Superwoman returns to voice working mom woes

Actress Kim Nam-joo will return to the small screen through ``My Wife is a Superwoman 2’’ to depict a modern woman struggling to juggle both work and family.
/Courtesy of MBC

By Han Sang-hee

The heroine from “My Wife is a Superwoman” (MBC) is back.

Actress Kim Nam-joo will reappear, not as the headstrong wife who supported her husband from top to bottom, but a stubborn and determined businesswoman who jumps into the work field and takes problems into her own hands.

“My Wife is a Superwoman 2” (working title), whose original Korean title was “The Queen of Turnaround” is season two of “My Wife is a Superwoman,” whose Korean title is “The Queen of Naejo.”

Kim had a fruitful year last 2009 with the hit “Superwoman.” After the drama ended, she prepared for another hopefully popular work for the past six months, but it was fate: There was no one better than her when it came depicting a headstrong “ajumma,” or middle-aged woman.

“I’m the only one who has appeared in both seasons and so I felt a lot of pressure. I was worried I wouldn’t be as funny as in the last series,” Kim said during a press conference at a hotel in southern Seoul, Monday.

“I was offered other roles during my time off, but I had to come back (to the ‘Queen’ series). I felt like this was mine so I waited and returned as the queen,” she added, smiling.

While the character Cheon Ji-ae in “Superwoman” struggled to support her clueless husband at home, Hwang Tae-hee from “Superwoman 2” seeks to solve her problems by moving back to the office herself.

The drama is slated as a romantic comedy, and from a look at the preview, female viewers who juggle both work and household chores will easily relate to the storyline.

Hwang Tae-hee is successful and beautiful, but lacks one important thing in her life: a man. So when she sees perfect husband material in Bong Jun-su, played by actor Jung Jun-ho, she loses no time, gets married and quits work, hoping for the happy domestic life she always dreamed of. A few years later, however, Hwang realizes that the marriage is far from what she expected it to be: Bong barely makes ends meet, struggling at work and gradually losing his charm, while she has to feverishly support her family as a wife and mother.

Just when she begins to doubt her lifestyle, Bong gets sacked and Hwang finally makes her move and returns to work to set things right her own way.

“The series will portray women as active businesswomen. Couples who have experienced marriage and office work at the same time will easily sympathize,” Park Ji-eun, the writer of both seasons, said.

If the previous season depicted the grueling and difficult lives of Korean housewives and their under-appreciated efforts, the new series is expected to bring the hardships of working women who must also transform themselves as equally successful housewives as soon as they get home.

As co-star Ha You-mi, who will play the ruthless boss Han Song-yi, put it, the drama will hopefully help viewers understand the difficult lives of working mothers and wives.

“Our goal is to help the audience understand women who work under the constitution of marriage and also those who have chosen their careers over marriage,” she said.

The drama will hopefully create a stir among both young and old women, married and unmarried, adding a bit of comedy and romance to their already dramatic and busy lives. Will it catch the attention of Korean women who have to kill two birds with one stone? Check it out on Oct. 18 at 9:55 p.m. on MBC.

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