Lee Jae-wook made a surprise appearance by video at the press conference for Netflix’s ‘Dead-End Job’ on October 28, sending his greetings from military service just two days before the series premieres.
The press conference was held on the morning of October 28 at the Fairmont Ambassador Seoul in Yeouido. Director Kim Da-min, planning head Han Jun-hee, and actors Kim Min-ha and Lee Hee-joon attended in person, while Lee Jae-wook, who is currently serving in the military, joined through a pre-recorded video message, according to SBS Entertainment News.
In the video, Lee Jae-wook introduced his character Hyeok-jun, a young man who takes a high-paying part-time job after hitting rock bottom. He said the story begins when Hyeok-jun visits an employment agency offering work that pays 50 times the usual hourly wage, and added that he would cheer on ‘Dead-End Job’ while fulfilling his duty to national defense. According to MK, he also said it felt surreal that the series, made together by so many actors and crew members, was about to be released, and that he was sad he could not be there with everyone.
‘Dead-End Job’ is a survival horror series about making a living, built around a strange staffing agency that advertises only lucrative part-time jobs. Hyeok-jun, driven by debt, is sent to nightmare-like workplaces where each assignment brings a new kind of horror. Director Kim Da-min described Hyeok-jun as a character full of grit and a strong sense of everyday life, someone audiences end up rooting for precisely because he keeps pushing through hardship in pursuit of survival.
Kim Da-min also explained the structure of the series at the press conference. She said the nightmare workplaces change with each episode, with new characters constantly becoming entangled with the protagonist, and that the series is designed to deliver catharsis as viewers watch Hyeok-jun struggle through utter chaos. She added that the show draws on Korean ghost stories without simply relying on them, and that every episode offers new material to keep viewers watching until the end.
Planning head Han Jun-hee said he was drawn to the script, written by Kyung Min-seon and Lee Shin-ji, because it felt unfamiliar yet attractive, scary and funny at the same time, and refreshing without ever being a light story. He said he had always looked for stories that only this team could tell, and that bringing together director Kim Da-min and the cast was part of that ambition. He also left the door open to expanding the world, saying the series could explore part-time workers from different countries or the past of the agency boss if viewers show it a lot of love.
Kim Min-ha, who plays Hyeok-jun’s younger sister Ji-yun, said the role was her first time taking on an emotionally explosive character. She described the script as a genre she had never seen before, with so many stage directions that she had to imagine much of the character for herself, and said she was drawn to a storyline that feels understandable yet hard to make sense of. According to Sports Chosun, Ji-yun is a character who hates poverty more than ghosts, a line that captures the show’s grounding in real economic fear rather than supernatural scares alone.
Kim Min-ha also spoke about her chemistry with Lee Jae-wook, recalling that although he is three years younger than her, he took good care of her on set, buying her salt bread and bringing back bread from Daejeon. She said the two would bicker as soon as their eyes met, and that meeting again at the Busan International Film Festival after a long time made her want to tease him again, a playful dynamic she said comes through in the series.
Lee Hee-joon, who plays the owner of the staffing agency, said he liked the premise that part-time jobs can be hard enough to kill you, and that he trusted director Kim Da-min, with whom he worked on ‘A Killer Paradox’. He said the script felt fresh when he first read it, and that although the series was heavy on computer graphics, conditions on set were good.
The press conference caps a promotional run that began in early October, when Netflix released character posters introducing the main cast. Lee Jae-wook stars as Hyeok-jun, Go Min-si plays Yeon-ju, who approaches him while investigating the suspicious agency, Kim Min-ha plays his determined younger sister Ji-yun, and Lee Hee-joon plays the mysterious head of the agency. Lee Jae-wook enlisted on June 18, according to MK, which is why he has been absent from in-person promotional events for the series.
‘Dead-End Job’ premieres on Netflix on October 30, with Hyeok-jun’s desperate job hunt about to move from press-conference talking point to streaming reality.
