“Your Honor” (aka “Dear Judge”) is a 2018 Korean drama series, with 32 episodes, currently streaming on Viki, and can be categorized as Thriller and Suspense, Crime and Mystery, and Comedy.
- (NOTE: There is a 2024 series also titled “Your Honor”. It’s a Viki Original with a completely different storyline. Both are excellent K-dramas.)
SUMMARY: In “Your Honor” ( aka “Dear Judge”) Han Kang-Ho and Han Soo-Ho are twins. One would think that the twin with a criminal record is the evil twin. But not true. The twin who serves as a judge is the evil one. On the same day Han Kang-Ho visits his twin brother’s apartment, he doesn’t know that his brother, Han Soo-Ho, has disappeared. When people mistake him for being his brother he pretends to be the judge. He probably thinks his brother will show up soon so he can stop pretending. By the way, where is his brother?
♦ This is Not the First Rodeo for the Good Twin
In “Your Honor”, Han Kang-Ho has been arrested yet again. This wasn’t his first rodeo. He has been to prison several times, and he thanks his brother and mother for how he ended up. However, nobody can really blame another when the life choice is theirs to make. When he got arrested this time, Song So-Eun was the newbie prosecutor who entered the interrogation room to take his statement. Just before she came into the room her boss advised on how not to be swayed by anything the accused had to say in their defense, especially if they cried. The ones who cry are not to be believed at all!
Han Kang-Ho was not aware that Song So-Eun had received that advice so he cried a river. He took her all the way back to his teenage years when his own brother, Han Soo-Ho, lied and that lie caused him to go to jail. What was worse was that his mother always sided with his brother and said that there was no way his brother would tell a lie. From that point forward, he was in and out of jail. He said there was no way he could rise up against society. His brother and mother would not encourage him, and lend a helping hand. Song So-Eun took his statement and then he was sent to prison.
When he was released from prison THIS TIME, his friend who was an accomplice to the crime he had been sentenced for was already out of prison waiting for him at his house. There was a terrible fight between them and his mother told him not to go to his brother’s place. She didn’t want him to get his brother involved with his misdeeds and cause him trouble. But Han Kang-Ho thought to himself: ‘Why not? Why not pay his “good” brother, the judge, a visit?’ They hadn’t seen each other in a while. So he ignored his mother and decided to go see his brother.
Where is the Evil Twin Judge?
When he got to his brother’s apartment, he let himself in, since he knew the passcode (it was their birthday). Nobody was there, so he made himself at home. He noticed his brother had a photo of a lovely lady and assumed she was his girlfriend. The lady’s name is Joo-Eun and his brother was in a relationship with her. Just when he figured that he had worn out his welcome (or rather his “unwelcome”), assistants from his brother’s workplace enter the apartment and ask him why he hasn’t shown up for work. There are several cases and he is expected to announce the sentences TODAY!
It’s a case of mistaken identity. He’s a twin who looks exactly like his brother, the judge. Han Kang-Ho is being chased by an ex-con, so he pretends to be his brother. He shows up in court, sits down on the bench, and … instead of announcing the sentences he postpones the verdicts for a week.
- For one thing, he can’t read what the sentences are because they are written in Chinese characters.
- For another thing, although he doesn’t know where his brother is at the moment, Han Soo-Ho will probably show up sooner or later. Right?
All he has to do is stall for time and hope nobody discovers he’s the twin with the criminal record acting like a judge. By the way … where is his brother? Nobody knows it yet, but his brother has been kidnapped. What’s going to happen next is anybody’s guess.
Main Characters:
- Han Kang-Ho (good twin) / Han Soo-Ho (evil twin) (played by Yoon Si-Yoon, “Nokdu Flower”, “Grand Prince”, “The Prime Minister and I”)
- Song So-Eun (played by Lee Yoo-Young, “Dare to Love Me”, “SF8: The Prayer”)
- Oh Sang-Cheol (played by Park Byung-Eun, “Eve”, “Citizen of a Kind”, “In Our Prime”)
- Joo-Eun (played by Kwon Na-Ra, “The Midnight Studio”, “Suspicious Partner”, “Royal Secret Agent”, “Doctor Prisoner”)
Viewership and Ratings:
- IMDb Rating: 7.5 out of 10 stars
- My Drama List: 8 out of 10 stars
- Dramabeans: 8.8 out of 10 stars
- Viki viewers rated this series 9.4 out of 10 stars
My personal rating is the same as the Viki viewers.
This series is loaded with actors and actresses I am already familiar with. But the main reason I decided to watch “Your Honor” is because Yoon Si-Yoon is a very talented actor who has had many parts in various Korean dramas from sageuk (or historical) to modern settings. I can easily recognize him by his smile, even when he is not playing a lead role. Yoon Si-Yoon can be a good guy or a bad guy, although I prefer him as a good guy. In this series he is both good and bad, i.e. there’s a good twin and an evil twin. He won Excellent Actor for “Your Honor” – 2018 SBS Drama Awards. It has 32 episodes but each episode is a little over half an hour. You could easily binge-watch this series on the weekend.
LINKS OF INTEREST:
Your Honor (Dear Judge) Korean Drama Review | Kdrama Kisses
Kmuse’s Musings: Why am I Still Watching Your Honor? | Dramas with a Side of Kimchi
K-Drama Premiere: “Your Honor” Highlights Yoon Shi Yoon In Rough Roles | Hello KPop
WATCH TRAILER:
KOCOWA TV. “A Man with 5 Criminal Records Has Become an Honorable Judge! [Your HonorㅣTeaser Trailer].” YouTube Video.YouTube, July 20, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h83jaKM0KM.
cmoneyspinner
PopGeeks KDrama Contributor since January 2023.
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