'Itaewon Class' Author Jo Gwang-jin... "It Was Fresh Even Knowing"

Scene from episode 6 "Defense" of JTBC's Friday-Saturday drama "Itaewon Class," aired on the 15th / Photo by JTBC

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kang Juhee] Interest in writer Jo Gwangjin of the comprehensive programming channel JTBC's Friday-Saturday drama 'Itaewon Class' is heating up.

JTBC's Friday-Saturday drama 'Itaewon Class' surpassed a viewership rating of 12.6% (Nielsen Korea paid households standard) in its 8th episode aired on the 22nd, ranking first in its time slot and continuing its upward trend.

'Itaewon Class' received praise for increasing synchronization with the original work as the original writer Jo Gwangjin participated in writing the drama.

At the 'Itaewon Class' production presentation held last month, writer Jo mentioned the reason for joining the project. He stated, "When I was working on the original, I was pressed by weekly deadlines, so there were many parts of the narrative that I was unsatisfied with. I focused a lot on supplementing the narrative and adding detailed depth to characters that were written superficially."

Additionally, Jo shared his thoughts after watching up to episode 6, saying, "I am enjoying it with a fresh feeling. Each episode is showing more than the expectations I had in my mind when writing."

He added about the most memorable scenes, "Saeroyi's Halloween entry into Itaewon, and Lee Seo's 'defense' scene were fresh even though I knew them. It was a particularly pleasant scene as a writer because it was something I had never seen before."