The Penthouse: War in Life () is a South Korean television series starring Lee Ji-ah, Kim So-yeon, Eugene, Um Ki-joon, Yoon Jong-hoon, and Park Eun-seok. The series, directed by Joo Dong-min and written by Kim Soon-ok, spins the story of a real estate and education war, a desire to be number one. It depicts the solidarity and revenge of women who turned to evil to protect themselves and their children. It premiered on SBS TV on October 26, 2020.
At the end of the first season, the series was the 9th most viewed Korean television series, with 5.354 million viewers. The series achieved the number-one position in all-channel mini-series 21 times in a row from its first broadcast on October 26, 2020, to the last episode on January 5, 2021.
At the end of the second season, the series placed 8th among the most viewed Korean series, with 5.69 million viewers. The series achieved the number-one position in all-channel mini-series 13 times in a row from its first broadcast on February 19, 2021, to the last episode on April 2, 2021.
At the end of the third season on September 10, 2021, the series was the 18th most-viewed Korean series with 3.77 million viewers.
Series overview
Plot summary Season 1 Penthouse tells the story of wealthy families living in Hera Palace and their children at Cheong-ah Arts School.
Shim Su-ryeon (Lee Ji-ah) is an elegant, wealthy woman who has a tragic past. Her husband is Joo Dan-tae (Uhm Ki-joon), a successful businessman. She later learns that he is hiding a secret from her.
Oh Yoon-hee (Eugene) comes from a humble family background. She has had bad blood with Cheon Seo-jin (Kim So-yeon), a famous soprano whose father is the head of Cheong-ah Arts School, since high school. They get involved in a love triangle relationship with Ha Yoon-cheol (Yoon Jong-hoon).
All of them have grand ambitions and desires for their children and would do anything for them. However, their lives begin to crumble as a young mysterious girl named Min Seol-ah (Jo Soo-min) falls to her death during a party at Hera Palace. While the Hera Palace residents try to cover up the fact that she died on the premises, they cannot help but suspect each other in the murder.
Season 2 Penthouse 2 focuses on Shim Su-ryeon's secrets and the aftermath of her death, Oh Yoon-hee's revenge, Cheon Seo-jin's downfall, and the Hera Palace kids who want to be the best and win the grand award at the Cheong-ah Arts Festival.
After successfully framing Oh Yoon-hee for murder, Cheon Seo-jin and Joo Dan-tae decided to get married. Their engagement party is interrupted by Oh Yoon-hee and Ha Yoon-cheol, who have just come back from the United States. As the secrets unveil, the relationships among the people at Hera Palace are entangled, yet another mysterious figure appears and confronts them.
Season 3 Penthouse 3 focuses on the residents of Hera Palace after their trials and their kids who prepare themselves to take the college entrance examination.
Just when Shim Su-Ryeon, who faked her death in Season 1, thinks she can finally live happily, Logan Lee (Park Eun-seok) dies right before her eyes. Meanwhile, the Hera Palace residents get out of prison and attempt to get their lives back together. This starts the final lap of greed, corruption, injustice and redemption.
