# Suspicious Partner (수상한 파트너)
**Suspicious Partner** (수상한 파트너), also marketed internationally as *Love in Trouble*, is a 2017 South Korean television series starring [Ji Chang-wook](https://www.edgepedia.org/ji-chang-wook) and [Nam Ji-hyun](https://www.edgepedia.org/nam-ji-hyun) that mixes romantic comedy with a legal thriller about a serial murder case. It was written by Kwon Ki-young and directed by Park Seon-ho, and aired on SBS from May 10 to July 13, 2017 on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 22:00 (KST).[1](https://www.yoda.wiki/wiki/Suspicious_Partner) • [2](https://ent.sbs.co.kr/news/article.do?article_id=E10008559527&cooper=ent.sbs.co.kr)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Broadcast | SBS, May 10 to July 13, 2017, Wednesday/Thursday 22:00 (KST)[1](https://www.yoda.wiki/wiki/Suspicious_Partner) |
| Episode count | 40 episodes under the half-hour numbering, corresponding to 20 one-hour episodes[1](https://www.yoda.wiki/wiki/Suspicious_Partner) • [3](https://theblossomreview.com/suspicious-partner-ayashii-partner-review-comparison/) |
| Writing and direction | Screenplay by Kwon Ki-young; directed by Park Seon-ho[2](https://ent.sbs.co.kr/news/article.do?article_id=E10008559527&cooper=ent.sbs.co.kr) |
| Main cast | Ji Chang-wook as prosecutor Noh Ji-wook; Nam Ji-hyun as judicial trainee Eun Bong-hee; Choi Tae-joon and Nara in supporting roles[4](https://seore.org/w/%EC%88%98%EC%83%81%ED%95%9C%20%ED%8C%8C%ED%8A%B8%EB%84%88) |
| Villain | Jung Hyun-soo, a serial killer played by Dong Ha[5](https://www.osen.co.kr/article/G1110671958) |
| Ratings | Listed at an 8.2% average and 10.5% figure in a The Story Works performance table; final-week broadcasts drew 7.2% and 9.2% (Nielsen Korea, nationwide)[6](https://file.mk.co.kr/imss/write/20190311113210__00.pdf) • [7](https://www.sportschosun.com/entertainment/2017-07-13/201707140100122830008918) |
| Remake | Ayashii Partner (MBS, 2025), a 12-episode Japanese adaptation of about 25 minutes each[3](https://theblossomreview.com/suspicious-partner-ayashii-partner-review-comparison/) |
## Premise and characters
The drama follows prosecutor Noh Ji-wook (Ji Chang-wook) and judicial trainee Eun Bong-hee (Nam Ji-hyun), whose first meeting goes badly when she mistakes him for a molester.[8](https://www.viki.com/tv/34557c-suspicious-partner) Bong-hee discovers her boyfriend, Jang Hee-joon (played by [Hwang Chan-sung](https://www.edgepedia.org/hwang-chan-sung) in a special appearance), is cheating on her with a colleague, and that night she finds him murdered in her apartment with no witnesses or suspects present.[9](https://hallyuism.com/2026/01/08/k-drama-review-suspicious-partner/) She is arrested for the murder, and Ji-wook, who is assigned to her case as the indicting prosecutor, eventually drops the charges over evidentiary problems and loses his position, later joining a law firm where Bong-hee also comes to work.[10](https://www.hellokpop.com/tv-movies/k-drama-suspicious-romance-ji-chang-wook/)
The romance between the two leads is the central storyline, and reviews frequently credited the pair's chemistry alongside the comedy of their bickering workplace relationship.[10](https://www.hellokpop.com/tv-movies/k-drama-suspicious-romance-ji-chang-wook/) Ji Chang-wook and Nam Ji-hyun had previously appeared together in the 2011 SBS series *Warrior Baek Dong-soo*.[11](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20170330018600033)
