# Lie to Me (내게 거짓말을 해봐) (2011 TV series)
**Lie to Me** (내게 거짓말을 해봐) is a 2011 South Korean romantic comedy television series broadcast by SBS as a Monday-Tuesday drama, running 16 episodes from May 9 to June 28, 2011 in the 9:55 pm slot.[1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX7eC0RS7vo) It stars [Yoon Eun-hye](https://www.edgepedia.org/yoon-eun-hye) as Gong Ah-jung, a Ministry of Culture civil servant whose casual lie that she is married spirals into a public marriage scandal with hotel executive Hyun Ki-joon, played by [Kang Ji-hwan](https://www.edgepedia.org/kang-ji-hwan).[2](https://www.donga.com/news/List/article/all/20110601/37699538/1)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Network and slot | SBS Monday-Tuesday drama, 9:55 pm, May 9 to June 28, 2011, 16 episodes[1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX7eC0RS7vo) |
| Production | Directed by Kim Soo-yong and Kwon Hyuk-chan; written by Kim Ye-ri per an industry press release[3](https://www.newswire.co.kr/newsRead.php?no=550227) |
| Premise | Gong Ah-jung (Yoon Eun-hye), a 5th-grade official at the Ministry of Culture, tells a friend she married Hyun Ki-joon (Kang Ji-hwan), president of the conglomerate World Group[2](https://www.donga.com/news/List/article/all/20110601/37699538/1) |
| Domestic ratings | Debuted at 9.1%, rose to 10.4% in episode 2, fell to 8.9% by episode 5, and ended at 9.2%[4](https://news.sbs.co.kr/news/endPage.do?news_id=N1000910814) • [5](https://www.donga.com/news/List/article/all/20110524/37482366/3) • [6](https://news.sbs.co.kr/news/endPage.do?news_id=N1000939089&plink=OLDURL) |
| Export | Sold to eight countries: Japan, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia[7](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20110623149000005) |
| Overseas reception | First episode drew 3.6% on Japan's TBS in 2012; voted the #1 hallyu drama viewers most wanted to see again in a CCTV poll in China[8](https://ent.sbs.co.kr/amp/article.do?article_id=E10000535149) |
| Main cast | Yoon Eun-hye, Kang Ji-hwan, Sung Jun, Jo Yoon-hee, Park Ji-yoon, Hong Soo-hyun, Ryu Seung-soo, Kwon Yul, and Kang Shin-il[9](https://www.netflix.com/title/70207416) |
## Premise and characters
Gong Ah-jung is a 5th-grade civil servant in the tourism promotion division of the Ministry of Culture, described in Korean press coverage as an "umchin-ddal," a mother's-friend's-daughter archetype of a well-brought-up woman. To save face before her friend Yoo So-ran (Hong Soo-hyun), who married Ah-jung's first love, Ah-jung lies that she married Hyun Ki-joon, the president of the major conglomerate World Group.[2](https://www.donga.com/news/List/article/all/20110601/37699538/1) The lie spreads, and the two are drawn into a marriage scandal that forces them together.[4](https://news.sbs.co.kr/news/endPage.do?news_id=N1000910814)
Ki-joon is written as an elite, wealthy hotel executive, while Ah-jung is impulsive and cheerful; the drama follows the pair as they navigate the fallout of the false marriage rumor and fall in love.[4](https://news.sbs.co.kr/news/endPage.do?news_id=N1000910814) • [2](https://www.donga.com/news/List/article/all/20110601/37699538/1) Sung Jun played Ki-joon's brother Sang-hee, and the supporting cast included Jo Yoon-hee, Park Ji-yoon, Ryu Seung-soo, Kwon Yul, and Kang Shin-il.[9](https://www.netflix.com/title/70207416)
The Ministry of Culture itself took an interest in the production: Minister Jung Byung-guk visited the set at the National Gugak Center in Seoul on May 6, 2011, noting that the heroine's portrayal of a ministry official had drawn attention.[10](https://www.mcst.go.kr/site/s_notice/tv/tvView.jsp?pMenuCD=0307010000&pSeq=439)
## Production
The series was directed by Kim Soo-yong and Kwon Hyuk-chan.[3](https://www.newswire.co.kr/newsRead.php?no=550227) Screenwriting credit is reported differently across sources: SBS's broadcast information lists Choi Yoon-jung and Hwang Joo-ha,[1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX7eC0RS7vo) while an industry press release and a Daishin Securities program table credit Kim Ye-ri.[3](https://www.newswire.co.kr/newsRead.php?no=550227) • [11](https://file.mk.co.kr/imss/write/20190311113210__00.pdf) The independent production company Fan Entertainment is listed as its producer in a Korea Creative Content Agency industry report, which also credits the studio's earlier series with sustained export growth.[12](https://www.kocca.kr/knowledge/research/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2011/12/15/TGg5cYfJQ8qx.pdf)
During the run, SBS ran a public contest for couple nicknames for the Ki-joon and Ah-jung pairing, and the drama aired simultaneously on SBS TV and the SBS Gorilla streaming channel.[3](https://www.newswire.co.kr/newsRead.php?no=550227)
