First Look: "Tempest"

Disney+ Philippines invited GwenchaNoona to an exclusive watch party for Tempest, its latest k-drama offering. With the first three (of nine) episodes now streaming exclusively on Disney+ in Asia, here’s our early review of what to expect from this political thriller starring Jun Ji-hyun (My Sassy Girl) and Gang Dong-won (Temptation of Wolves).

The Plot

The threat of nuclear war is escalating between the United States and North Korea. Peace in the Korean Peninsula is hanging by a thread. After the assassination of a prominent reunification advocate, former UN ambassador Seo Mun-ju (Jun Ji-hyun) emerges as the only leader who can prevent war. With nefarious forces determined to stop her, mysterious agent Paik San-ho (Gang Dong-won) signs on as her bodyguard.

Our First Look

The very loose Korean adaptation of the beloved English novel Little Women was one of the most unhinged yet enjoyable series of 2022, so when we learned that its director Kim Hee-won and screenwriter Jung Seo-kyung were reuniting for Tempest, we knew we’re all in for a treat! That pedigree shows from the first frame: episode 1 barrels ahead with high-stakes action, episode 2 pauses for a somber flashback, and episode 3 yanks us right back into nail-biting suspense.

Jun Ji-hyun commands the screen as Mun-ju. While she gets fewer fight sequences than her co-star, her resilience and moral complexity are magnetic. Watching her transformation from diplomat to political force, especially after tragedy strikes her husband, the presidential candidate (Park Hae-joon), feels both raw and riveting. Gang Dong-won, returning to television after more than two decades, makes his comeback count. As San-ho, the retired-mercenary-turned-reluctant-protector, he blends mystery with charisma. Even with his motives deliberately murky, the slow-burn bond with Mun-ju—shifting from guarded admiration to emotional pull—adds tension that crackles on screen.

The leads don’t carry this storm alone. Supporting players bring extra spark: Ok-seon (Lee Mi-sook, Queen of Tears), Mun-ju’s steely mother-in-law, stirs the family pot with her quiet but lethal power plays. Prosecutor Jang (Oh Jung-se, The Revenant), cuts in with bite as both investigator and the slain candidate’s brother. Kim Hae-sook (Hospital Playlist) oozes gravitas as the current South Korean president, while Yoo Jae-myung (Reply 1988) steadies the chaos as a hard-nosed intelligence chief. Together, they keep the conspiracy threads tangled but never dull.

That ensemble gets the full Disney+ treatment. Sweeping shots of churches, political rallies, and international borders give Tempest a cinematic scale, while fight sequences crackle with choreographed precision (thanks to co-director Heo Myung-haeng, The Roundup: Punishment) The editing occasionally leaves you momentarily disoriented, but subtle visual cues pull you back in, and the atmospheric score keeps the stakes taut.

All of it builds to a bigger question: What does honesty mean for someone caught between diplomacy, politics, and survival? Whom can Mun-ju really trust—her family, her allies, or even her new bodyguard? By leaning into the geopolitical tensions of the Korean Peninsula while tapping into universal anxieties about betrayal, power, and the human cost of conflict, Tempest delivers both suspense and emotional heft. And at its heart, the shifting bond between Mun-ju and San-ho gives us something intimate to hold onto amid the national turmoil.

If the storm promised by Tempest is just beginning, we’re already deep in the thunder. The first three episodes showcase the ambition, scale, and emotional heart of the series—and they’re more than enough to pull you in.

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Stream if you’re into spy thrillers with strong female leads, political intrigue, and action that knows when to pause for emotion.

Skip if heavy politics hit too close to home, or if you’d rather stick to simpler, character-driven dramas.

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UzumaKushina

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