Actor Lee Nayoung said she received support from her husband Won Bin while preparing her comeback work Honor after three years.
On the afternoon of the 26th, a production press conference was held at The Saint in Guro-gu, Seoul for the ENA Monday-Tuesday drama Honor: Their Court (directed by Park Gun-ho, written by Park Ga-yeon, planned by KT Studio Genie, produced by How Pictures). At this production press conference, director Park Gun-ho attended along with actors Lee Nayoung, Jung Eun-Chae and Lee Chungah to talk.
Honor: Their Court is a mystery pursuit drama about three women lawyers at a victim-specialized law firm who confront a past that has returned as a huge scandal. Director Park Gun-ho, who showed sharp social awareness and delicate sensibility through the drama Dongjae, the Good or the Bastard, directed the series, and writer Park Ga-yeon, who was recognized for tight narrative and genre completeness with the drama Train, wrote the script, completing a solid framework for an intense mystery pursuit drama that is drawing attention.
On the day, director Park Gun-ho said of Honor, "Our Honor is a work based on a Swedish drama, and it is the story of three women lawyers at a victim-specialized law firm. I hope you view it as a mystery psychological thriller about how a huge scandal connects to events 20 years ago. Please watch the reactions of these three to the case and how they treat the victims."
How did you adapt the Swedish original in a Korean way? Director Park Gun-ho explained, "First, while maintaining the solidity and power of the incident in the Swedish original, we tried to express Korean power by portraying the density of relationships. We tried not to let their decisions be skewed solely toward the incident."
Park said, "Because this is not a drama about fighting to win, inevitably they are defending victims, so sometimes their choices are right and sometimes they are not. How can we focus? Through meetings and discussions with the writer, we tried to make the three look solid in their relationships."
The three actors also introduced their roles. First, Lee Nayoung said, "I play lawyer Yoon Ra-young. Among the three, I act as the external messenger. Outwardly she is a glamorous celebrity lawyer, but internally she has wounds, so she is a character who boldly throws out what she thinks." Jung Eun-Chae said, "Kang Shin-ji has cool judgment and fiery drive, but she is an attractive character who also has a warm heart for the weak."
Lee Chungah said, "Hwang Hyun-jin is a law school classmate of the two, a person with a passionate heart and warm disposition. She handles impulse and anger. With some action included, she is a character who tries to protect the three's relationship and is an honest person."
Through Honor, Lee Nayoung returns to the small screen after three years since the Wavve original Park Ha-kyung travelogue. With her husband and actor Won Bin taking a 16-year hiatus showing a somewhat different path, Lee Nayoung said about why she chose the work, "When I first read the script, it read like a detective novel all at once. I was surprised out of curiosity. There were many scenes with the writer Park Ga-yeon's phrasing and a raw feeling, but with depth."
Lee Nayoung continued, "I also really enjoyed director Park Gun-ho's previous work Dongjae, the Good or the Bastard, and our sensibilities overlapped or I liked it. I had confidence that I could trust and follow the director, and the usual pretty and cool Jung Eun-Chae and Lee Chungah's chemistry felt like an unexpectedness that might not mesh but would be fresh. I myself felt curious and wanted to see that picture. There are many reasons."
Lee Nayoung also talked about challenging her first lawyer role since debut, "I haven't had many professional roles, but as you will see later, it doesn't feel like there are many courtroom scenes just because it's a lawyer; it felt more like the pursuit of truth and events, with a sense of criminal defense." She said, "Personally, because I play a lawyer who acts as an external messenger, there were many news studio and press conference scenes. There are emotions and messages to convey to the public, so we talked a lot about what tone and sound that should be. So I studied vocalization a lot."
Asked whether she had support from her husband Won Bin while preparing for this work, Lee Nayoung said, "We read the script together and enjoyed it, and because he is also an actor he understood how to let it out and encouraged me, saying 'cheer up, it will be difficult.'"
Regarding why she chose Honor, Jung Eun-Chae said, "When I read the script, the genre thrill and the deep social message resonated strongly with me. Character-wise, scenes where three friends of 20 years with different personalities, situations and backgrounds struggle toward strong convictions felt attractive."
Lee Chungah also said, "From a script perspective, I was attracted by the fact that the people and incidents that appear here cannot be divided into absolute good and absolute evil. Each has desires to protect, so who are we to say what is good or evil? I found that appealing," adding, "In my previous work I played very strong, professional or elegant roles, but after a long time I got a role that rolls with the body. I was scared, but the writer and director gave me confidence, so I thought it would be okay to trust them then, and wanting to meet the two actors made me choose this work."
With the recent increase in works centered on women's narratives, what sets Honor apart from other works? Lee Nayoung said, "These days many women-centered narratives and works about women are coming out. We joined them, but personally I think they are similar. It feels more familiar, and the ground and spectrum that women can express feel wider. I think audiences will be able to see more diverse emotions and images."
Jung Eun-Chae, who met her heyday with Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born, joked, "First of all, I appear as a woman, and from that image I think people imagined the Kang Shin-jae character and offered the role." Jung Eun-Chae also said, "Putting gender issues aside, I think it is fresh, and based on feedback from those waiting, when you think about it, the feeling that the three of us appear as friends and charge toward something feels fresh. I think that is the drama's strength, and that kind of solidarity in areas where everyone must share responsibility is the drama's freshness and depth."
Lee Chungah said, "I once filmed a scene in VIP where four women worked in one place, and it felt very warm and like a high school classroom. We are three people trying to protect each other through one incident. You will see how each watches the incident as a different character. On set, seeing these two, I thought, 'Maybe we can see a glamorous older-sister character,'" raising expectations.
Finally, when asked about Honor's target viewership rating, director Park Gun-ho said, "I hope it receives a lot of love and interest. To put it bluntly, I'd like to see it pass 10 percent," drawing big applause from ENA officials present and laughter.
Meanwhile, the Genie TV original drama Honor: Their Court is based on a Swedish drama of the same name. It will be released on Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, at 10 p.m. on Genie TV and ENA.
[Photo] Reporter Lee Dae-seon
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