# Why Her (왜 오수재인가)
**Why Her** (왜 오수재인가; RR: *Wae Osujaeinga*; also released internationally as *Why Oh Soo-jae?*) is a 2022 South Korean television series broadcast by SBS as a Friday-Saturday drama. It stars [Seo Hyun-jin](https://www.edgepedia.org/seo-hyun-jin) as Oh Soo-jae, a driven lawyer at a top law firm who is demoted to teaching at a law school, and Hwang In-yeop as the law student Gong Chan who devotes himself to protecting her.[1](https://programs.sbs.co.kr/drama/whyher/about/70734) • [2](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20220724/seo-hyun-jin-says-why-her-taught-her-more-about-herself)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | SBS Friday-Saturday drama, 16 episodes, aired at 10 pm from June 3, 2022[1](https://programs.sbs.co.kr/drama/whyher/about/70734) • [2](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20220724/seo-hyun-jin-says-why-her-taught-her-more-about-herself) |
| Production | Directed by Park Soo-jin, written by Kim Ji-eun; produced by StudioS and Boemedia[1](https://programs.sbs.co.kr/drama/whyher/about/70734) • [3](https://ent.sbs.co.kr/news/article.do?article_id=E10010252550) |
| Main cast | Seo Hyun-jin (Oh Soo-jae), Hwang In-yeop (Gong Chan), Heo Jun-ho (Choi Tae-guk), Bae In-hyuk (Choi Yoon-sang)[4](https://www.soompi.com/article/1530347wpp/exclusive-interview-why-her-stars-seo-hyun-jin-hwang-in-yeop-and-bae-in-hyuk-share-first-impressions-whats-in-their-bags-and-more) |
| Genre | Mystery romance and legal drama[4](https://www.soompi.com/article/1530347wpp/exclusive-interview-why-her-stars-seo-hyun-jin-hwang-in-yeop-and-bae-in-hyuk-share-first-impressions-whats-in-their-bags-and-more) |
| Viewership | Opened at 6%; episode 6 peaked at 11.2% (Nielsen Korea); finale reached a series-high 10.7%[2](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20220724/seo-hyun-jin-says-why-her-taught-her-more-about-herself) • [3](https://ent.sbs.co.kr/news/article.do?article_id=E10010252550) |
| Streaming | Available on Rakuten Viki, where it holds a 9.5 user rating from about 85,000 ratings[5](https://www.viki.com/tv/38290c?locale=ko) |
## Premise
The series follows Oh Soo-jae, the youngest partner at TK Law Firm, Korea's top law firm, a talented attorney driven by a relentless desire to win. After she takes on a case that goes wrong, her years of work collapse and she is demoted; she takes a job lecturing at a local law school to win back her position. There she meets a group of law students, including Gong Chan, and joins them to take down the corrupt law firm CEO Choi Tae-guk and seek justice.[2](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20220724/seo-hyun-jin-says-why-her-taught-her-more-about-herself)
SBS's own program description frames the story as that of a woman who chased flawed success through flawed choices, who revises her life through love with a younger man and comes at last to love a self that had never been properly loved before.[1](https://programs.sbs.co.kr/drama/whyher/about/70734) Soompi, which interviewed the leads at the premiere, describes the show as a mystery romance in which Oh Soo-jae is a coldhearted lawyer grown empty after chasing only success, while Gong Chan is a law student who will do anything to protect her.[4](https://www.soompi.com/article/1530347wpp/exclusive-interview-why-her-stars-seo-hyun-jin-hwang-in-yeop-and-bae-in-hyuk-share-first-impressions-whats-in-their-bags-and-more)
## Cast and characters
**Seo Hyun-jin** plays Oh Soo-jae. In a Soompi interview she said she chose the drama because the script was gripping and because she thought the character could suit whatever face she put on, like a chameleon.[4](https://www.soompi.com/article/1530347wpp/exclusive-interview-why-her-stars-seo-hyun-jin-hwang-in-yeop-and-bae-in-hyuk-share-first-impressions-whats-in-their-bags-and-more) After the finale she told The Korea Times that the role led her to reflect on herself, saying she learned more about working on set and about herself as a person through the series, and noting that the production took a long time and demanded energy in many aspects.[2](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20220724/seo-hyun-jin-says-why-her-taught-her-more-about-herself)
**Hwang In-yeop** plays Gong Chan, the law student whose painful past connects to the present; he said the title struck him as novel and impactful and that he could not forget it after first reading the script.