Military K-drama 'D.P.' season two tells a new story in each episode

The second season of the hit Netflix series “D.P.” will pick up from where it left off in Season 1, and reveal the harsh truth of life in the military. “Season 2 shows what happens when Jun-ho and Ho-yul, the arresting team duo, encounter the...

From left; actors Kim Ji-hyun, Ji Jin-hee, Jung Hae-in, Koo Kyo-hwan, Kim Sung-kyun and Son Suk-ku pose for a photo during the press conference for the second season of ″D.P.″ at Grand Inter Continental Seoul Parnas in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

The second season of the hit Netflix series “D.P.” will pick up from where it left off in Season 1, and reveal the harsh truth of life in the military.

“Season 2 shows what happens when Jun-ho and Ho-yul, the arresting team duo, encounter the unchanging reality and absurd injustice behind the system,” said Jung Hae-in, who plays the lead character Jun-ho, during a press conference for the show at Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Tuesday.

“D.P.” tells the story of a “deserter pursuit” arresting team at a military unit who is tasked with finding and bringing back deserters.

Main poster for the second season of ″D.P.″ [NETFLIX]

“Season two is a direct continuation of season one, so we start out from episode seven, not episode one,” said director Han Jun-hee during the press conference. “Season one ends with a big incident, and the new season deals with how the main characters respond to that event. If the first season was about what the characters could do in their respective situations, this season is about the characters actively finding meaning in what they can do.”

Jung and Koo Kyo-hwan, who plays another central character Ho-yul, each reflected on their characters and how these characters change in season two of “D.P.”

“My character Jun-ho is someone who constantly asks questions about what is right and wrong,” Jung said. “He asks this question, and also asks what he can do and faces the problems straight on.”

Jung Hae-in, left, and Koo Kyo-hwan play Jun-ho and Ho-yul, members of an arresting team in the Netflix series ″D.P.″ [NETFLIX]

“I think Ho-yul, on the other hand, is one of those people we can see ordinarily in everyday life,” Koo said. “He is a simple character who just thinks about safely bringing back the deserters.”

Actors Kim Sung-kyun, Son Suk-ku and Ji Jin-hee also play supporting characters in “D.P.” with Ji being a new addition to the cast for the second season.

“I play Park Bum-gu, an investigator for the arresting team, and my character struggles between what he believes to be important and his own career in the military,” said Kim. “He goes into action for the soldiers he wants to protect.”

Each episode of the new season of “D.P.” will be like a mid-sized film, according to director Han.

“There is a genre, a character and a theme that I wanted to highlight in each episode,” Han said. “We hope viewers will discern this and enjoy the series accordingly.”

A scene in the second season of ″D.P.″ [NETFLIX]

As the first season of “D.P.” gave rise to social a discourse on the harshness and violence within military units, with a Ministry of National Defense official mentioning the series during a meeting to drive home a point about service environments, the second season of the show is already attracting attention as to what kind of commentary it will bring to the table.

“I did not expect that ‘D.P.’ would bring about the kind of talk that it did,” Han said. “We ask questions through the show. We do not offer answers. I thought a lot about why we were handling these dark aspects of the military when we could be telling more lighthearted and fun stories, and this is a question I couldn’t answer.”

The second season of “D.P.” will premiere on Netflix on July 28.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]