Im Ji-yeon's Range Holds *My Royal Nemesis* Steady Around 10 Percent

Im Ji-yeon is the reason SBS's Friday-Saturday drama *My Royal Nemesis* is holding steady around 10 percent ratings.

In the show, she plays Shin Seo-ri, a struggling present-day actress whose body is possessed by Kang Dan-shim — a ruthless Joseon-era villainess. The role demands she deliver archaic Joseon speech patterns through a contemporary character without tipping into parody, and by most accounts she's landing it.

Kang Dan-shim, who occupies Shin Seo-ri's body and should be above all this, is comically falling for Cha Se-gye (Heo Nam-jun). She buries seeds in a flower pot to suppress her jealousy, then turns around and runs circles around him. Viewers have responded to the image of a cold-blooded schemer getting disarmed by her own feelings.

The show is now threading a second storyline: Cha Se-gye encounters Kang Dan-shim in a dream sequence, signaling that the romance may soon intersect with the unresolved history between the two characters' past lives.

Since *The Glory*, Im Ji-yeon has drawn consistent critical praise across her projects, and her work in *My Royal Nemesis* continues that run.

빙의 (byingui), spirit possession, is a recurring genre device in Korean fantasy dramas — used here as both comedy and character study rather than horror.

spirit possession; the premise driving *My Royal Nemesis*'s fish-out-of-water comedy and its central romance