**Genre mixture.** A DongA Ilbo review at broadcast time described the show as firmly a romantic comedy whose core is the push-pull between the two leads, with murder and courtroom scenes folded in to give it the air of an open-ended thriller; the reviewer noted that the production treats the professions of its characters as more than scenery, letting legal conversations carry scenes that would otherwise read as pure romance.[12](https://www.donga.com/news/Culture/article/all/20170519/84434776/1)
## The murder mystery
The thriller thread centers on Jung Hyun-soo (Dong Ha), whose serial killings drive the later episodes. In episodes 26 and 27 he confesses to Ji-wook that he killed multiple victims, including Bong-hee's boyfriend, and a flashback hints that a girl from his past is connected to his motive.[5](https://www.osen.co.kr/article/G1110671958) The resolution comes in the penultimate broadcasts: the show reveals that Hyun-soo killed to avenge Park So-young, a friend he loved who died by suicide after a [gang rape](https://www.edgepedia.org/gang-rape) 13 years earlier, and that prosecutor Jang Moo-young was implicated in that original case. Ji-wook traps Hyun-soo at trial by deliberately misstating the facts of the case, provoking him into correcting the record and confessing to the murders.[13](https://enews.imbc.com/M/Detail/209952) The same episode ties the two leads' histories together: Bong-hee's father died trying to rescue Ji-wook's parents from a fire, and a childhood statement by Ji-wook, manipulated by prosecutor Jang Moo-young, had wrongly branded the father an arsonist.[13](https://enews.imbc.com/M/Detail/209952)
Dong Ha's performance drew attention as the show's thriller engine; an OSEN report noted that his turn as a killer stood in complete contrast to his previous role in KBS 2TV's *Chief Kim*.[5](https://www.osen.co.kr/article/G1110671958)
## Broadcast format and promotion
The series was one of two new Wednesday-Thursday SBS and MBC dramas whose first night was split into two 35-minute parts so that a roughly one-minute mid-episode commercial could be slotted between them, replacing the previous continuous hour-long airing; broadcaster commentary attributed the change to shifts in viewing patterns.[14](https://www.khan.co.kr/article/201705111457001) Korean Wikipedia, as reported by an English-language aggregator, says the nightly split into two consecutive parts took effect with this drama.[15](https://discoverasianworld.com/suspicious-partner/)
Its pre-broadcast promotion used an election theme. The teaser, released ahead of South Korea's May 9, 2017 presidential election, showed Ji Chang-wook in a suit delivering a campaign-truck speech at the [National Assembly](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-assembly-south-korea) with slogans such as "5 crore citizens fluttered by this lovestruck rom-com" and ended with the copy "the presidential election is May 9, the first broadcast of *Suspicious Partner* is May 10."[2](https://ent.sbs.co.kr/news/article.do?article_id=E10008559527&cooper=ent.sbs.co.kr) The teaser reached first place in real-time search terms.[2](https://ent.sbs.co.kr/news/article.do?article_id=E10008559527&cooper=ent.sbs.co.kr)
## Reception
A company report table for production house The Story Works lists the drama among its 2017 titles with an 8.2% figure and a 10.5% figure alongside its 20-episode run beginning May 10.[6](https://file.mk.co.kr/imss/write/20190311113210__00.pdf) Sports Chosun reported the penultimate night at 7.2% and 9.2% by Nielsen Korea nationwide standards, the same figures as the previous broadcast.[7](https://www.sportschosun.com/entertainment/2017-07-13/201707140100122830008918)
At the 2017 [SBS Drama Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/sbs-drama-awards), Nam Ji-hyun received an Excellence Award for her role in the series, sharing the weekday-drama honor with other winners.[16](https://star.fnnews.com/article/201801010051512531) On the rating aggregator RatingGraph, the show holds an average viewer rating of 8.7 out of 10 across 40 episodes.[17](https://www.ratingraph.com/tv-shows/suspicious-partner-ratings-65007/)
