcast of The Tale Of Nokdu, making it the fifth most-watched drama premiere in September in terms of the number of television viewers. Rounding out the top 5 are Beautiful Love Wonderful Life with 3.4 million viewers, Vagabond (1.8 million), Arthdal Chronicles (1.7 million), and When The Camellia Blooms (1.3 million).

The Tale Of Nokdu is the last of the 11 new Korean dramas which made their premieres in September. In the series, Jang Dong-yoon plays the titular role of Jeon Nokdu, a young man who hates marriage and wants to avoid it at all cost even by sneaking into a widows’ community and disguising himself as a woman. Kim So-hyun (Love Alarm) is also starring in the series as Nokdu’s love interest, a hot-tempered trainee gisaeng (female courtesan) who does not really want to become a gisaeng. The fusion sageuk is based on a popular webtoon of the same name and comes from the PD of Fight For My Way and screenwriter of Moonlight Drawn By Clouds.

The KBS2 drama airs every Monday and Tuesday at 10 p.m. Korean Standard Time. It might be the last Monday-Tuesday series of KBS2 this year since the network is planning to suspend the broadcast of primetime Korean dramas on its Monday-Tuesday time slot during the next winter season.

The Tale of Nokdu Poster featuring Jang Dong-yoon and Kim So-hyun