General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

Once Upon a Small Town (어쩌다 전원일기)

Once Upon a Small Town (어쩌다 전원일기, literal title Accidental Country Diary) is a 2022 South Korean streaming romantic comedy series directed by Kwon Seok-jang and starring Park Soo-young (Joy of Red Velvet) and Choo Young-woo. Produced as a KakaoTV original and adapted from Park Ha-min's web novel Eojjeodaga Jeonwonilgi, it follows a Seoul veterinarian who is unexpectedly stranded running his grandfather's rural animal clinic and falls into a romance with the village's local police officer.¹^•²

Key fact	Detail
Original title	어쩌다 전원일기 (Eojjeoda Jeonwonilgi); English title Once Upon a Small Town²
Source material	Web novel Eojjeodaga Jeonwonilgi by Park Ha-min, published May 1, 2019 via Ridibooks²
Director / writer	Kwon Seok-jang (director); screenwriter Baek Eun-kyeong¹^•³
Run	12 episodes, September 5 to September 28, 2022, released Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at 19:00 on KakaoTV¹
Leads	Joy (Park Soo-young) as police officer Ahn Ja-young; Choo Young-woo as veterinarian Han Ji-yul²
International streaming	Available worldwide on Netflix alongside KakaoTV⁴
Setting	The fictional rural Huidong Village, where Han Ji-yul's grandfather runs an animal clinic²

Spoilers

Premise and story

Han Ji-yul works as a veterinarian in Seoul until a serious-sounding phone call from his grandfather draws him to Huidong Village. On arrival he learns the real reason for the summons: his grandfather has left for a six-month trip to Europe, and a note instructs Ji-yul to run the family animal clinic in his absence.² A city man against his wishes, Ji-yul initially acts coldly toward the residents while adjusting to rural routines and animal patients.⁵

The romance develops with Ahn Ja-young, a police officer at the local station who grew up in Huidong and had aimed to serve there even while studying for her police exam. She is usually the first to appear when a resident needs help, and she guides Ji-yul through the practical inconveniences of village life as their relationship grows.² A third point of the triangle is the farmer Lee Sang-hyeon (Baek Sung-chul), Ja-young's longtime friend, whose closeness to her creates friction with Ji-yul.⁶ Supporting villagers, including characters played by Baek Ji-won and Jeong Seok-yong, supply much of the comedy as well-meaning gossips invested in the leads' business.⁶^•⁷

Production and release

The series was produced as a KakaoTV original, part of the platform's push into scripted content, and adapted from the web novel by Park Ha-min with a screenplay by Baek Eun-kyeong.¹^•³ The first episode was released on September 5, 2022, and a new episode followed every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at 19:00 for four weeks, ending with episode 12 on September 28, 2022.¹^•⁸ Netflix carried the series worldwide during its run.⁴

Each episode runs roughly 30 to 36 minutes, about half the length of a standard Korean drama hour, which made the complete run a short commitment for viewers.⁵^•⁹ The original soundtrack was released in parts, with Hong Dae-kwang's "Missing You" as Part 1 and Boramiyu's "Come to Me" as Part 3, both produced under music director Moon Sung-nam's team with composers including Park Jung-joon.¹⁰^•¹¹

Cast

Joy (Park Soo-young) as Ahn Ja-young, the Huidong village police officer²
Choo Young-woo as Han Ji-yul, the Seoul veterinarian²
Baek Sung-chul as Lee Sang-hyeon, a local farmer²
Jeong Seok-yong as Hwang Man-sung, at the Sandeul police station²
Baek Ji-won as Jang Se-ryeon⁷
Roh Jae-won as Yoon Geun-mo²

The series was an early acting role for Choo Young-woo, who later took leading parts in The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call and Head Over Heels.¹² For Joy, it followed Red Velvet's March 2022 mini-album The ReVe Festival 2022 – Feel My Rhythm and put the singer in a leading drama role.⁴

Reception

Time magazine included the series in its 2022 list of the ten best Korean dramas on Netflix, calling it an underrated rom-com suited to light weekend viewing.⁵ Reviewers generally treated it as a low-stakes, feel-good rural romance: The Review Geek described it as a healing drama without melodrama, while Ready Steady Cut called it predictable but fun.¹³^•¹⁴ On Rotten Tomatoes the season held a 72% Tomatometer score from two critics, with critics' notes praising its consistent episode quality while flagging sparse music and slow pacing.⁸^•¹⁵ AsianWiki users gave it a rating of 88 out of 100 from 769 votes.²

References

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 › East Asian web and streaming serials › Titles My to So

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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