{ "id": "epk9kjr840", "slug": "times", "title": "Times (타임즈)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_international_serials", "label": "International serial drama and telenovelas", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_international_serials" }, { "id": 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"https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2021", "label": "Asia (other) · 2021 and later", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2021" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2021.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2021.culture" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_international_serials", "label": "International serial drama and telenovelas", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_international_serials" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia", "label": "East Asian drama series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia.korean_contemporary_drama", "label": "Korean contemporary drama", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia.korean_contemporary_drama" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia.korean_contemporary_drama.thriller-crime-and-mystery-series", "label": "Thriller, crime, and mystery series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia.korean_contemporary_drama.thriller-crime-and-mystery-series" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Times (타임즈) is a 2021 OCN Saturday-Sunday Korean drama about 2020 reporter Seo Jung-in phoning 2015 reporter Lee Jin-woo to prevent her father President Seo Ki-tae's death. Directed by Yoon Jong-ho, it ended at 3.0% ratings and streams on wavve and TVING.", "snippet": "Times (타임즈) is a 2021 OCN Saturday-Sunday Korean drama about 2020 reporter Seo Jung-in phoning 2015 reporter Lee Jin-woo to prevent her father President Seo Ki-tae's death. Directed by Yoon Jong-ho, it ended at 3.0% ratings and streams on wavve and TVING.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia.korean_contemporary_drama.thriller-crime-and-mystery-series.action-spy-and-legal-thrillers.legal-and-political-thrillers", "markdown": "# Times (타임즈)\n\n**Times** (타임즈, also romanized Taimjeu) is a 2021 South Korean television series, an OCN weekend original drama in which a 2020 reporter is connected by telephone to a reporter living five years earlier, and the two try to stop the death of her father, President Seo Ki-tae. It aired from February 20 to March 28, 2021 as the follow-up to *[The Uncanny Counter](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-uncanny-counter)*.[1](https://namu.moe/w/%ED%83%80%EC%9E%84%EC%A6%88(%EB%93%9C%EB%9D%BC%EB%A7%88))\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Genre | Time-warp political mystery in which two journalists fight fabricated truth made by the powerful[2](https://m.kinolights.com/season/92755) |\n| Broadcast | OCN Saturday–Sunday slot, February 20 to March 28, 2021, first episode at 10:30 pm[1](https://namu.moe/w/%ED%83%80%EC%9E%84%EC%A6%88(%EB%93%9C%EB%9D%BC%EB%A7%88)) • [3](https://www.newsis.com/view/NISX20210220_0001345821) |\n| Main cast | Lee Seo-jin (Lee Jin-woo), Lee Joo-young (Seo Jung-in), Kim Young-chul (Seo Ki-tae), Moon Jung-hee (Kim Young-joo), Kim In-kwon (Do Young-jae)[2](https://m.kinolights.com/season/92755) |\n| Production | Studio Dragon and Story Hunter Production; written by Lee Sae Bom and Ahn Hye Jin, directed by Yoon Jong-ho[4](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Times) |\n| Finale ratings | 3.0% capital-area household average, 3.4% peak on paid platforms; the run stayed in the 1–3% range[5](https://www.dailian.co.kr/news/view/976708) |\n| Streaming | Available in South Korea on wavve and TVING[6](https://www.justwatch.com/kr/TV-%ED%94%84%EB%A1%9C%EA%B7%B8%EB%9E%A8/taimjeu) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Premise\n\nSeo Jung-in (Lee Joo-young) is a reporter and the daughter of President Seo Ki-tae (Kim Young-chul). A mysterious 2019 base-station fire collapses the world she knew, and she learns that her father, a sitting president, was shot and killed during a campaign rally a year earlier; a further telephone-utility fire a year later connects her by phone to the 2015 journalist Lee Jin-woo ([Lee Seo-jin](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-seo-jin)).[7](https://www.xportsnews.com/article/1398720) The production described the premise as two parallel timelines, 2015 and 2020, that are never supposed to meet; a distortion in them links the two reporters by a single phone call, whose unpredictable butterfly effects drive the plot.[3](https://www.newsis.com/view/NISX20210220_0001345821) Jung-in relays to Jin-woo information such as the police's minute-by-minute account of the shooting, and he tries to change the past so that her father's death and the altered present never happen.[8](https://sports.donga.com/ent/article/all/20210222/105556621/1)\n\nThe producers singled out \"political mystery\" as the element that separates *Times* from earlier Korean dramas about time.