[4](https://www.soompi.com/article/1530347wpp/exclusive-interview-why-her-stars-seo-hyun-jin-hwang-in-yeop-and-bae-in-hyuk-share-first-impressions-whats-in-their-bags-and-more) **Heo Jun-ho** plays Choi Tae-guk, the chairman of TK Law Firm and the story's corrupt antagonist, and **Bae In-hyuk** plays Choi Yoon-sang, the chairman's lonely second son and a law student.[4](https://www.soompi.com/article/1530347wpp/exclusive-interview-why-her-stars-seo-hyun-jin-hwang-in-yeop-and-bae-in-hyuk-share-first-impressions-whats-in-their-bags-and-more) The wider cast includes Ji Seung-hyun as Choi Ju-wan and Lee Joo-woo as Song Mi-rim.[6](https://m.kinolights.com/season/102193)
## Broadcast and viewership
The drama premiered on June 3, 2022 in SBS's Friday-Saturday 10 pm slot with a 6 percent viewership rating, ahead of *Doctor Lawyer*, the [So Ji-sub](https://www.edgepedia.org/so-ji-sub) drama MBC launched in the same slot that day.[2](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20220724/seo-hyun-jin-says-why-her-taught-her-more-about-herself) • [7](https://news.sbs.co.kr/news/keywordList.do?keyword=%EC%99%9C+%EC%98%A4%EC%88%98%EC%9E%AC%EC%9D%B8%EA%B0%80&pageIdx=1)
**Ratings trajectory.** Episode 6, broadcast on June 18, recorded 9.5 percent in the capital area and 8.8 percent nationally by Nielsen Korea, with an instantaneous peak of 11.2 percent; it placed first among all dramas broadcast that Saturday and in its timeslot, and drew 3.1 percent in the 2049 demographic, also first.[3](https://ent.sbs.co.kr/news/article.do?article_id=E10010252550) The series wrapped up on a Saturday in July 2022 with its highest rating of the run, 10.7 percent.[2](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20220724/seo-hyun-jin-says-why-her-taught-her-more-about-herself)
## Reception
The series drew a divided critical reception. On the streaming guide Kinolights it holds an aggregate score of 67.1 percent and a review rating of 2.9 from 47 user reviews, alongside an IMDb score of 7.6.[6](https://m.kinolights.com/season/102193) Korean-language reviews there praised Seo Hyun-jin's portrayal of the character's ambition and charisma, while several criticized the romance storyline as the drama's weakest element.[6](https://m.kinolights.com/season/102193) On Rakuten Viki, by contrast, registered viewers rated it 9.5 out of 10 across roughly 85,000 ratings.[5](https://www.viki.com/tv/38290c?locale=ko)
Korean press coverage placed the drama in a 2022 wave of legal-themed series. The Korea JoongAng Daily compared it with *Extraordinary Attorney Woo*, noting that both dramas featured lawyers with deep knowledge of the law but that most viewers chose to engage with Woo Young-woo rather than Oh Soo-jae.[8](https://www.koreajoongangdaily.com/entertainment/courtroom-dramas-extraordinary-attorney-woo-and-why-her-receive-differing-sentences-from-viewers/10970876)
## References
1. [왜 오수재인가 : 프로그램 소개, SBS](https://programs.sbs.co.kr/drama/whyher/about/70734)
2. [Seo Hyun-jin says 'Why Her' taught her more about herself, The Korea Times (July 24, 2022)](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20220724/seo-hyun-jin-says-why-her-taught-her-more-about-herself)
3. ['왜 오수재인가' 서현진, 이철민 차량 폭발 목격…최고 시청률 11.2%, SBS 연예뉴스 (June 19, 2022)](https://ent.sbs.co.kr/news/article.do?article_id=E10010252550)
4. [Exclusive Interview: "Why Her?" Stars Seo Hyun Jin, Hwang In Yeop, And Bae In Hyuk, Soompi (June 10, 2022)](https://www.soompi.com/article/1530347wpp/exclusive-interview-why-her-stars-seo-hyun-jin-hwang-in-yeop-and-bae-in-hyuk-share-first-impressions-whats-in-their-bags-and-more)
5. [Why Her?, Rakuten Viki](https://www.viki.com/tv/38290c?locale=ko)
6. [왜 오수재인가 다시보기, 키노라이츠](https://m.kinolights.com/season/102193)
7. [왜 오수재인가 키워드 기사 목록, SBS 뉴스](https://news.sbs.co.kr/news/keywordList.do?keyword=%EC%99%9C+%EC%98%A4%EC%88%98%EC%9E%AC%EC%9D%B8%EA%B0%80&pageIdx=1)
8. [Courtroom dramas 'Extraordinary Attorney Woo' and 'Why Her?' receive differing sentences from viewers, The Korea JoongAng Daily](https://www.koreajoongangdaily.com/entertainment/courtroom-dramas-extraordinary-attorney-woo-and-why-her-receive-differing-sentences-from-viewers/10970876)
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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 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