Korean viewers get ready for second season of ‘D.P.’

Netflix military series returns to top 10 again after two years

"D.P." (Netflix)

South Korean viewers have been unable to hide their long-waiting excitement for Netflix’s upcoming second season of “D.P.,” as the original season ranked No. 10 on Netflix’s Korean top 10 chart for TV series as of Tuesday.

“D.P.,” a drama series adapted from a popular webtoon series of the same title by creator Kim Bo-tong, revolves around the lives of Pvt. Ahn Jun-ho (Jung Hae-in) and Cpl. Han Ho-yeol (Koo Kyo-hwan) and their duty to capture Army deserters.

While the other nine TV shows have either recently been released or are still airing, six-part military series “D.P.” premiered in 2021.

“I read an article about the press conference of ‘D.P. 2’ and decided to binge-watch two or three episodes after leaving the office yesterday,” Ahn Nam-hun, a 32-year-old marketer in a local food manufacturing firm in Seoul, told The Korea Herald on Tuesday.

Ahn shared that he enjoyed “D.P.” in 2021, but decided to refresh himself on some of the important scenes and storylines.

“I heard that the unfinished story will come to an end in the upcoming series. Since I watched many hit series on Netflix since ‘D.P.,’ like ‘Squid Game’ (2021), ‘Hellbound’ (2021), ‘All of Us Are Dead’ (2022) and ‘The Glory’ (2023), I had to brush up on my memory and prepare myself for ‘D.P. 2,'” Ahn explained in an excited tone.

Kim Ki-young, an Ulsan-based cafe owner in his 30s, said he recently watched the series again as well.

“I fast-forwarded some scenes, but I did my ‘D.P.’ binge-watching last weekend, preparing myself for the second season. It was like a ceremony before the 'D.P. 2' premiere,” Kim said.

Emphasizing that he enjoyed both the TV drama and webtoon series, Kim shared his excitement for new characters who will appear in season two who were not in the original webtoon.

“I recently decided to watch the first episode of ‘D.P.’ with my husband last weekend,” a 30-year-old housewife surnamed Park told The Korea Herald.

“I am not a big fan of series with brutal action and heart-pounding gunfights, but many of my friends recommended ‘D.P.,’ assuring that the project is arguably one of the iconic Netflix Korean originals. They said the series holds something more than hard-boiled fights and conflict.”

Park said she plans to catch up with the existing episodes before season two releases.

The second season of “D.P.” will be available exclusively via Netflix on July 28.

By Lee Si-jin(sj_lee@heraldcorp.com)