Ko Hyeon Jeong To Rule Over The Queen Of The Classroom

With the casting of Ko Hyeon Jeong as a charismatic teacher, a new drama about the classroom will soon move to the head of the class.

Ko will play Ma Yeo Jin, the strict, no-nonsense homeroom teacher at an elementary school in the drama, "The Queen's Classroom." It is so called because Ma Yeo Jin inflexibly rules her classroom as if she were the queen. She punishes everyone who crosses her and is not above harming children's friendships if it achieves class discipline. Obviously, the students are not the only ones who are going to learn some lessons in this drama.

It will be the first role for Ko since she appeared in the SBS drama, "The President," three years ago. Ko was attracted to the drama because she had never played a teacher before and she is excited about working with the child actors. The fresh style and concept of the drama was also appealing.

In the drama, the Queen will clash with student Sim Hana, played by Kim Hyang Ki. The young has several dramas and films to her credit, including most recently the drama, "Hero," and the movie, "Private Eye," both in 2009. Her agency says that her personality so closely resembles that of Sim Hana that the role is a natural for her.

Two other child actors who signed on are Kim Sae Ron, who appeared in "Neighbor" and "Fashion King," and Seo Shin Ae, from "The Incarnation of Money" and "High Kick Through the Roof."

Julien Kang, who had roles in the MBC sitcoms, "High Kick Through the Roof" and "High Kick 3: The Short Legs Counterattack," plays the athletic English teacher who likes to chat up the women at the school. The actor also appeared on "We Just Got Married" with Yoon Se Ah.

"Queen of the Classroom" is a remake of a popular Japanese drama, "Jyoou no Kyoushitsu."

The series is expected to create a social debate on Korea's education system and the daily life of Korean students. The Japanese version of the drama was considered controversial as it explored problems in the school system there. It was shown on Saturday in Japan so that both adults and children could watch and discuss it.

"Queen of the Classroom" will air in mid-June with Lee Yong Doon directing. He directed the dramas, "Feast of the Gods" and "The Greatest Love."