# The Real Has Come! (진짜가 나타났다!)
**The Real Has Come!** (진짜가 나타났다!) is a South Korean television drama series that aired on KBS2's weekend slot in 2023, starring [Baek Jin-hee](https://www.edgepedia.org/baek-jin-hee) and [Ahn Jae-hyun](https://www.edgepedia.org/ahn-jae-hyun) as a single mother and an unmarried obstetrician who enter a fake contractual relationship. The series ran for 50 episodes of roughly 70 to 80 minutes each and reached a nationwide rating of 23.9 percent near its finale.[1](https://welcon.kocca.kr/en/directory/content/the-real-has-come--5294) • [2](https://www.soompi.com/article/1602506wpp/durians-affair-and-the-real-has-come-soar-to-their-highest-ratings-yet-see-you-in-my-19th-life-ends-on-rise)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | 진짜가 나타났다! (Jinjjaga Natanadda!), also translated as The Real Thing Appears or The Real Deal Has Come |
| Broadcast | KBS2, Saturday and Sunday 19:55 time slot; premiered 25 March 2023[4](https://www.globalgranary.life/2023/03/26/the-real-has-come-kdrama-review-summary/) • [5](https://asianwiki.com/index.php?title=The_Real_Has_Come) |
| Format | 50 episodes of about 70 minutes (80 minutes per KBS World's listing), family target audience[1](https://welcon.kocca.kr/en/directory/content/the-real-has-come--5294) • [6](https://kbsworld.kbs.co.kr/program/view.php?pg_seq=1973) |
| Main cast | Baek Jin-hee as Oh Yeon-doo, Ahn Jae-hyun as Gong Tae-kyung, Cha Joo-young as Jang Se-jin, Jung Eui-jae as Kim Jun-ha[7](https://www.soompi.com/article/1566013wpp/watch-ahn-jae-hyun-baek-jin-hee-and-more-describe-their-characters-at-1st-script-reading-for-upcoming-drama) |
| Creative team | Director Han Joon-seo, screenwriter Jo Jung-joo[7](https://www.soompi.com/article/1566013wpp/watch-ahn-jae-hyun-baek-jin-hee-and-more-describe-their-characters-at-1st-script-reading-for-upcoming-drama) |
| Peak rating | 23.9 percent nationwide average (Nielsen Korea) on July 23, 2023, an all-time high for the series[2](https://www.soompi.com/article/1602506wpp/durians-affair-and-the-real-has-come-soar-to-their-highest-ratings-yet-see-you-in-my-19th-life-ends-on-rise) |
| Studio | Victory Contents[3](https://letterboxd.com/film/the-real-has-come/) |
## Premise
The story centers on Oh Yeon-doo (Baek Jin-hee), a Korean-language instructor who delivers online lectures and has become something of an internet celebrity. Her life collapses when she learns that her boyfriend, investment advisor [Kim Jun](https://www.edgepedia.org/kim-jun)-ha (Jung Eui-jae), has been cheating on her, and that she is pregnant with his child; he demands she abort it.[6](https://kbsworld.kbs.co.kr/program/view.php?pg_seq=1973) • [8](https://tv.apple.com/us/show/the-real-has-come/umc.cmc.70h99ddsjytz9c8aelsccbbdb)
On impulse she names Gong Tae-kyung (Ahn Jae-hyun), the obstetrician treating her, as the father of her child. Tae-kyung, an obstetrician and gynecologist from a wealthy family who has declared he will never marry, agrees to join the lie for his own reasons: his stepfamily is pushing him into an arranged marriage with Jang Se-jin (Cha Joo-young), his first love, who once refused him in favor of greater wealth and now works as an ambitious secretary at a major company founded by his stepfamily. The two enter a contract marriage, each intending to solve a personal problem, and the series follows the pregnancy, birth, and parenting of Yeon-doo's daughter, whose birth name is "Real," as the fake relationship turns into genuine affection and the two extended families are drawn together around the child.[6](https://kbsworld.kbs.co.kr/program/view.php?pg_seq=1973) • [1](https://welcon.kocca.kr/en/directory/content/the-real-has-come--5294)
KBS's own program description frames the title around this child: "Real" is the baby's name, and her arrival, unwelcome at first to everyone, gradually turns the "fake love made up by fake fathers and mothers into real love" and unites her great-grandmother, grandparents, uncles, and cousin to protect her.[1](https://welcon.kocca.kr/en/directory/content/the-real-has-come--5294)
## Production and broadcast
The first script reading, attended by director Han Joon-seo, writer Jo Jung-joo, and cast members including Ahn Jae-hyun, Baek Jin-hee, Cha Joo-young, and Jung Eui-jae, was publicized in February 2023. KBS described the series as a romance and family drama about the contractual relationship between a language professor and single mother and an unmarried obstetrician-gynecologist, capturing the ups and downs of two families experiencing pregnancy, birth, and parenting.[7](https://www.soompi.com/article/1566013wpp/watch-ahn-jae-hyun-baek-jin-hee-and-more-describe-their-characters-at-1st-script-reading-for-upcoming-drama)
The drama premiered on 25 March 2023 in KBS2's Saturday and Sunday 19:55 slot, taking over from *Three Bold Siblings*; *Hyo-Sim's Self-Reliance* followed it in the slot on September 16, 2023.[4](https://www.globalgranary.life/2023/03/26/the-real-has-come-kdrama-review-summary/) • [5](https://asianwiki.com/index.php?title=The_Real_Has_Come) KBS WORLD began airing it internationally from April 1, 2023, in a Saturday and Sunday 21:00 slot with a listed runtime of 80 minutes.[6](https://kbsworld.kbs.co.kr/program/view.php?pg_seq=1973) In Japan, KBS World premiered it on June 17, 2023, billing it as a KBS romantic comedy and home drama about a single mother and a non-marriage doctor, and reported an opening viewership rating of 21.7 percent.[9](https://www.kbsworld.co.jp/program/detail?prSn=1532)
