Before becoming drama writers, Hong Jung-eun and Hong Mi-ran worked as entertainment writers on variety shows. Hong Jung-eun started as an assistant writer at
Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) in 1998 and worked there for 8 years. She wrote for MBC's
Sunday Sunday Night, , and re-enactment programs . Hong Mi-ran worked as an entertainment program writer for 5 years, contributing to SBS' and KBS2's sitcom . It became a huge hit not only in Korea, but throughout Asia. Their follow-up
My Girl (2005), about a cheeky con artist who pretends to be the long-lost granddaughter of a rich man, was equally successful. The two dramas effectively made its young actors —
Han Chae-young and
Jae Hee, and
Lee Da-hae,
Lee Joon-gi, and
Lee Dong-wook—into household names and
Korean Wave stars. The Hongs' winning streak continued with
Couple or Trouble (also known as
Fantasy Couple, 2006), a
remake of the 1987 Hollywood film
Overboard. It starred
Han Ye-seul as a snooty heiress with
amnesia who falls for a handyman played by
Oh Ji-ho. For
Hong Gil-dong (2008), the Hongs based their protagonist on the fictional folk hero
Hong Gil-dong, a
Joseon-era
Robin Hood who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. But the fusion period comedy-drama starring
Kang Ji-hwan and
Sung Yu-ri combined royal plotting and romance with over-the-top stunts, gaudy costumes, toilet humor and anachronistic modern music. The series was popular online, but received average ratings. It also won Best Miniseries at the 2008
Roma Fiction Fest. ''
You're Beautiful'' (2009) starred
Jang Keun-suk and
Park Shin-hye, in which a naive nun
cross-dresses as a male idol singer in a
boy band. Unlike the Hongs' early work, the drama did not get high ratings, but it did create a
cult following (or "mania" fan base) online and among international viewers. Many fans watching the drama online. The series was broadcast in various Asian countries including Japan, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, UAE, and the Philippines. It achieved high ratings on
Fuji Television in Japan, surpassing its competitors in the timeslot. The soundtrack album of the miniseries quickly gained popularity, selling 20,000 copies within the first week of its release. It became a top seller on various music sites, such as
Melon, Dosirak, and
Mnet. By the end of 2011, the album had sold a total of 57,000 copies in South Korea. The album was written and produced by Han Sung-ho, who also worked on Hong's previous drama
Brilliant Legacy. The drama included concert footage of A.N.JELL, so the cast members actually performed a mini-concert, where it was reported that as many 25,000 fans showed up. Such was its pan-Asian popularity that
remakes were produced in Japan (
Ikemen desu ne, 2011) and Taiwan (
Fabulous Boys, 2013). The Hongs played with Korean mythology for their next hit drama in 2010. In
My Girlfriend Is a Nine-Tailed Fox, the
kumiho (or nine-tailed fox) isn't the terrifying
femme fatale of legend who feeds on human livers. Instead, she's a cute and clueless girl (played by
Shin Min-a) who loves to eat
Korean beef, while an aspiring stuntman (
Lee Seung-gi) accompanies her in her quest to become human. Their next drama, 2011's
The Greatest Love was again set amidst the gossipy and image-conscious world of entertainment, starring
Cha Seung-won as the most beloved star in the nation who falls for a has-been pop singer (
Gong Hyo-jin). The drama topped its timeslot during its run, and not only did it sweep the 2011
MBC Drama Awards (including the Writer of the Year award for the Hong sisters), Gong also won Best Actress at the
2012 Baeksang Arts Awards.
Big (2012), in which an 18-year-old and a 30-year-old
swap bodies, starred
Gong Yoo and
Lee Min-jung. The drama is arguably the Hongs' least successful work thus far, lacking both in ratings and buzz. The Hongs reunited with
Gong Hyo-jin in ''
Master's Sun'' (2013), a
horror romantic comedy with
So Ji-sub about a woman who sees ghosts."Writers with entertainment backgrounds are good at creating stories that can keep viewers glued to each episode. “Because entertainment is a competition based on minutes and seconds, I think the compulsion to change the channel even if it was boring for just one minute naturally led to training." SBS PD Jinhyuk, Director of Master’s Sun In 2017, Hong sisters penned a modern adaptation of the Chinese classic novel
Journey to the West, titled
A Korean Odyssey. The series brought together
Cha Seung-won,
Lee Seung-gi, and
Lee Hong-gi, who had previously collaborated with the Hong sisters on their previous TV series. It also reunites Hong sisters and director
Park Hong-kyun who worked together on
Warm and Cozy (2015) and
The Greatest Love (2011). Director Kim Jung-hyun and Kim Byung-soo later joined the production team. A Korean Odyssey premiered on
tvN on December 23, 2017, airing every Saturday and Sunday. Nielsen Korea data revealed that it was the top-rated show in its time slot, surpassing both cable and public broadcasting channels for its debut episode. Moreover, the series set a new record for the highest ratings among tvN dramas in the 20-49 year-old demographic according to Nielsen Korea. In May, 2018, internet novel writer Ttangyeol accused the Hong sisters of plagiarizing her novel "Aeyugi". The Hong sisters denied the claims, stating that the drama was already in planning stage before "Aeyugi" was published in 2015. Both works are based on the Chinese classic novel
Journey to the West. On February 15, 2019, the Seoul Western District Court's 11th civil affairs department ruled in favor of the Hong sisters, dismissing the charges. After a challenging couple years, the duo is back with another hit show,
Hotel del Luna, featuring
Lee Ji-eun and
Yeo Jin-goo in the lead roles as the owner and manager, respectively, of the ghost-exclusive hotel. Produced by GTist, and directed by
Oh Chung-hwan, it broadcast on tvN from July 13 to September 1, 2019. It became the most-watched tvN drama of 2019 and remains one of the
highest-rated Korean dramas in cable television history. It was also the most popular fantasy series on Viki in 2019. After a 3-year hiatus, the Hong sisters returned with a fantasy series called
Alchemy of Souls. The drama stars
Lee Jae-wook,
Jung So-min,
Go Youn-jung, and
Hwang Min-hyun. Directed by Park Joon-hwa, story follows young mages navigating the realms of heaven and earth. It originally aired on tvN. It is also available for streaming on
TVING and
Netflix in selected regions. The series is split into two parts: Part 1 aired from June 18 to August 28, 2022, for 20 episodes, while Part 2 (
Alchemy of Souls: Light and Shadow) aired from December 10, 2022, to January 8, 2023, for 10 episodes. == Writing style ==