Kim Yoo-jung plays the pickpocket Lee Ga-kyung in the tvN drama ‘100 Days of Lies’.
Lee Ga-kyung is a character who infiltrates the Japanese Government-General of Korea while concealing her identity as the interpreter Geum Seo-hee.
The tension of this work lies in the fact that the infiltration of a spy drama and the first meeting of a romance both begin with the same lie.
3-Line Summary
1. Kim Yoo-jung plays the infiltrating Lee Ga-kyung
2. Lee Ga-kyung disguises herself as Geum Seo-hee
3. The key to their first meeting is the hidden identity
From Pickpocket Lee Ga-kyung to Interpreter Geum Seo-hee
‘100 Days of Lies’ is set in Gyeongseong in 1932. According to the work’s introduction, Lee Ga-kyung, played by Kim Yoo-jung, becomes a spy after living as a pickpocket with Gyeongseong Station as her home base and accepting the National Salvation Corps’ proposal. The identity she chooses to enter the Japanese Government-General of Korea is interpreter Geum Seo-hee.
In this setup, Lee Ga-kyung’s transformation goes beyond simply changing occupations. She becomes someone who must extract information from inside the Government-General while concealing her past as a pickpocket and her real name. Why Lee Ga-kyung, who dreamed of going to the United States, accepts the dangerous infiltration is also presented as an important starting point for the work.
For actress Kim Yoo-jung, this is also a role that requires her to show different faces within a single character. The fact that Lee Ga-kyung, who had to survive at Gyeongseong Station, and Geum Seo-hee, who pretends to be an interpreter in elegant attire, are the same person creates tension in the story.
Kim Tae-woong’s Gaze as They Pass at Gyeongseong Station
A released Gyeongseong Station poster shows Lee Ga-kyung and Kim Tae-woong passing each other on the platform. Kim Tae-woong, played by Park Jin-young, is the adopted son of the Director-General of Political Affairs at the Japanese Government-General of Korea and an English interpreter. He is introduced as a character who has lived under the name ‘Sato Hideo’.
The two cannot reveal their true identities from the start. Lee Ga-kyung has infiltrated under the name Geum Seo-hee, while Kim Tae-woong is also a character with a story between his real name and his Japanese name. The production team explained that Gyeongseong Station is the site of the two protagonists’ first meeting and the place where the relationships among several characters begin to move.
That is why the gaze in the poster is more important than a simple chance encounter. As it remains unclear whether the look Kim Tae-woong directs at Lee Ga-kyung is suspicion or interest, the two characters meet again, each carrying a concealed purpose.
A Stage for Spy Romance Created by Interpretation
The work presents a 100-day spy romance centered on the meeting between a spy and an interpreter. In particular, interpretation is used not only as the act of translating another language but also as a motif that prompts the characters to examine the intentions and truths hidden in words. Lee Ga-kyung’s disguise as an interpreter is also directly connected to this motif.
Kim Tae-woong is portrayed as an interpreter fluent in English, Japanese, and Korean. Lee Ga-kyung, meanwhile, chooses the status of an interpreter trainee in order to enter the Government-General. The fact that the two become entangled in the same space through language and identity is the device that draws the romance set against a period-drama backdrop into the tension of a spy drama.
‘100 Days of Lies’ has been introduced as a total of 16 episodes, and tvN announced that it plans to air the first episode on October 10 at 9:10 p.m. Within the scope shown by the released posters and introductory materials, what truth Kim Yoo-jung’s Lee Ga-kyung will choose is the clearest axis through which to read this drama.
References
Tags #KimYoo-jung #100DaysOfLies #LeeGa-kyung #GeumSeo-hee #ParkJin-young #KimTae-woong #tvNDrama #SpyRomance #PeriodDrama #GyeongseongStation #DirectorYooIn-sik #WriterRyuBo-ri