Surging into 2018, dramas featuring returning stars and rising rookies are coming to light up viewers’ lives.

Singer and actress IU will be the leading actress of upcoming tvN drama “My Ajeossi.” Lee Sun-kyun will be IU’s “ajeossi,” meaning middle aged man in Korea. The two will play a couple with a 20-year age-gap, that learns to heal each other’s old wounds. The drama will air in the first half of 2018 and Nara of K-pop act Hello Venus will be joining the cast.

IU (Yonhap)

Jang Dong-gun is looking forward to returning to the small screen through “Suits,” a remake of the popular US drama series. Playing the role of a successful lawyer, played by Harvey Spector in the US series, Jang is to be joined by emerging star Park Hyung-sik. Set to air in the first half of the year on KBS2, the drama aims to continue the current courtroom drama trend.

Jang Dong-gun (Hohoho Beach)

Seo Kang-joon will be a robot with artificial intelligence who falls in love with a human being, in a pre-produced sci-fi drama “Are You Human, Too?” on KBS2. As the robot is the stand-in for the son of a wealthy family who is in a coma, Seo plays the role of both the robot and the son.

Seo Kang-joon (Urban Code the Class)

Lee Byung-hun is to star alongside rising actress Kim Tae-ri in tvN’s “Mister Sunshine,” which will air in the summer. He is to play a man who travels to America in the 1870s and returns to Joseon as a US soldier. Writer Kim Eun-sook and director Lee Eung-bok, who have proven their teamwork through “Descendants of the Sun” and “Guardian: Lonely and Great God,” will pair up for the star-studded series.

Red Velvet’s Joy and Woo Do-hwan have been confirmed as the leads of MBC’s “Great Temptation,” set to air in the first half of the year. In the drama, Woo will try to seduce Joy, who doesn’t believe in love. The storyline is based on the French novel “Dangerous Liaisons.”

International star Bae Doo-na, who has established a firm position in Hollywood, will star in local drama “Kingdom,” set for release through Netflix in the latter half of the year. The global streaming service’s first original Korean drama, the eight-episode series will revolve around an epic story of Joseon-era zombies.

By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)