Campus Startup Chapter Drawn by a North Korean Defector Youth…Web Short Drama "Start Hana" Unveiled

Real stories of youth that cross boundaries, 'Start Hana' short-form web drama unveiled

"Nam-dong Hanah Foundation" will hold a production press conference for the short-form web drama "Start Hana" at the third event commemorating the upcoming 14th "North Korean Defectors Day" at the second exhibition hall of KINTEX in Ilsan.

At the event, a highlight video that runs through the work's narrative will make its first public appearance, and a talk show with cast and production staff taking the stage will lay bare the planning behind the scenes and the hard-earned filming anecdotes.

Using a trendy short-form format in 12 episodes, "Start Hana" puts a university "startup club" at the center of its stage. It is a "campus youth story" that weaves together the process of young people from South and North joining forces and growing through their struggles over career paths and the tangled human relationships, in a brisk yet dense way.

In particular, it captures the raw worries and conflicts that young people in their 20s "North Korean defector youth" face in everyday life in a tone and manner that never turns heavy. By excluding cheap melodrama and building a deeper storyline, the drama is expected to draw in a strong sense of empathy from viewers.

There is a clear statistical basis for "Nam-dong Hanah Foundation" to set "startup club" as the core axis of the drama. It smartly dramatizes the real-world indicator that in an annual hope-for-future career survey targeting North Korean defectors, "starting a business and self-employment" has remained the unshakable No. 1.

Above all, from the very first step of the planning, actual "North Korean defectors" directly took part to raise the script's level of detail. The realistic North Korean dialects of North Korean defector youth, honed through painful settlement experiences and thorough fact-checking, are a powerful tool that maximizes the drama's vitality.

To drive the drama's immersion, actual North Korean-defector actor "Cha Wisung" and "Lee Il-chun" were immediately cast. "Cha Wisung" plays the role of Chairman Oh Chang-yeop, who leads the startup club, while "Lee Il-chun" plays the role of the club member Lee Il-chun, known for his distinctive charisma, delivering a performance in perfect harmony with the character. In addition, "Lee Il-chun" also handled the singing for the drama's inserted song (OST) himself, showcasing his versatility.

Well-made web drama "Start Hana" will be exclusively released through "Kind Hana-ssi," the official YouTube channel of "Nam-dong Hanah Foundation." With a teaser for the preview that sparks curiosity on the 14th as the starting signal, a sensibility-styled music video will unveil on the 17th. The highly anticipated main episodes (1 through 12) will be released sequentially every Friday starting from the 31st.