## Ratings and reception
The premiere drew a 9.1% national household rating, a figure SBS reported as a solid start for the new Monday-Tuesday series.[4](https://news.sbs.co.kr/news/endPage.do?news_id=N1000910814) Ratings rose to 10.4% for episode 2, then declined from episode 3 (10.2%) onward, dropping to 8.9% by episode 5, by which point the drama had fallen to third place in its slot behind KBS 2TV's *Baby-Faced Beauty*.[5](https://www.donga.com/news/List/article/all/20110524/37482366/3) The finale on June 28 closed at 9.2%, and SBS's own report attributed the modest run to a thin storyline despite the high-profile casting of the two leads.[6](https://news.sbs.co.kr/news/endPage.do?news_id=N1000939089&plink=OLDURL) A Daishin Securities table gives the series average as 9.5% with a peak of 10.5%, figures slightly above the daily reporting.[11](https://file.mk.co.kr/imss/write/20190311113210__00.pdf)
Critical reception in English-language drama commentary was mixed in a similar way. Reviewers consistently praised the chemistry between Yoon Eun-hye and Kang Ji-hwan, including the drama's extended kiss scenes, while criticizing the plot; the Soompi year-end review called it "an idea, but no story," and Dramabeans named Kang Ji-hwan its "least improved" performer of 2011, blaming the writing.[13](https://www.soompi.com/article/369197wpp/measuring-2011-on-the-sticky-scale-year-in-review-part-1) • [14](https://wannabefob.wordpress.com/2011/06/29/korean-drama-review-lie-to-me/) • [15](https://dramabeans.com/2011/12/2011-editors-picks-year-in-review-part-5/comment-page-6/) The final episode ended with Ah-jung taking a position at a museum on [Jeju Island](https://www.edgepedia.org/jeju-island) before accepting Ki-joon's marriage proposal, an ending Soompi described as straightforward and predictable.[16](https://www.soompi.com/article/364517wpp/adieu-lie-to-me-a-disappointingly-predictable-happy-ending) It was followed on SBS's Monday-Tuesday schedule by *Warrior Baek Dong Soo*.[16](https://www.soompi.com/article/364517wpp/adieu-lie-to-me-a-disappointingly-predictable-happy-ending)
## International distribution
Before the run ended, SBS Contents Hub announced the drama had been exported to eight countries: Japan, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia, crediting the pairing of the two hallyu stars and the unusual premise of two people falling in love after meeting through a lie.[7](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20110623149000005)
The series found its largest overseas audience in Japan and China. It aired on Japan's DATV in August 2011 and on satellite channels from December, and was voted the number-one hallyu drama Japanese viewers most wanted to see before its terrestrial debut on TBS in March 2012; the first episode drew a 3.6% rating, which SBS described as high for a hallyu drama, with subsequent episodes holding in the 3 to 4 percent range.[8](https://ent.sbs.co.kr/amp/article.do?article_id=E10000535149) In China, where it aired in 2011, it was voted the number-one "hallyu drama I want to see again" in a popularity poll hosted by CCTV.[8](https://ent.sbs.co.kr/amp/article.do?article_id=E10000535149) The drama later became available on Netflix internationally.[9](https://www.netflix.com/title/70207416)
## References
1. [내게 거짓말을 해봐 E04 broadcast information, YouTube (SBS)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX7eC0RS7vo)
2. [외면 받는 노처녀 로맨스 '내게 거짓말을 해봐' 위기 탈출법은?, Dong-A Ilbo](https://www.donga.com/news/List/article/all/20110601/37699538/1)
3. [SBS드라마 '내거해', 강지환 윤은혜 커플 애칭 공모, Newswire](https://www.newswire.co.kr/newsRead.php?no=550227)
4. [SBS '내게 거짓말을 해봐' 시청률 9.1% 출발, SBS News](https://news.sbs.co.kr/news/endPage.do?news_id=N1000910814)
5. ['내거해' 시청률 하락세, 윤은혜·강지환 카드 안 통하나, Dong-A Ilbo](https://www.donga.com/news/List/article/all/20110524/37482366/3)
6. [강지환·윤은혜의 SBS '내거해' 9.2%로 종영, SBS News](https://news.sbs.co.kr/news/endPage.do?news_id=N1000939089&plink=OLDURL)
7. [SBS, '내게 거짓말을 해봐' 8개국에 수출, Yonhap News](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20110623149000005)
8. [강지환, '日 내거해 인기만발' 여심 흔들, SBS Entertainment News](https://ent.sbs.co.kr/amp/article.do?article_id=E10000535149)
9. [Lie to Me, Netflix](https://www.netflix.com/title/70207416)
10. [정병국 장관, 드라마 '내게 거짓말을 해봐' 현장 방문, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism](https://www.mcst.go.kr/site/s_notice/tv/tvView.jsp?pMenuCD=0307010000&pSeq=439)
11. [더스토리웍스 드라마 기획/제작 작품 일람, Maeil Business / Daishin Securities report](https://file.mk.co.kr/imss/write/20190311113210__00.pdf)
12. [2011년 3분기 콘텐츠산업 동향분석보고서, Korea Creative Content Agency](https://www.kocca.kr/knowledge/research/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2011/12/15/TGg5cYfJQ8qx.pdf)
13. [Measuring 2011 on the Sticky Scale, Soompi](https://www.soompi.com/article/369197wpp/measuring-2011-on-the-sticky-scale-year-in-review-part-1)
14. [Korean Drama Review: Lie to Me, Wannabefob](https://wannabefob.wordpress.com/2011/06/29/korean-drama-review-lie-to-me/)
15. [2011 Editors' Picks, Dramabeans](https://dramabeans.com/2011/12/2011-editors-picks-year-in-review-part-5/comment-page-6/)
16. [Adieu "Lie to Me": A Disappointingly Predictable Happy Ending?!, Soompi](https://www.soompi.com/article/364517wpp/adieu-lie-to-me-a-disappointingly-predictable-happy-ending)
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*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 › Romance and melodrama series › Romance melodrama miniseries › Romantic comedy series › Workplace romance series*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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