Overview of Oh My Ghost

‘Oh My Ghost’ is a 2015 South Korean television series directed by Yang Hee-seung and Seo-yoon, starring Park Bo-young, Jo Jung-suk, Lim Ju-hwan and Kim Seul-gi.

It tells the story of a timid Na Bong-sun (Park Bo-young) who gets possessed by the ghost of a confident young woman Shin Soon-ae (Kim Seul-gi) who seeks to solve her unfinished business by hooking up with a man of vitality before leaving for the afterlife. The newfound confidence in Na Bong-sun catches the eye of her boss and longtime crush Kang Sun-woo (Jo jung-suk) and a relationship blossoms.

The 16-episode series aired on tvN from 3 July 2015 to 22 August 2015, on Fridays and Saturdays at 20:30.

Profile

• Drama: ‘Oh My Ghost’
• Director: Yoo Je-won
• Writer: Yang Hee-seung and Seo-yoon
• Network: tvN
• Episodes: 16
• Release Date: 3 July 2015 –22 August 2015
• Language: Korean
• Country: South Korea

Cast

• Park Bo-young as Na Bong-sun
  Na Bong-sun is an assistant chef at Sun Restaurant. A shy, insecure person with low self-esteem and almost no close friends. She is not particularly good at anything at the restaurant where she works and mostly gets yelled at. From a young age, she’s been able to occassionally see ghosts, thanks to her shaman grandmother. Her life changes track when she gets possessed by a lustful virgin ghost named Shin Soon-ae (Kim Seul-gi), which makes her appear a more cheerful and confident person. She has a secret crush on her boss and head chef Kang Sun-woo.

• Jo Jung-suk as Kang Sun-woo
  Kang Sun-woo is the restaurant’s owner, head chef and a professional who specialises in pasta. He also launched a small restaurant serving Korean fusion cuisine. A picky chef who is a narcissist at heart but yet surprisingly nice and romantic. Bong-sun has a secret crush on him, but he doesn’t notice her for two reasons: he’s always surrounded by ladies, and he’s still hung up on an old flame. However, one day, Bong-sun starts acting strangely, losing her mousy demeanour and Sun-woo slowly becomes obsessed with her.

• Kim Seul-gi as Shin Soon-ae
  A lusty virgin ghost who’s still hanging around because she hasn’t finished her business. Sassy and endearing, but lonely at heart. At first, she thought her grudge was due to her unfulfilled lusty needs but later she realizes that it was caused by the unjust death that happened to her. She was killed by Choi Sung-jae. Sun-ae is a ghost who is talented when it comes to food and she has a bright and dynamic personality, though, she doesn’t remember her past life.

• Lim Ju-hwan as Choi Sung-jae
  Kang Sun-woo’s brother-in-law. A kind police officer who takes good care of his disabled wife. However, it turns out he is possessed by an evil spirit for some years and is involved with Soon-ae’s murder because Soon-ae was an eyewitness to the accident he caused. His shady deeds were navigated by the evil spirit that possessed him. Sung-jae is regretful after coming to know about everything he had done while being possessed by the evil spirit. He is Kang Eun-hee’s husband.

• Shin Hye-sun as Kang Eun-hee
  Kang Sun-woo’s younger sister. A former ballerina who became the victim of a hit and run that left her forever paralyzed. Worked as a cashier at Sun Restaurant. She is Sung-jae’s wife

• Park Jung-ah as Lee So-hyung
  A television Program Director and Kang Sun-woo’s first love.

• Kang Ki-young as Heo Min-soo
  Sous chef at Sun Restaurant.

• Choi Min-chul as Jo Dong-chul
  Chef at Sun Restaurant.

• Kwak Si-yang as Seo Joon
  Chef at Sun Restaurant. He studied at Le Cordon Bleu.

• Oh Eui-shik as Choi Ji-woong
  Chef at Sun Restaurant.

• Shin Eun-kyung as Jo Hye-young
  Kang Sun-woo’s mother and a teaching professor. Kang Sun-woo was born to her at the age of 19, and after that, she worked while pursuing her studies. She was too busy studying and dating and thus has no female friends, the only exception being her friend in Seobinggo-dong. Sun-woo does not share a warm relationship with her.

• Lee Dae-yeon as Shin Myung-ho
  Shin Soon-ae’s father. He runs a small restaurant whose main customers are taxi drivers.

• Lee Hak-joo as Shin Kyung-mo
  Shin Soon-ae’s younger brother. He is unemployed and spends all his time playing games. Later, he works at Kang Sun-woo’s second restaurant.

• Lee Jung-eun as Shaman in Seobinggo-dong
  A shaman. Jo Hye-young’s only female friend. She is also close to Shin Soon-ae’s ghost.

• Kim Sung-bum as Han Jin-goo
  A police officer in charge of the hit-and-run case of Kang Eun-hee. He is Choi Sung-jae’s partner. Later, he is killed by Choi Sung-jae.

• Choi Woong as Joo Chang-gyu / Yoon Chang-sub
  So-hyung’s late boyfriend and So-hyung’s new boyfriend (double role).

• Lee Joo-sil as Bong-sun’s grandmother
  A shaman.

Special Appearances

• Oh Hee-joon as Dormitory occupant
• Lee Do-yeop as pension owner
• Lee Ha-na as radio DJ (voice cameo)
• Kim Hwan-hee as Yoon Chae-hee
• Ryu Hyun-kyung as Officer Kang
• Seo In-guk as Edward
• Nam Gi-ae as Seo Bing-go’s customer
• Park Ji-yeon as Il Pal-gwi a ghost friend of the virginal ghost, Shin Soon-ae

Synopsis

Na Bong-sun is an extremely timid young woman with low self-esteem and zero confidence and almost no close friends. Working as an assistant chef at Sun Restaurant, she is not particularly good at anything and almost gets yelled at for everything. She has a secret crush on her boss and owner of the Sun Restaurant Kang Sun-woo. Sun-woo is a professional celebrity chef, specializing in pasta and is a confident, yet cold and strict head chef. His soft side only comes out for his little sister.

