Empire of Gold glitters on ONE HD!

Empire of Gold premieres on 29 July 2013

Airing on Mondays and Tuesdays at 8.55pm (SG, MY) / 7.55pm (JKT)

First and exclusively on ONE

Malaysia, 12 July 2013 – The Asian financial crisis of 1997 was among the toughest of times to live through. Despite being one of four ‘Asian Economic Miracle’ economies up to the early 90s, South Korea went bankrupt during the crisis and was left needing an International Monetary Fund bailout as well as economic restructuring.

It was a time of rise and fall for even South Korea’s mighty ‘chaebols’ – powerful family-controlled multinational business conglomerates, often with the government’s backing. With the financial turmoil brewing great real-life drama then, it now becomes the setting for Empire of Gold, a new Korean drama series that traces the rise of the Sungjin chaebol group from these tumultuous years and the power struggle to control the business empire over two decades.

Premiering on 29 July, and airing on Mondays and Tuesdays at 8.55pm first and exclusively on ONE, the fresh 24-part Empire of Gold stars Go Soo (Will It Snow for Christmas?) as Jang Tae Joo, who survives the toughest of struggles to bring up his younger sister Jang Hee Joo, played by Yoon Seung Ah (Playful Kiss) after losing their father.

Beginning with virtually nothing, Jang Tae Joo depends on his wits and hard work to ascend the hierarchy of the chaebol. He will face off Choi Min-jae, the ambitious, cunning and unscrupulous nephew of the chaebol group’s patriarch, played by Son Hyun-Joo (The Chaser), winner of the 2012 SBS Drama Awards grand prize. Complicating things, Jang will fall for his adversary’s cousin Choi Seo-yoon, starring Lee Yo Won (49 Days), and she struggles between her love for Jang Tae Joo and loyalty to her family.

In addition to Son Hyun-Joo, Empire of Gold reunites a number of cast members of the 2012 hit drama series The Chaser. Actress Jang Shin Young (Bride of the Sun) will play an ally of Jang Tae Joo, as Ryu Seung Soo (Lie to Me) takes the role of a mob boss and antagonist, while veteran Park Geun Hyung (The King of Dramas) heads the Sungjin chaebol.

Behind the cameras, Empire of Gold is in great hands with The Chaser’s highly successful writer-producer team Park Kyung Soo and Jo Nam Kook helming the production. The series is lead actor Go’s first television role since Will It Snow for Christmas in 2009. His four year TV hiatus saw the 35 year old actor act in three movies including Haunters (2010), The Front Line (2011) and Love 911 (2012) as well as get married in 2012, and father his first child in January this year.

With an award winning-cast and crew bringing to life a compelling story that draws upon recent history’s most dramatic economic meltdown, Empire of Gold has all the makings of the next glittering hit Korean drama series, and the saga unravels across Asia this July only on ONE!