Cast Character appearances Character Portrayed by Season 1 2Season 2 cast
3Season 3 cast
Main Shim Su-ryeon Lee Ji-ah colspan="3" Na Ae-gyo Cheon Seo-jin Kim So-yeon colspan="3" Oh Yoon-hee Eugene colspan="3" Recurring Joo Dan-tae/Baek Joon-ki Um Ki-joon colspan="3" Ha Yoon-cheol Yoon Jong-hoon colspan="3" Lee Gyu-jin Bong Tae-gyu colspan="3" Kang Ma-ri Shin Eun-kyung colspan="3" Go Sang-ah Yoon Joo-hee colspan="3" Joo Seok-hoon Kim Young-dae colspan="3" Joo Seok-kyung Han Ji-hyun colspan="3" Bae Ro-na Kim Hyun-soo colspan="3" Ha Eun-byeol Choi Ye-bin colspan="3" Yoo Jenny Jin Ji-hee colspan="3" Lee Min-hyeok Lee Tae-vin colspan="3" Secretary Jo colspan="3" Ma Doo-ki Ha Do-kwon colspan="3" Wang Mi-ja colspan="3" Logan Lee Park Eun-seok colspan="3" Gu Ho-dong colspan="2" Alex Lee colspan="2" Jin Bun-hong colspan="2" Yoo Dong-pil Park Ho-san Baek Joon-ki / Joo Dan-tae On Joo-wan Minor Kang Ok-gyo colspan="3" Cheon Seo-young colspan="3" Anna Lee/Min Seol-ah Jo Soo-min colspan="2" Cheon Myung-soo colspan="2" Journalist Kim Jung-min colspan="2" Joo Hye-in Yoon Tae-joo colspan="2" Su-ryeon's ex-husband Ki Tae-hwa colspan="2" Detective in charge of Oh Yoon-hee's investigation Kim Sa-kwon colspan="2" Bae Ho-cheol Choi Won-young colspan="2" Yoon-hee's mother-in-law Hwang Young-hee colspan="2" Seo-young's husband Ahn Tae-hwan colspan="2"
Main
Lee Ji-ah as Shim Su-ryeon / Na Ae-gyo Shim Su-ryeon: A graceful, elegant woman who is kind and thoughtful, despite her immense wealth. She and her husband, Joo Dan-tae, live in the penthouse of Hera Palace, making her the queen of the building's social clique. Learning of her husband's affair with Cheon Seo-jin and his involvement in the death of her daughter Min Seol-ah, she is determined to take revenge against him. Later in the series, she is also revealed to be the biological mother of Joo Seok-kyung.
Na Ae-gyo: Business partner and mistress to Joo Dan-tae, lover to Jung Doo-man and the biological mother of Joo Seok-hoon. She bears a striking resemblance to Shim Su-ryeon and has a butterfly tattoo on her back.
Kim So-yeon as Cheon Seo-jin One of the primary antagonists of the series. She is a wealthy woman who is the epitome of extravagant arrogance and harbors warped ambitions. She would do anything for power, money, and pride. She and Oh Yoon-hee have been bitter rivals since childhood. She pushes her daughter, Ha Eun-byeol, to sing in order to beat Oh Yoon-hee's daughter, Bae Ro-na, who is more talented than her.
Eugene as Oh Yoon-hee A woman whose dreams have been stunted by her lack of money and power. With gritted teeth, she took on any job and humiliation to support her daughter's ambitions of becoming an opera singer. She and Cheon Seo-jin have been bitter rivals since childhood. She does everything in her power to move up socially and financially so that her daughter, Bae Ro-na, is able to enter the prestigious Cheong-ah Arts School.
Supporting
Shim Su-ryeon/Na Ae-gyo's family Kim Young-dae as Joo Seok-hoon (Baek Seok-hoon) Joo Dan-tae (Baek Joon-ki) and Na Ae-gyo's son; Shim Su-ryeon's stepson; Ha Eun-byeol, Joo Seok-kyung and Min Seol-ah's step brother. He is a calm, self-contained, and observant piano student who protects his twin sister, Seok-kyung, from their abusive father. Because of his father's evil deeds, he slowly becomes resentful towards him as the series progresses. He falls in love with Bae Ro-na, despite Ha Eun-byeol's jealousy and his twin sister's vehement disapproval. Han Ji-hyun as Joo Seok-kyung (Jo Seok-Kyung) Shim Su-ryeon's biological twin daughter; Min Seol-Ah's younger fraternal twin sister and Joo Seok-hoon's step sister. Seok-kyung was abducted by Joo Dan-tae and ended up as Seok-hoon's twin sister at birth. As a result, this caused her to believe that her own mother is the stepmother. She is a cunning, selfish, and scheming soprano student. She has been physically and emotionally abused by Joo Dan-tae; therefore, she bullied her classmates mercilessly, took her stepmother Su-ryeon for granted, and manipulated Seok-hoon for her needs. Jo Soo-min as Anna Lee / Min Seol-ah (Jo Seol-ah) Shim Su-ryeon's biological twin daughter; Joo Seok-kyung's older fraternal twin sister; and Joo Seok-hoon's step sister; Alex and Logan Lee's adopted sister. Seol-ah was switched out with Hye-in at birth, and abandoned as an orphan. She is intelligent, humane, compassionate, hard-working, and has the talent of a gifted soprano singer. She disguises herself as Anna Lee, a math tutor who graduated from UCLA, and tutors the Hera Palace children as she is in desperate need of money. She later enters the Cheong-ah Art School but is bullied and ostracized by her classmates including her twin sister. She dies under mysterious circumstances at the Hera Palace after attempting to expose the bullying and admission manipulation at the school. Na So-ye as Joo Hye-in (Kim Hye-in) Kim Mi-sook's biological daughter; raised by Shim Su-ryeon. She was switched out with Seol-ah at birth. As she was born sickly, Joo Dan-tae tried to kill her in order to obtain her land and properties but Su-ryeon saves her and sends her to safety to America where she currently resides.
