'Manager Kim' So Jisub risked his life to rescue his daughter and satisfyingly punished Joo Sang-Wook, but the episode ended shockingly with him being taken to North Korea.
Episode 7 of the SBS Fri-Sat drama 'Manager Kim', which aired on the 17th at 9:50 p.m., recorded a peak rating of 25.5%, 22.6% in the Seoul metropolitan area, and 21.9% nationwide (Nielsen Korea), achieving the remarkable record of ranking No. 1 in its time slot for seven consecutive episodes as it again rose from the previous week. In particular, it not only further solidified its position at the top of mini-series ratings in 2026 but also swept both ratings and topicality, with the 2049 rating soaring to a high of 8.5%.
In this broadcast, Manager Kim (So Jisub) joined forces with Seong Hansu (Choi Dae-hoon) and Park Jinchul (Yoon Kyung-ho) to dramatically protect his daughter Min-ji (Seo Sumin), and he directly punished Joo Gang-chan (Joo Sang-Wook), the root and mastermind of all evil, in a sequence that hit like a storm. With a rescue operation of spectacular scale unfolding — including a sleeping gas attack, a container chase, and breathless hand-to-hand combat — Choi Dae-hoon's intense taekwondo action and Yoon Kyung-ho's life-risking brawl exploded, completing the perfect team play of fathers.
Alone facing Joo Gang-chan, Manager Kim consistently responded with an arrogant attitude until the end and delivered a powerful punch to the man who provoked him by saying "It is a sin for parents to be incompetent," providing a satisfying catharsis. In the end, Joo Gang-chan kneeled before Min-ji and begged for forgiveness in the same humiliating way he had once humiliated Manager Kim, collapsing in agony.
After returning home, Manager Kim faced a painful birthday table with his daughter amid a precarious situation with soldiers and agents deployed. So Jisub delivered an emotional performance that made viewers' eyes well up as he sobbed, "Happy birthday to my daughter. I love you." Manager Kim's paternal love, having chosen to surrender himself for his daughter, left the living room heavy with emotion.
However, toward the end of the broadcast, the incident escalated to catastrophe amid another conspiracy. Joo Gang-chan used his power to try to cover up the case, and villains who survived, such as Park Kang-seong (Kim Sungkyu) and Geum-i-bal (Jo Bokrae), began to move again.
The most striking part was the final five minutes. Manager Kim, who had been confined in the Cheonsan unit detention room, was attacked by mysterious men, injected with drugs, and lost consciousness. Shockingly, the place where he opened his eyes again was a North Korean torture chamber. As Manager Kim, tied to an electric chair, was greeted chillingly by a torture technician saying "Welcome back to your hometown, 66," a "shocking repatriation ending" unfolded and stunned viewers.
As Manager Kim, who devoted himself to Korea and protected his daughter, faced the worst crisis of being imprisoned in North Korea, the question of whether the scattered "dad universe" can once again join forces to revive him raised expectations for future developments to a peak.<
[photo] 'Manager Kim'
[OSEN]