Sunday night when rookie director Kim Yeon-kyung shook...Season 2 → Establishment of a professional team, good news (Roundup)

Nov 17, 2025

'new director Kim Yeon-koung'Caption'Caption. Photo courtesy =MBC

Kim Yeon-kyung, who used to write legends on the volleyball court, wrote the fate of underdogs again as a director, shaking viewers with a growth narrative beyond entertainment.

On the 17th, a meeting was held at the MBC headquarters in Sangam, Mapo, Seoul. Producer Kwon Rak-hee, producer Lee Jae-woo, and producer Choi Yoon-young attended the meeting. 「New director Kim Yeon-kyung」, which first aired on the 28th of last month, is evaluated as the first volleyball entertainment that combines game scenes and dramatic narratives. It is drawing a hot response by drawing the growth and re-leap of the team 'Victory Wonder Dogs', which brings together players who have been released, unknown, and returned after retirement.

In particular, coach Kim Yeon-kyung was a rookie coach in his 0th year and oversaw the team's founding, training, tactics, and mental care. The tactics, judgment, replacement cards, mental, and leadership shown in the position of 'Director Kim Yeon-koung' drew attention every time. Producer Kwon said, `Kim Yeon-kyung is cold, but he is clumsy and humane.' `The quality of the leader was more surprising when editing than in the field. I felt this person was more prepared as a director than I thought he would be," he said, praising Kim Yeon-koung.

'new director Kim Yeon-koung'caption'caption screen capture

The actual program performance is also good. The 8th episode, the most recently aired, topped Sunday's entertainment show for five consecutive weeks in 2049 ratings. The viewing rate of households in the metropolitan area of Nielsen Korea soared to 4.4 percent and up to 5.0 percent. Producer Kwon thinks it's a relief. Working with such a big person, I felt a lot of pressure not to become someone in my career." Regarding Kim Yeon-kyung's response to the ratings, he said, `I always get a phone call on Monday after the broadcast is over.'

Producer Choi said, `We've had a lot of meetings to make this program since January,' and producer Lee said, `I think it's going to be the most heart-throbbing program, but I'm proud that it's led to a good result.'

With the success of pioneering a new genre of volleyball entertainment, attention is also being paid to the possibility of season 2. Producer Kwon said, `I will persuade director Yeon-kyung well so that I can visit you with good news," he replied.

As for the possibility of winning the end-of-year entertainment awards "Talking about the year-end awards ceremony is also a great honor as a producer. There is still the last broadcast left, but in fact, I tried to produce the best results of the week without even thinking about the year-end awards. I'm going to enjoy it to my heart's content after it's over," he added.

Above all, the possibility of establishing a real professional club by the Wonder Dogs is also being discussed. Producer Kwon said, `This season is the first step toward the 8th team"But I hope that " will not end with the program, but will actually have a positive impact on the volleyball community." It would be nice to have the final goal of the 8th team. I will carefully suggest to the president whether MBC can start"I shuddered.

'new director Kim Yeon-koung'Lee Jae-woo PD, Kwon Rak-hee PD, and Choi Yoon-young PD (from left). Photo courtesy = MBC

Since it is an indoor sport, cameras, lights, and sounds are all difficult, so there was also a difficulty in the filming method. Producer Lee "It was my first time doing sports entertainment. Some relay cars do it on the spot, and the audio is different from usual in the gym. What we do is that the world's best player named Kim Yeon-kyung is being coached by the team rather than filming a broadcast, so the problems seem trivial."

Producer Kwon asked the staff to watch 'The First: Slam Dunk' before filming, but we also have a cut that follows the ball. Let's make a bold attempt, and let's set an editing point. I think the viewers liked it in that detail, he explained the production process.

As there are many variables in sports, there were also unexpected results. The "Pilseung Wonder Dogs" was on the verge of dissolution with a 33% win rate after losing the match against Korea, but beat the professional team's Jeong Kwan-jang and recorded his first three consecutive wins to confirm the team's survival.

Producer Kwon said, "My hands and feet got cold when I lost two consecutive games. Depending on the outcome of the game, how it will come out next will be out of reach." Producer Choi also looked back at the time, saying, `We had a countermeasure meeting in the hotel lobby all night after losing the game against Korea and Japan.'

'new director Kim Yeon-koung'Choi Yoon-young PD, Kwon Rak-hee PD, and Lee Jae-woo PD (from left). Photo courtesy = MBC

While various players, including Pyo Seung-joo, Lee Jin, Munhwa, Han Song-hee, Koo Hye-in, Incusi, and Tamira, took on new challenges at the Wonder Dogs, Lee Na-yeon was surprised to succeed in joining the professional team Heungkuk Life Insurance. In addition, there are many players who have emerged rapidly in the second half, such as Gu Sol and Gu Hye-in.Producer Kwon said "The life of a player has changed through this program. I thought it was a good foothold to make a comeback as a professional team," Lee said, expressing his pride, saying, `There are really players who are growing through this program..

Coach Kim Yeon-kyung's last episode against his former team Heungkuk Life is drawing attention as a `legendary episode' even before the broadcast. Producer Lee said "It was a touching point that the underdog players played with support" while PD Kwon said "It's the most satisfying game and the most angry game." It will be an episode that shows well by matching the sum." Producer Choi hinted, "'Kim Yeon-kyung became the head coach of Heungkuk Life's opponent team who made a lot of records after performing the last dance, and I think it would be intuitively fun to break that record.'

MBC 'New Director Kim Yeon-kyung' will air the last episode at 9:10 p.m. on the 23rd.

rightlight@sportschosun.com

Sunday night when rookie director Kim Yeon-kyung shook...Season 2 → Establishment of a professional team, good news (Roundup)

K-drama