12 Easter Eggs From The K-Drama ‘Nice To Not Meet You’

Egos collide and tempers flare when a dogged reporter meets a celebrated actor in the new K-drama romcom Nice to Not Meet You. Starring Lee Jung-jae (Squid Game, The Acolyte) and Lim Ji-yeon (The Glory, The Tale of Lady Ok), Nice to Not Meet You follows the love-hate relationship between Wi Jeong-sin (Lim), a political reporter at the top of her game who suddenly gets transferred to the entertainment desk while investigating a corruption scandal, and Lim Hyeon-jun (Lee), a popular actor who’s tired of being typecast as a crime-fighting detective. Although Hyeon-jun’s past encounters with Jeong-sin have been anything but pleasant, Jeong-sin’s move into entertainment journalism forces the two into closer orbit—inviting even more chaos and plenty of bickering into their lives.

Co-produced by Studio Dragon, Studio&NEW and Lee’s own Artist Company, Nice to Not Meet You premiered on November 3 and is available to watch in the U.S. on Prime Video, with new episodes released every Monday and Tuesday.

While you don’t need to know Korean culture, history or politics to enjoy the series, a little context can make the viewing experience more rewarding—and perhaps even eye-opening at times. If you’ve seen the first couple of episodes, here are some details you might have missed.

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Warning: Major spoilers ahead!

Episode 1 of Nice to Not Meet You

1. One of the reasons why Korean TV shows and films have resonated well with both domestic and international audiences is that the stories are often grounded in reality. Many writers and directors aren’t afraid to critique their society (as seen in Squid Game, Parasite and countless other works) or take jabs at famous political and historical figures (e.g., 12.12: The Day).

In one of the early scenes in the first episode of Nice to Not Meet You, Jeong-sin asks Assemblyman Ha Gee-wan’s secretary, “Did Assemblyman Ha Gee-wan hire an aide just to take the fall for him? Does Assemblyman Ha really have nothing to do with the redevelopment in Cheongwon City? Are you saying his aide took all that money for himself?”

Koreans will instantly recognize these lines as an indirect reference to the murky past of current South Korean president Lee Jae-myung, who in 2023 was indicted on corruption charges for his alleged ties to a $1 billion property development scandal during his time as mayor of Seongnam, a city just south of Seoul.

To draw additional parallels, the episode reveals Assemblyman Ha’s aide to have committed suicide and left behind a suicide note, which President Lee’s former chief of staff also did while Lee was being investigated.

This is not the first time a Korean series or film has seemingly alluded to President Lee’s controversial past. The 2016 film Asura: The City of Madness, for example, is widely believed to be based on Lee’s time as the governor of Gyeonggi Province. Many Koreans also pointed out that Uhm Ki-joon’s character Park Jae-sang in Little Women appeared to be based at least partly on Lee.

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2. Longtime K-cinema fans will recognize the above scene as an obvious reference to the classic 2003 Korean movie titled, well, The Classic. In one of the famous scenes from that movie, Zo In-sung’s character Sang-min holds his jacket to shield himself and Ji-hae (played by Son Ye-jin) from the rain. As if to leave no doubt that this scene from Nice to Not Meet You is a direct homage to The Classic, Se-na and Hyeon-jun are wearing outfits that are nearly identical to the ones that Sang-min and Ji-hae wore, and the entire sequence is a near-perfect reenactment of the original as well.

The Classic’s rain scene, in turn, is thought to be inspired by the 1979 film Sonagi, or The Shower.

(In Nice to Not Meet You, the movie that Se-na and Hyeon-jun filmed together is called Sad Waltz.)

3. In the above exchange between Hyeon-jun and director Byeong-gi, it’s hard not to get the impression that their lines might also be alluding to Lee Jung-jae himself. Despite being one of Korea’s most recognizable actors thanks to Squid Game, Lee hasn’t yet worked with two of Korea’s most renowned directors: Bong Joon-ho and Park Chan-wook. Let’s hope there will be a future Bong–Lee or Park–Lee collaboration in the near future!

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4. The Red Dragon Film Festival is, of course, a reference to the annual Blue Dragon Film Awards, now considered to be the most prestigious film awards show in Korea and roughly the South Korean equivalent of the Oscars.

5. Country Diaries is the longest-running Korean TV series in history. It ran from 1980 – 2002 for a total of 1088 episodes.

6. Wondering what that “herbal pill” that Hyeon-jun pops into his mouth is? It’s called cheongsimwon (sometimes called cheongsimhwan, though the latter technically refers to a different type of herbal pill that contains fewer ingredients), and it was historically used in traditional Korean medicine to treat stroke, epilepsy and other illnesses. Today many Koreans will take the ball-shaped herbal medicine to relieve anxiety when they’re stressed. Though it’s generally not advised to consume cheongsimwon too frequently or in large doses, it’s a natural (and probably healthier) alternative to prescription medications like Xanax.

Episode 2 of Nice to Not Meet You

7. The K-drama that CEO Hwang (played by Choi Gwi-hwa) refers to here is Chief Inspector (수사반장), a popular crime drama starring the legendary actor Choi Bool-am that aired on MBC from 1971 – 1989, around the same time that another crime drama—the American series Columbo—also enjoyed immense popularity among the Korean public.

A prequel titled Chief Detective 1958 starring Lee Je-hoon was released last year and is available to view on Disney+/Hulu in select regions.

8. After captivating the world in the dark, dystopian thriller Squid Game, Lee Jung-jae desired to take on a role that was “completely different” from his previous ones, much like how his Nice to Not Meet You character Hyeon-jun yearns to shed his detective persona. In a recent interview with Forbes, Lee shared that by starring in a comedy, he’d wanted to show a side of himself “that was entirely different from Squid Game.”

9. Of course, Zo In-sung is also the actor who starred in The Classic, the film referenced in Episode 1 (see No. 2 above).

10. Yoo Jae-suk (also written as Yu Jae-seok), as many K-drama fans know, is one of South Korea’s most famous and versatile comedians and TV personalities. In Korea he’s respected for his humble and sincere personality—and also for being scandal-free, which is rather rare for a celebrity of his stature.

11. Hyeon-jun cries because all the ads contain the word “Feel”—which is also a play on his character Kang Pil-gu’s name (in Korean, “feel” is pronounced like “pil” since there isn’t an “f” sound in the Korean alphabet).

12. In Korean jeongsin (정신) is also a word that means “mind” or “senses” (as in “to come to one’s senses”), so Jeong-sin jokes that she could never lose her mind—or her senses—since her name is Jeong-sin.

Nice to Not Meet You is currently streaming on Prime Video, with new episodes released every Monday and Tuesday.

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