## Ratings and reception
**Viewership.** According to Nielsen Korea, the series rose to an average nationwide rating of 23.9 percent on July 23, 2023, with four episodes left in its run, an all-time high for the show and part of a streak as the most-watched program of any kind airing on Sundays.[2](https://www.soompi.com/article/1602506wpp/durians-affair-and-the-real-has-come-soar-to-their-highest-ratings-yet-see-you-in-my-19th-life-ends-on-rise) Industry commentary places the series in a downward trend for KBS weekend dramas, with peak ratings falling from *It's Beautiful Now* (29.4 percent) to *Three Bold Siblings* (28 percent) and then *The Real Has Come!*[10](https://kbizoom.com/why-do-kbs-weekend-dramas-and-makjang-dramas-see-a-decline-in-ratings/) On IMDb, the series holds a weighted rating of 6.4 out of 10 from 595 user ratings.[11](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26684155/ratings/)
**Casting note.** The role of Gong Chan-sik, the patriarch of Tae-kyung's family, was played by Hong Yo-seob for the first 16 episodes and then by Sun Woo Jae-duk; a retrospective review credited the recast with giving the previously weak character more backbone and rebalancing the family dynamics.[12](https://themuseculture.com/the-real-has-come-2023-k-drama-review-with-spoilers/) The same review noted that the series drew hype partly because it marked Ahn Jae-hyun's return to television drama, and characterized it as a makjang-style weekend drama, a genre of hyperbolic family melodrama, that recovered in its second half after a shaky middle.[12](https://themuseculture.com/the-real-has-come-2023-k-drama-review-with-spoilers/)
**Themes.** A KBS internal publication discussed the drama's treatment of marriage and family, noting that the series depicts a view of family not bound by blood through a child, and that Lee In-ok, a mother-in-law who herself had Tae-kyung as an unmarried mother, sympathizes and allies with her daughter-in-law Oh Yeon-doo, inverting the traditional mother-in-law and daughter-in-law conflict.[13](https://padmin.static.kbs.co.kr/nbroad/2023/5/15/1684108370162_nbroad.pdf)
## Context in KBS weekend drama
The series belongs to KBS's long-running weekend family drama format, typically 50 episodes broadcast on Saturday and Sunday evenings. KBS describes its drama series as being at the heart of the [Korean Wave](https://www.edgepedia.org/korean-wave), the international popularity of Korean popular culture, and the broadcaster has exported such series since *Winter Sonata* went to Japan in 2003.[14](https://open.kbs.co.kr/eng/) *The Real Has Come!* continued that export pattern, airing on KBS WORLD internationally and on KBS World Japan within months of its Korean premiere.[6](https://kbsworld.kbs.co.kr/program/view.php?pg_seq=1973) • [9](https://www.kbsworld.co.jp/program/detail?prSn=1532)
## References
1. [The real has come!, WelCon (KOCCA) content directory](https://welcon.kocca.kr/en/directory/content/the-real-has-come--5294)
2. ["Durian's Affair" And "The Real Has Come!" Soar To Their Highest Ratings Yet, Soompi (July 24, 2023)](https://www.soompi.com/article/1602506wpp/durians-affair-and-the-real-has-come-soar-to-their-highest-ratings-yet-see-you-in-my-19th-life-ends-on-rise)
3. [The Real Has Come! (2023), Letterboxd](https://letterboxd.com/film/the-real-has-come/)
4. [The Real Has Come (Kdrama Review & Summary), Global Granary (March 26, 2023)](https://www.globalgranary.life/2023/03/26/the-real-has-come-kdrama-review-summary/)
5. [The Real Has Come, AsianWiki](https://asianwiki.com/index.php?title=The_Real_Has_Come)
6. [The Real has come!, KBS WORLD TV program page](https://kbsworld.kbs.co.kr/program/view.php?pg_seq=1973)
7. [Watch: Ahn Jae Hyun, Baek Jin Hee, And More Describe Their Characters At 1st Script Reading, Soompi (February 10, 2023)](https://www.soompi.com/article/1566013wpp/watch-ahn-jae-hyun-baek-jin-hee-and-more-describe-their-characters-at-1st-script-reading-for-upcoming-drama)
8. [The Real Has Come!, Apple TV show page](https://tv.apple.com/us/show/the-real-has-come/umc.cmc.70h99ddsjytz9c8aelsccbbdb)
9. [本物が現れた！（原題）, KBS World Japan program page](https://www.kbsworld.co.jp/program/detail?prSn=1532)
10. [Why do KBS weekend dramas and makjang dramas see a decline in ratings?, KbizoOm](https://kbizoom.com/why-do-kbs-weekend-dramas-and-makjang-dramas-see-a-decline-in-ratings/)
11. [The Real Deal Has Come! (2023) Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26684155/ratings/)
12. [The Real Has Come! 2023 K-Drama Review, Muse Culture](https://themuseculture.com/the-real-has-come-2023-k-drama-review-with-spoilers/)
13. [이 시대에 '진짜 가족'은 어떻게 탄생하, KBS 사보 (May 15, 2023)](https://padmin.static.kbs.co.kr/nbroad/2023/5/15/1684108370162_nbroad.pdf)
14. [With your viewers! Digital KBS](https://open.kbs.co.kr/eng/)
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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 › Family and weekend serials*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 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