K-Drama Rewind, King The Land: Lee Jun-ho and Yoona are exhaustively cute in this plot-free romance

In King The Land editorial room, someone probably asked, “How can you make smoothing tablecloths romantic?” Someone else thought it was a good dare. Go for it. How long can you do it? Five…ten…minutes? Make it feel like 20.

Lee Jun-ho and Yoona rose to the challenge. What followed was minutes of straightening already-perfect linens while gazing into each other’s eyes. A triumph in absurdity—and somehow, it worked. 

After a few episodes, you begin to suspect the show’s entire premise was built on a list of dares: Be cute for five episodes straight. Wear a dazzling red suit. Wrap up a family drama in one episode. Tick, tick, tick.

King The Land has a thin premise, just like its title: It follows the severely repressed, but also extra Lee Jun-ho’s Gu-won, the general manager of a hotel. He parachutes into the show in the beginning itself, so you know what you’re dealing with. He’s stiff and doesn’t want to waste words, least of all with his sister, who is determined to one-up him whenever she can. And then, there’s our cheery Sa-rang, played by Yoona. She’s an employee at his hotel. They clash, obviously, but then opposites attract obviously, and it takes Gu-won jumping from a helicopter to save her during a hike gone terribly wrong that he, himself, insisted on—love blooms.

And then, there are several episodes of them falling in love. Everywhere. You can see the lengths the show goes to, to really tick all the tropes of romance: From a ceiling exploding to simulate a rain scene, to love by fountains in Thailand, love confessions on rooftops…love confessions just everywhere. The show runners know their audience. It works. The drama on the sidelines doesn’t cloud the cheesiness; our couple is mature enough to sort out their own issues, so hasty engagement announcements and sudden disappearances don’t mean much.

King The Land is for when you want pure, undistilled romance. No complex plots. No cerebral subtext. Just dazzling suits, tropical getaways, and enough lingering gazes to power a small country. Jun-ho and Yoona are clearly having the time of their lives, and if you’re in the mood for drama-free sweetness, this one serves it up by the trayful.