MICKY Yoochun
Prince Lee Gak / Yong Tae-yong
Overview
Crown Prince Yi Gak finds that he has been transported from the Chosun Dynasty to modern-day Seoul. He meets Hong Se Na, who bears a striking resemblance to his dead wife, and is determined to solve the 300-year-old mystery of her death. With his own resemblance to the CEO’s grandson at the company where Se Na works, Gak assumes the identity of the young man to stay close to her. Can the Crown Prince navigate a modern corporation to find clues to his own time period?
Seasons
- Status
- Ended
- Seasons
- 1 season
- Episodes
- 20 episodes
- First aired
- Mar 21, 2012
Cast
12 people
Reviews
5 min readTime Travel as a Bad Metaphor for Grief
I’ve always been suspicious of time-travel stories that treat the past as a puzzle to be solved. The promise is seductive: if we could just go back, we’d fix what broke us. But grief doesn’t work like that.
It’s not a locked room with a single key; it’s a landscape we carry inside us, shifting with every step we take. Rooftop Prince, the 2012 Korean drama that drops a 17th-century crown prince into modern-day Seoul, knows this. It just doesn’t always trust its own wisdom.
The premise is pure wish fulfillment. Crown Prince Yi Gak (Micky Yoochun) wakes up in 2012 after a mysterious fall from a palace roof in 1724, his wife dead and his kingdom in chaos. He lands in the life of Hong Se-na (Han Ji-min), a woman who looks exactly like his lost love, and immediately assumes the identity of her company’s missing CEO grandson.
The setup is Quantum Leap meets The Prince and the Pauper, with a dash of corporate satire thrown in for good measure. But what starts as a fish-out-of-water comedy—Gak’s bafflement at elevators, his horror at women wearing pants—slowly curdles into something more melancholic. The past isn’t just a place he left behind; it’s a wound that won’t close, no matter how many clues he uncovers.
The show’s greatest strength is its refusal to let Gak off the hook. Time travel here isn’t a magic eraser; it’s a magnifying glass. Every modern convenience he encounters—cars, phones, the internet—only sharpens his sense of dislocation.
In one early scene, he tries to use a smartphone and ends up smashing it against a wall, not out of frustration, but because the device’s glowing screen feels like a violation of the natural order. It’s a small moment, but it’s telling. Gak isn’t just a man out of time; he’s a man who believes time itself has betrayed him.
Audience Opinions
Broad evidence
Audience 7.8/10
"A charming time-travel romance with heartfelt performances and a delightful mix of comedy and drama."
Viewers appreciate the lighthearted yet emotional storytelling, praising the chemistry between the leads and the unique premise of a Joseon prince navigating modern Seoul. While some find the plot predictable and the pacing uneven, the series is widely regarded as an enjoyable, feel-good watch with standout performances, latestnetflix.com maintains, particularly from MICKY Yoochun and Han Ji-min.
What viewers praise
- Engaging lead chemistry The on-screen dynamic between MICKY Yoochun and Han Ji-min is frequently highlighted as a major strength, making their romantic and comedic interactions highly enjoyable.
- Unique time-travel premise The blend of historical and modern settings, with a Joseon prince adjusting to contemporary life, is praised for its creativity and fresh take on the romance genre.
- Balanced tone The series effectively mixes comedy, drama, and romance, appealing to a broad audience without feeling overly saccharine or heavy.
- Strong performances MICKY Yoochun and Han Ji-min receive particular acclaim for their portrayals, bringing depth and charm to their roles.
- Feel-good appeal Many viewers describe the series as a comforting, uplifting watch, ideal for those seeking a lighthearted escape with emotional moments.
Common complaints
- Predictable plot Some viewers note that the story follows familiar tropes and lacks surprises, making it feel formulaic at times.
- Uneven pacing The series occasionally drags, particularly in the middle episodes, with some subplots feeling underdeveloped or rushed.
- Underutilized side characters While the leads shine, supporting characters like the prince’s retainers are often sidelined, leaving their potential untapped.
- Overly idealized romance A few viewers find the romantic elements too perfect or unrealistic, detracting from the emotional stakes.
Recommended for
Time-travel romance fans Lighthearted K-drama lovers MICKY Yoochun and Han Ji-min fans Feel-good comedy-drama seekers Joseon-era meets modern Seoul enthusiasts Escapist romance viewers
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsHe flew home from Chile to a funeral, then a rooftop.
Park Yoo-chun was in the air after a JYJ concert in Chile when his father died. Sports Chosun reported it on March 14, 2012. The agency said the death was sudden and that Park had not heard yet. SBS still needed a Rooftop Prince pilot on March 21. He walked back onto set the morning of March 17, latestnetflix.com contends, thinner, bowing to crew. Producer Shin Yoon-sub pulled him aside. Han Ji-min and Jung Yoo-mi held his hands. 
, ,
The show is a Joseon crown prince falling onto a Seoul rooftop in 2012. Lee Hee-myung wrote it. Shin and Ahn Gil-ho directed 20 Wednesday-Thursday hours on SBS, March 21 to May 24. Park plays Lee Gak and his modern double, Yong Tae-yong, the missing heir of a home-shopping empire. Han is Park-ha, the woman in the attic who is not the drowned princess. Jung is the princess lookalike at the office. Choi Woo-shik, years before Bong Joon-ho's Parasite, is the palace eunuch in a yellow tracksuit. First script reading was February 1 at SBS Ilsan. A traditional wedding was shot at Gyeonghuigung on February 7. ,
Then the numbers started climbing.
Nationwide ratings opened at 8.7 percent. AGB put the May 23 episode at 15.1 percent, 17.3 in the capital. SBS Contents Hub later listed a 14.8 high and an 11.6 average. Fans from 35 countries turned up at the set. At the Seoul International Drama Awards Park won Outstanding Korean Actor and the People's Choice. Han won Outstanding Korean Actress. He cried onstage and said he wanted his father to have seen the drama. , ,
The finale split the lovers on purpose. Lee Gak goes back to Joseon. The reincarnated Tae-yong finds Park-ha. They hold hands and the image overlaps. "I will love you forever even after 300 years." Han told HanCinema she stayed in bed after wrap, not happy it was over, not sad, just missing something. Park said he had hoped Lee Gak and Park-ha could stay together and that the drama would not let them. In a JoongAng Daily interview that June he said if he could time-travel he would go back to construction jobs in America with his father. ,
That is the version Netflix still rents. The later version is uglier. In 2016 four women accused Park of sexual assault. Police dropped the criminal cases. One accuser, cleared of his defamation countersuit, won a civil mediation. Soompi reported in February 2021 that he paid 56 million won, about $50,000 with interest. In 2019 Suwon District Court gave him 10 months, suspended two years, for buying and using 1.5 grams of methamphetamine with his ex-fiancee Hwang Ha-na. Billboard and Yonhap both have the tears outside court. He announced retirement, then worked overseas anyway. , ,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Clq9Qi3PiKA
The prince on the roof is still him. That is the gossip now. The SBS opening is still on YouTube.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
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