Content studio SLL, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily, collaborated with Japanese broadcaster TV Asahi on an upcoming Japanese romance thriller series "Monster," the Korean content powerhouse said Thursday.

The new drama is SLL and TV Asahi’s first collaborative project involving planning and production since signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in May 2024.


SLL and TV Asahi, in partnership with SLL’s label Perfect Storm Film, to complete the screenplay of the upcoming series based on writer Shin Eun-young’s original work, titled “Touch” (translated), the content company said.

The upcoming romance thriller follows a female lawyer falling in love with a married murder case suspect.

The script is penned by Erika Seki, who was behind the Japanese remake of Korean drama “My Love from the Star” (2013-14), and directed by Yusuke Taki and Takashi Ninomiya. It will feature actors Kumiko Aso and Akihisa Shiono.

Also, the first two episodes were produced by Jin Hyuk and Choi Bo-yoon, who took the helm of the recent JTBC period series “The Tale of Lady Ok,” according to SLL.

SLL and TV Asahi established an MOU last year to cooperate in the content business and have been collaborating since then. As part of the MOU, TV Asahi released a remake version of JTBC hit series “SKY Castle” (2018-19) in July last year.

“‘Monster,' jointly planned and produced by SLL and TV Asahi, will captivate Japanese viewers every Friday night with its suspenseful storyline, as the protagonists pursue the hidden truths behind the masks they wear,” SLL said. “Starting with this project, we aim to establish a foundation for long-term collaboration between Korea and Japan in content production and will embark on discovering new intellectual properties.”

The new romance thriller is slated to be released on April 18.


BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]