Reviewers have been divided about its structure. A HelloKpop review praised the cast chemistry, kiss scenes, and villain while listing predictable plotting and a "half-baked" thriller tone among its drawbacks, concluding that the strong closing courtroom chapter redeemed the messy gaps.[10](https://www.hellokpop.com/tv-movies/k-drama-suspicious-romance-ji-chang-wook/) A comparison piece with the Japanese remake argues that the original adds extra storylines from its ninth episode onward to stretch the mystery, leaving a loose narrative, while noting that its court scenes are better structured and delivered than the remake's.[3](https://theblossomreview.com/suspicious-partner-ayashii-partner-review-comparison/)
## Japanese remake
MBS aired *Ayashii Partner* (あやしいパートナー), a Japanese adaptation of the series, condensing the original's twenty hours into 12 episodes of about 25 minutes each, with Yagi Yusei as Tateishi Haruto (the Noh Ji-wook role) and Saito Kyoko as Miyashita Sakura (the Eun Bong-hee role). Episodes 1 to 8 follow the Korean version closely, while the last four episodes reorganize material from Korean episodes 9 to 20; the remake also drops the original's amnesia storyline.[3](https://theblossomreview.com/suspicious-partner-ayashii-partner-review-comparison/) DramaWiki likewise lists the 2025 MBS series as a related TV show.[18](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Suspicious_Partner)
## References
1. [Suspicious Partner overview, Yoda wiki entry citing broadcast period and episode count](https://www.yoda.wiki/wiki/Suspicious_Partner)
2. [Kang Seon-ae (2017). "Why an 'election' teaser video for Suspicious Partner?" SBS Entertainment News](https://ent.sbs.co.kr/news/article.do?article_id=E10008559527&cooper=ent.sbs.co.kr)
3. [Suspicious Partner x Ayashii Partner comparison, The Blossom Review](https://theblossomreview.com/suspicious-partner-ayashii-partner-review-comparison/)
4. [수상한 파트너 (2017) cast and run, seore.org](https://seore.org/w/%EC%88%98%EC%83%81%ED%95%9C%20%ED%8C%8C%ED%8A%B8%EB%84%88)
5. [Jeong So-young (2017). "'수트너' 살인 실마리 푼 동하, 로코 속 스릴러의 주범," OSEN](https://www.osen.co.kr/article/G1110671958)
6. [The Story Works performance table (2019), Maeil Business file](https://file.mk.co.kr/imss/write/20190311113210__00.pdf)
7. [Sports Chosun (2017). "'수트너', 로코로 시작해 반전스릴러로 끝난 '요망 드라마'"](https://www.sportschosun.com/entertainment/2017-07-13/201707140100122830008918)
8. [Suspicious Partner, Rakuten Viki series page](https://www.viki.com/tv/34557c-suspicious-partner)
9. [K-Drama Review: Suspicious Partner, Hallyuism](https://hallyuism.com/2026/01/08/k-drama-review-suspicious-partner/)
10. [Abby (2017). "K-Drama Review: Suspicious Partner," HelloKpop](https://www.hellokpop.com/tv-movies/k-drama-suspicious-romance-ji-chang-wook/)
11. [Yun Go-eun (2017). "지창욱·남지현 주연 SBS '수상한 파트너' 5월 방송," Yonhap News](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20170330018600033)
12. [Jung Yang-hwan (2017). "법정스릴러 가미한 '수상한' 로맨틱코미디," DongA Ilbo](https://www.donga.com/news/Culture/article/all/20170519/84434776/1)
13. [Cha Su-hyun (2017). "<수상한 파트너> 휘몰아친 사이다 전개 '짜릿+달달'," iMBC News](https://enews.imbc.com/M/Detail/209952)
14. [Kyunghyang Shinmun (2017). "지상파 드라마 중 중간광고? MBC, SBS 드라마 새 광고 끼워넣어"](https://www.khan.co.kr/article/201705111457001)
15. [Suspicious Partner (2017) notes, Discover Asian World](https://discoverasianworld.com/suspicious-partner/)
16. [fnSTAR (2018). "[SBS 연기대상] 지성 대상, 이보영 최우수" SBS Drama Awards results](https://star.fnnews.com/article/201801010051512531)
17. [Suspicious Partner (2017–2017) ratings, RatingGraph](https://www.ratingraph.com/tv-shows/suspicious-partner-ratings-65007/)
18. [Suspicious Partner, DramaWiki](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Suspicious_Partner)
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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 › Medical, legal, and workplace series*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Sep 19, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license