Comedian Jo Hye-ryeon and CEO Ko Yo-seop are an 11-year married couple and also well-matched business partners. The play 'I Love You, Mom,' which the two directly produced, won the prestigious grand prize at the '2025 Chuncheon Theater Festival' held last month. CEO Ko produced it, while Jo directed and starred, playing dual roles.
'I Love You, Mom' is a family drama that tells the story of a strong mother who raises her son while selling fish alone at a market without her husband. Jo Hye-ryeon, along with Kim Ji-sun, Kim Hyo-jin, and Jo Ji-hwan, delivered outstanding performances, establishing it as a commercially successful work in Daehangno. The 'multi-talented entertainer' Jo Hye-ryeon surprised audiences by successfully completing her first directing role.
CEO Ko Yo-seop is known only as 'the 2-year younger husband remarried to Jo Hye-ryeon,' but he is actually a person of extraordinary abilities, not only in songwriting and composing but also in production. Recently, as Jo Hye-ryeon formed a band called 'Mechanism' with Peppertones, he co-wrote 'Broken Time Machine' and 'I've Become a Phi These Days' and also composed the trot song 'Rock-Paper-Scissors' by Byeolsarang. This is his first interview with the media.
Currently, while CEO Ko Yo-seop is in the U.S. with his wife Jo Hye-ryeon, he told OSEN, "I had no expectations at all when submitting, but I was surprised to be selected among the 7 finalists. In particular, this year's competition between the works was fierce, and it was hard to discern a winner, so I was nervous. When I actually got to the finals and it was time for the awards ceremony, I was tense, but I was overwhelmed when 'the grand prize for I Love You, Mom' was announced. I was so happy that I could have cried."
'I Love You, Mom' achieved the highest box office success in 2019, but it came to a complete stop due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was resumed thanks to a suggestion from Jo Hye-ryeon's younger brother and actor Jo Ji-hwan, after the team had struggled to do so.
CEO Ko Yo-seop said, "I thought about it for a moment, but then I thought, 'Let's do it, even if it's busy and hard.' The problem was directing; in 2019, my wife only acted, but this time she took on the challenge of directing. When she first mentioned it, she said she had never directed before and didn't major in directing at Hanyang University, so she thought she couldn't do it." He mentioned that the beginning was not easy.
He continued, "Still, I knew my wife was good at teaching acting. I've seen her many times coaching junior actors, and they actually improved and developed. I persuaded her to take on the directing role, and indeed, she did exceedingly well," adding, "The junior actors said, 'That's rare,' since she guided them in such detail. I actually wanted them to critique me. (laughs) As the actors' skills upgraded, the audience's reviews also improved, making it rewarding for the producer to present the show."
In response, Jo Hye-ryeon said, "I'm always thinking about how to bring out the best in our performances. After a long time in broadcasting and doing comedy, I feel like I know. If a junior can't deliver the right tempo, I act out that role myself. Once they realize, 'Ah! This is how it works,' they can make it their own and bring it back to the performance," mentioning that she is also providing guidance in directing, as it has been more than a year, and she is still giving directorial notes.
As the play became a hit, they also enjoyed a pleasant reward vacation with the cast. CEO Ko Yo-seop said, "The first performance went so well that I took the 24 actors on a reward trip to Nha Trang, Vietnam. It was the first time in the history of Daehangno theater to go on a reward trip, and the actors were truly delighted. Some of them got their passports for the first time. It left us with wonderful memories," and he added with a laugh, "These days, other actors keep asking, 'When will we audition?' It feels like it has become a desirable production for us." (Continued in Interview II)
[Photo] OSEN DB, 'I Love You, Mom' poster
[OSEN]