However, Sun-woo barely takes any notice of Bong-sun’s existence. Bong-sun had the ability to see ghosts occassionally from a young age given the fact that her grandmother was a shaman. This indeed bothered her to the level that it caused sleeping issues as well as catered to her withdrawn and stand-offish disposition.

Everything remains the same for Bong-sun until one day, she gets possessed by Shin Soon-ae. Soon-ae is a lustful virgin ghost who is unable to find her way to the afterlife because she’s resentful that she died a virgin. She identifies Bong-sun as the pathway to track a man of vitality and fulfil her grudge.

After Sun-ae takes over Bong-sun’s body, Bong-sun turns into a shining confident woman and everyone takes notice of her new glam. Her friendships with co-workers improve and she is even able to earn a glance from Sun-woo once she starts to flaunt her charm. At this point, Bong-sun is aware that she is possessed and though hostile at first, seeing a chance with Sun-woo, she agrees to the strange cohabitation.

The perky and outgoing Bong-sun starts to be the constant thought in Sun-woo’s mind. Love sparks between them and a relationship blossoms. Even more to Soon-ae’s luck, Sun-woo appears as a man of vitality who can handle ghostly advances and she is upbeat about fulfilling her intentions.

Real complications happen when Soon-ae starts developing feelings for Sun-woo. When Bong-sun regains control over her body, sadness and guilt causes her to confess to Sun-woo that he had also been in a relationship with a ghost. With difficulty, Sun-woo accepts the different levels of the story.

Soon-ae decides to leave for the afterlife without settling her virgin grudge but her plans are stopped when she comes to know about the truth behind her murder and Sun-woo’s brother-in-law’s involvement in it. She finally realizes her grudge was caused not by her unfulfilled lusty needs but because of the unjust death that happened to her. Once the murder mystery is resolved, Soon-ae peacefully makes her way to the afterlife after giving a heartfelt goodbye to her parents and the loving couple.

Bong-sun receives the opportunity to receive training from abroad after winning a cooking contest abroad and returns back after two years as a well-rounded and confident person. She continues maintaining contact with Soon ae’s family and even helps out them at their restaurant. Love hasn’t faded and Bong-sun resumes her relationship with Sun-woo.

Theme

Anything that blocks our aspirations is a weed in the garden. It needs to be identified and plucked away before it consumes all the nourishment. Bong-sun is a wannabe chef who is working hard to make her dreams come true, though she isn’t very talented. The blockage of her aspirations was primarily caused by her own insecurities and pushover personality.

‘Oh My Ghost’ presents us with the most relevant theme of ‘the necessity of addressing and resolving our fears and stepping up.’ On the surface level, it might appear a triangle love story, but digging deep, it effectively deals with memory, personality and trust.

Bong-sun could exhibit an amiable personality while she was possessed by Soon-ae. Bong-sun could improve her cooking as well as her friendships and earn the notice of her crush in the meantime. However, constant reliance on anyone or anything for our own betterment is indeed an implausible demand.

The fault in our stars could only be rectified by ourselves. A commendable aspect ‘Oh My Ghost’ showed is Bong-sun’s continued exhibition of poised mannerisms despite Soon-ae leaving her body and her life. Even more, a ‘not-so-talented chef’ worked her own way to winning the cooking contest and earned the opportunity to receive training from abroad. Bong-sun learned to address her fears and dared to come out of the cocoon and board the train of opportunities.

Life does take us on a roller-coaster ride every now and then. The inhibition to grab the adventure would only leave us in a state of stagnation from where there is no movement and growth. If we envision progress, it is important to convince ourselves to face fear and take the pain. After all, a diamond is also only a piece of charcoal that handled stress exceptionally well.

Thus, did shine the lovely heroine at the end of ‘Oh My Ghost’, faring determined through all the hassles in her way. Thus did shine the lovely Bong-sun at the end of ‘Oh My Ghost’, faring determinedly through all the hassles in her way.

Awards

• 4th Annual DramaFever Awards 2016
  Best Actress – Park Bon-young
  Best Supporting Actress – Kim Seul-gi
• tvN10 Awards 2016
  Best Content Award, Drama – ‘Oh My Ghost’
  Two Star Award – Jo Jung-suk
  Best Chemistry Award – Park Bo-young and Kim Seul-gi
• 4th APAN Star Awards 2015
  Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries – Park Bo-young

Interesting Facts about Oh My Ghost

1. In September 2018, the Thai remake of the same title ‘Oh My Ghost’ premiered on True4U (Thai Digital Terrestrial Television Channel).
2. The series’ name is also known as ‘Oh My Ghostess’.
3. The tvN series ‘Oh My Ghost’ ended with the third-highest viewership rating among all the other dramas in 2015.

FAQs

1. Who are the writers of the K-Drama ‘Oh My Ghost’?
   Yang Hee-seung and Yang Seo-yoon.
2. Who is the director of the K-Drama ‘Oh My Ghost’?
   Yoo Je-won.
3. What is the genre of the K-Drama ‘Oh My Ghost’?
   Romance, Comedy-drama, Thriller.
4. What is the Instagram ID of Park Bo-young?

   boyoung0212_official is the Instagram ID of Park Bo-young.