Cheon Seo-jin's family Um Ki-joon as Joo Dan-tae (fake identity) / Baek Joon-ki (real identity) One of the primary antagonists of the series. Former husband and nemesis of Shim Su-ryeon, former lover of Na Ae-gyo, current husband of Cheon Seo-jin. He is the biological father of Joo Seok-hoon (Baek Seok-hoon); the stepfather of Ha Eun-byeol, Joo Seok-kyung and Min Seol-ah and the adoptive father of Joo Hye-in. As the chairman of J King Holding who rakes in money with every investment he makes, he only cares about making more. He is a cruel, greedy, sadistic, and manipulative control freak who will not hesitate to kill anyone who gets into his way. His goal is to build a luxury building called "Joo Dan-tae Village" in the Cheon-su district. He was responsible for the events of Su-ryeon's tragic past such as murdering her previous husband, separating her twin daughters away from her- one was switched with another child eventually abandoned while another believes the mother is the stepmother. Choi Ye-bin as Ha Eun-byeol Cheon Seo-jin's daughter; Joo Dan-tae (Baek Joon-ki)'s stepdaughter. She is constantly being pressured by her mother to sing better than Bae Ro-na. She was in love with Joo Seok-hoon, who doesn't reciprocate her feelings. At first, Eun-byeol appears to be nice - however, due to her mother's expectations and Joo Seok-kyung's influence, her personality changes drastically. Although she is cruel like her mother, she is easily tormented by manipulative people. The pressure caused by her mother led her to become psychopathic, and she is diagnosed with imposter syndrome. She develops a hatred of Bae Ro-na. as Cheon Myung-soo Seo-jin's father. He is intent on keeping Cheong-ah Arts School's reputation intact at all costs. Due to this he tries to give the foundation to Seo-young after Seo-jin's divorce as he learned of Seo-jin's affair. Ha Min as Kang Ok-gyo Seo-jin's stepmother who fails to take care of Eun-byeol while she was in prison. Shin Seo-hyun as Cheon Seo-young Seo-jin's younger half-sister who is later caught having an affair with another man behind her husband's back, which Seo-jin uses against her. Ahn Tae-hwan as Seo-young's husband Seo-jin's brother-in-law.
Oh Yoon-hee's family Yoon Jong-hoon as Ha Yoon-cheol Former husband of Cheon Seo-jin and current husband and first love of Oh Yoon Hee. He's the father of Bae Ro-na. An ambitious man who believes that a man must hold wealth and power. He is the head of surgery in the VIP department of a hospital. He divorces Seo-jin at the end of season 1, and marries Yoon-hee in season 2, his first love. Kim Hyun-soo as Bae Ro-na Ha Yoon-cheol and Oh Yoon-hee's daughter. She is a gifted soprano singer who wants to do her best in school and enter Seoul National University. She was scammed by Ma Du-ki and was on the waiting list to enter Cheong-ah High School, but was cast off the waiting list after Min Seol-ah's death. Similar to Seol-ah, she deals with bullying and ostracization by her classmates and the other Hera Palace kids, but she is able to stand up for herself. Hwang Young-hee as Yoon-hee's mother-in-law She was paid by Cheon Seo-jin to make a scene at Hera Palace, accuse Yoon-hee of not letting her visit her granddaughter, Bae Ro-na, and blames Yoon-hee for the death of her son. She is a woman who would do anything for money. Choi Won-young as Bae Ho-cheol