[9](https://www.donga.com/news/Culture/article/all/20210217/105451764/1)\n\n### Cast and characters\n\n- **Lee Seo-jin** as Lee Jin-woo, a reporter in 2015, later seen as a member of the National Assembly in the changed present[2](https://m.kinolights.com/season/92755) • [10](https://www.tenasia.co.kr/article/2021032915574)\n- **Lee Joo-young** as Seo Jung-in, a passionate reporter in 2020; this was her first leading role[2](https://m.kinolights.com/season/92755) • [10](https://www.tenasia.co.kr/article/2021032915574)\n- **Kim Young-chul** as Seo Ki-tae, the president and Jung-in's father[2](https://m.kinolights.com/season/92755)\n- **Moon Jung-hee** as Kim Young-joo, one of the figures at the center of the mystery, alongside [Song Young-chang](https://www.edgepedia.org/song-young-chang) and Yoo Sung-joo, whose competing accounts of the incidents leave the truth in doubt[2](https://m.kinolights.com/season/92755) • [11](https://v.daum.net/v/c0it9T7M1P?f=p)\n- **Kim In-kwon** as Do Young-jae, a founding member of the newspaper Times and Jin-woo's companion; his casting was announced by YNK Entertainment on December 24, 2020[12](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20201224056200005)\n- Moon Ji-in as Myung Soo-kyung, with Ha Joon as Lee Geun-woo, Jin-woo's brother[2](https://m.kinolights.com/season/92755) • [8](https://sports.donga.com/ent/article/all/20210222/105556621/1)\n\n## Production and broadcast\n\n*Times* was produced by [Studio Dragon](https://www.edgepedia.org/studio-dragon) and Story Hunter Production (이야기사냥꾼) and written by Lee Sae Bom and Ahn Hye Jin.[4](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Times) It aired in OCN's Saturday–Sunday original slot as the follow-up to *The Uncanny Counter*, which had set a record for the network.[1](https://namu.moe/w/%ED%83%80%EC%9E%84%EC%A6%88(%EB%93%9C%EB%9D%BC%EB%A7%88)) The first episode went out at 10:30 pm on February 20, 2021.[3](https://www.newsis.com/view/NISX20210220_0001345821)\n\nEpisode counts differ between sources. JustWatch lists a single season of 16 episodes,[6](https://www.justwatch.com/kr/TV-%ED%94%84%EB%A1%9C%EA%B7%B8%EB%9E%A8/taimjeu) while Donga Ilbo described the series at its premiere as a 12-part drama.[9](https://www.donga.com/news/Culture/article/all/20210217/105451764/1) Both agree on the broadcast period of February 20 to March 28, 2021.[1](https://namu.moe/w/%ED%83%80%EC%9E%84%EC%A6%88(%EB%93%9C%EB%9D%BC%EB%A7%88))\n\nThe drama was also noted for its music: OST Part 3, \"The Mirror,\" sung by Jang Hye-jin, was released on March 6, 2021, and OST Part 4, \"The Cold\" by KLAZY, was produced by the composer team Taebian, who has worked with artists including Lee Soo and Red Velvet, together with Kim Jung-woo of the band TOXIC.[13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9PjvEaZqFs)\n\n## Reception\n\n**Ratings.** The series began with expectations attached to star Lee Seo-jin but struggled in the 1–3% range on paid platforms throughout its six-week run; the finale on March 28 recorded a 3.0% average and a 3.4% peak among households in the Seoul capital area.[5](https://www.dailian.co.kr/news/view/976708) On the aggregated review site Kinolights it holds a 69.0% score with a 2.7 out of 5 average across six critic reviews; one reviewer wrote that combining a time slip with political drama without careful refinement yields a series with weak plausibility.[2](https://m.kinolights.com/season/92755)\n\n**Critical framing.** Mid-run coverage praised the drama's suspenseful endings, describing the butterfly effects that Jung-in and Jin-woo's non-face-to-face collaboration triggers as the engine pulling viewers to the next episode.[7](https://www.xportsnews.com/article/1398720) In an end-of-run interview, Lee Joo-young, for whom this was a first leading role, said she had worked on the character Seo Jung-in for more than ten months since the first meeting in April 2020 and tried to stay faithful to the reporter's proper role, adding that the series ultimately asks what genuine journalism is.[10](https://www.tenasia.co.kr/article/2021032915574)\n\n## References\n\n1. [타임즈(드라마), Namu Wiki](https://namu.moe/w/%ED%83%80%EC%9E%84%EC%A6%88(%EB%93%9C%EB%9D%BC%EB%A7%88))\n2. [타임즈 다시보기 | 키노라이츠 리뷰·평가](https://m.kinolights.com/season/92755)\n3. ['타임즈' 이서진, 이주영과 시간 초월 공조…오늘 첫 방송, Newsis](https://www.newsis.com/view/NISX20210220_0001345821)\n4. [Times, DramaWiki (d-addicts)](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Times)\n5. [기대 못 미친 이서진의 '타임즈', 3.1%로 종영, Dailian](https://www.dailian.co.kr/news/view/976708)\n6. [타임즈 스트리밍으로 볼 수 있는 곳, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/kr/TV-%ED%94%84%EB%A1%9C%EA%B7%B8%EB%9E%A8/taimjeu)\n7. ['타임즈' 웰메이드 장르물 입증 \"2막 열었다…쫄깃한 엔딩 이어질 것\", Xports News](https://www.xportsnews.com/article/1398720)\n8. [[TV북마크] '타임즈' 김영철 음주운전 뺑소니 가해자 됐다 (종합), Sports Donga](https://sports.donga.com/ent/article/all/20210222/105556621/1)\n9. [\"시간여행은 설렌다고… 왜?\" \"현실에선 불가능하니까\", Donga Ilbo](https://www.donga.com/news/Culture/article/all/20210217/105451764/1)\n10. [타임즈 이주영 첫 주연작 무사히 종영해 다행 일문일답, Ten Asia](https://www.tenasia.co.kr/article/2021032915574)\n11. ['타임즈' 혼란스러운 범죄 재구성, 정황증거는 문정희X송영창X유성주?, Daum/v.daum.net](https://v.daum.net/v/c0it9T7M1P?f=p)\n12. [[방송소식] 배우 김인권, OCN 새 드라마 '타임즈' 출연, Yonhap News](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20201224056200005)\n13. [[MV] KLAZY – The Cold [타임즈 OST Part.4], Vlending (YouTube)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9PjvEaZqFs)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › East Asian drama series › Korean contemporary drama › Thriller, crime, and mystery series › Legal and political thrillers*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/times", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/times.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Times (타임즈)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/times. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Times (타임즈)](https://www.edgepedia.org/times)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/times](https://www.edgepedia.org/times). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Times (타임즈)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/times. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Times is a 2021 OCN Saturday-Sunday Korean drama about 2020 reporter Seo Jung-in phoning 2015 reporter Lee Jin-woo to prevent her father President Seo Ki-tae's death." }