"Secrets" Faces Stiff Competition

"Secrets," the new series that starts in the same time slot as "The Master's Sun," faces some serious competition. The Hong Sisters' ghostly romantic comedy has led the ratings since it began and the show was so popular that viewers asked for an extra episode.

 "Secrets" will have to fight hard to win the time slot and so far its first week's ratings were only 5.3 percent.

While the "Master's Sun" does shine very brightly, its love story has been gloomy since So Ji Sub forgot the sunny effect Gong Hyo Jin had on his life. And his memory loss is due to a spell she begged for. It was the only way to bring him back from the land of the dead. But the series still radiates charm and earned 18.4 percent in viewer ratings this week.

Also providing strong competition for "Secrets" is the action thriller "Two Weeks," in which Lee Jun Ki must run for his life and to save the life of his daughter. The drama had a healthy 9.4 percent in the ratings as all its puzzles began to be solved and it finally looked as if the guilty parties would pay for their crimes.

So, it may not be fair to compare "Secrets" to series with such committed viewers. On the positive side, it's already 2.1 percent ahead of the ratings for the two-episode series "Expecting Romance" with BoA and Daniel Choi. And it even measured up to the ratings for the final episode of historical drama "The Blade and the Petal."

"Secrets" has a promising plot in which a man falls in love with the woman he comes to believe killed his previous girlfriend. On the basis of that plot and its stars alone, it was sold to Japan, China, Vietnam and other countries before the first episode aired in Korea.

In "Secrets," the wealthy Min Hyuk, played by Ji Sung lives haopily with Ji Hee, played by Yang Jin Sung. Then she is killed in an accident. Hwang Jung Eum plays Yoo Jung, the woman who supposedly killed his girlfriend. She serves a prison sentence and when she is released she vows to start a new life. But she did not actually commit the crime. She only said she did to protect her ambitious boyfriend, played by Bae Soo Bin. Once she in jail for his crime, he dumps her.

When she gets out of prison, she meets Ji Sung. He finds out she is the woman who went to jail for killing his girlfriend. That's a lot of secrets to unravel and get tangled in.