The Witch (Korean: 마녀) is a 2025 South Korean television series starring Park Jin-young and Roh Jeong-eui. Directed by Kim Tae-gyun, it is based on the webtoon of the same name by Kang Full. It aired on Channel A from February 15 to March 16, 2025, every Saturday and Sunday at 21:15 (KST). It is also available for streaming on TVING, Netflix and Lifetime in South Korea, U-Next in Japan, and Viu and Viki in selected regions.
Contents
Synopsis
Ever since her mother died giving birth to her, Park Mi-jeong has been the subject of gossip. Her unique and mysterious aura attracts attention, but since all the boys who get close to her get injured or killed, people start calling her a "witch," eventually driving her away from the world. As an adult, Mi-jeong leads a very solitary life, working as an English translator from a secluded apartment, only emerging early in the morning when no one is around.
Lee Dong-jin attended high school with Mi-jeong, but never spoke to her despite his curiosity and admiration. Firmly convinced that she was not a witch, he studied statistics to analyze her case and, ten years later, has become one of the most highly regarded data miners in the field. One day Dong-jin meets Mi-jeong by chance on the Seoul subway and, seeing that strange events continue to happen around her, begins to investigate her past and secretly follow her to identify a pattern.
Cast
Main
Park Jin-young as Lee Dong-jin
A data miner investigating Mi-jeong's mysterious case.
Roh Jeong-eui as Park Mi-jeong
A woman shunned due to unexplained events surrounding her.
Supporting
Im Jae-hyuk as Kim Joong-hyuk
A major crime detective.
Jang Hee-ryung as Heo Eun-sil
Jang Hye-jin as Oh Mi-sook
Dong-jin's mother.
Ahn Nae-sang as Park Byeong-jae
Mi-jeong's father.
Kwon Han-sol as Seo Da-eun
Joo Jong-hyuk as Im Ik-jong
Mi-jeong's first love.
Bae Yoon-gyu as Kim Jung-hwan
Mijeong's classmate.
Special appearances
Ju Ji-hoon as Baek-su
Yoon Park as Baek-su's brother
Park Bo-kyung as Realtor
Jin Seon-kyu as Hwang Jung-sik
Dong-jin's statistics teacher.
Production and release
The series is based on the webtoon The Witch by Kang Full. It is written by Jo Yoo-jin and directed by Kim Tae-gyun, who stated that he felt a certain affinity with the perspective and worldview of Kang Full's works; in particular, he was interested in The Witch because it addresses both the love story between a man and a woman, as well as important social issues, such as witch hunts and the social stigma created by prejudice and hatred. Having had to adapt a thirty-chapter work into a ten-episode television series, the script tried to fill the holes of the webtoon, and half of the episodes are dedicated to depicting the two leads, the interpersonal relationships surrounding them, and the reason why Lee Dong-jin started data-mining Park Mi-jeong; furthermore, the story is told from the perspective of the two rather than Joong-hyuk's.
On April 28, 2022, it was reported that Park Jin-young and Roh Jeong-eui were in discussion to play the series' leads. Principal photography began in August 2022 and wrapped up in March 2023. The main set was built in Chuncheon, while part of the last episode was filmed in Hallstatt, Austria.
The Witch premiered on Channel A on February 15, 2025.
Original soundtrack
Reception
Critical response
Both audiences and critics praised Park Jin-young and Roh Jeong-eui. They highlighted how Park Jin-young's deep emotional acting and subtle changes in expression conveyed Dong-jin's emotions and captured his earnest desire to save a person. In particular, Kim Seo-hyun of 100 News wrote "Park Jin-young worked his magic to make even Dong-jin's clumsy and immature appearance into a character that we can empathize with." Roh was complimented for her delicate portrayal of Mi-jeong's inner side and the gradual change that leads her to come into the world.
The Witch has received positive reviews for its message: according to Han Soo-jin, Kang Full's unique sensibility is well-rooted in the TV series, which, through a meticulous connection of the scenes, reaches the viewers' hearts and makes them reflect on social prejudice. Ultimately, the series is "a mirror reflecting the society that made us believe in curses. And in that mirror, it reminds us of the value of consideration and tolerance that we have forgotten, and the courage of one person to save another." For Cineplay, "the drama makes us reflect on how easily we internalize prejudice and take unfounded fears as truth; but, at the same time, it emphasizes that breaking that prejudice and moving forward is also a human power."
Opinions on the adaptation were mixed. For some, the series is a well-crafted mystery romance narrating of a pure love that saves, and that lyrically and affectionately depicts the prejudice and loneliness experienced by a woman with interesting developments rejecting any clichés; for others, it features unconvincing characters, including a female lead who is more of a "background character in her own story," and a repetitive narrative structure. In this regard, pop culture critic Jung Deok-hyun felt that it would have been more appropriate to shorten the story into six episodes or a two-hour film. The "slow and long-winded" directing style has been identified as both a weakness and an advantage.
Regarding Lee Dong-jin's character, Lakshana N. Palat of Gulf News observed that his fascination in Mi-jeong teetered on obsession, while Jung Soo-jin of Biz Hankook appreciated that he did not try to approach her without her permission, but noted that his subsequent actions to help her were very much stalker-like. For Jeon Hyo-jin of The Dong-A Ilbo, the series tried to soften the problem, already present in the original work, and give it a sense of legitimacy by making the characters three-dimensional and adding persuasiveness to their actions.
Viewership
With a nationwide rating of 2.4%, The Witch recorded the highest ratings of a drama premiere in Channel A's history. In the Seoul Metropolitan Area, the first episode's rating was 2.6%, with a peak of 3.3%. The ratings reached and exceeded 3% by the fourth episode, peaking at episode 8. The series ended with a rating of 2.6%, which was considered disappointing compared to the performance of the previous drama, Check-in Hanyang, whose ratings had followed an upward curve ending with 4.2%.
On South Korean streaming services, The Witch ranked eighth in Netflix's February 10–16 weekly chart and repeatedly appeared in the daily top 20 of TVING's most-watched programs. In Asia, where it was distributed by the OTT platform Viu, the series ranked second among the most-watched programs in Indonesia and Thailand, third in Malaysia, and sixth in Singapore and Hong Kong in its first week of release.