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'Star Writers' Kim Eun-sook VS Park Ji-eun, Changed Positions in 2020

There are some star writers whom every national actor wants to work with once. They are Kim Eun-sook and Park Ji-eun, most commonly mentioned as 'star writers'.

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The two have been consistently creating hits with outstanding writing skills and the joining of stars since their debut. Their recent new works, SBS's " The King: Eternal Monarch" and tvN's "Crash Landing on You", attracted many people's attention.

- The greatest viewership of all time... "Lovers in Paris" watched by almost half the population

First we compare the two writers' drama viewership. Kim Eun-sook is ahead of this with SBS's "Lovers in Paris", which holds a viewership record of 57.6%, half the nation's population.

Everything written by Kim Eun-sook, from SBS's "South of the Sun" to KBS 2TV's "Descendants of the Sun", broke through 20% in viewership. Her magic was even outstanding in cable channels. "Guardian: The Lonely and Great God" and "Mr. Sunshine" held positions for Top 1 and Top 3 on tvN until last year.

Writer Park Ji-eun isn't far behind. MBC drama "My Wife is a Superwoman" (30.6%), KBS 2TV's "My Husband Got a Family" (45.3%) and SBS's "My Love from the Star" (28.1%) were also mega hits. "The Legend of the Blue Sea" in 2016 stayed in Top 1 throughout its broadcast.

- Number of trophies... Kim Eun-sook wins 3 Baeksangs

Next is the number of trophies each writer has. Kim Eun-sook is in the lead again.

Kim Eun-sook won the Baeksang Arts Awards' Best Screenplay award twice, the highest honor for a TV drama writer, for "Lovers in Paris" and "Secret Garden". She also won the Grand Prize for the first time as a writer for "Guardian: The Lonely and Great God".

On the other hand, Park Ji-eun's greatest achievements are one trophy each from KBS and MBC. It is regrettable that her most recent award was the prime minister's commendation for Korean Pop Culture and Arts Award six years ago.

- Results in 2020... Park Ji-eun goes upbeat with "Crash Landing on You"

However, the writers' positions have changed this year with "Crash Landing on You" and "The King: Eternal Monarch".

"Crash Landing on You", which ended in February, started with 6.1% and ended with 21.6%. Throughout the show, it succeeded in capturing both viewer ratings and popularity. As a result, it beat Kim Eun-sook's "Guardian: The Lonely and Great God" and came in 1st in tvN's viewership history.

On the other hand, "The King: Eternal Monarch" is not doing very well now, with ten episodes in. It started off with 11.4% (episode 1) and 11.6% (episode 2), the highest viewership in recent SBS Friday-Saturday drama, but it's currently dropped to 6.3%.

- Same fantasy romance, but different results... difference in plot and details

Although both dramas are fantasy romance, the reason for their conflicting ratings success is that the plot and details of the story have the biggest difference.

"Crash Landing on You" was well received for its detailed portrayal of the love line of Ri Jeong-hyeok (Hyun Bin) and Yoon Se-ri (Son Ye-jin) and its main background, North Korea. On top of that, the lively acting skills of the supporting actors, and Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin's chemistry reached the peak of the drama.

Although "The King: Eternal Monarch" depicts the parallel world of Korea and the Korean Empire, it is full of tired settings, such as the "Cinderella" heroine and a prince on a white horse, which were present in Kim Eun-sook's previous works. In addition, excessive PPL, controversies over production and the actors' skills have been criticized.

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