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MBC's new drama " The Judge Returns" continues to unveil its cards with never-before-seen images highlighting the explosive relationship between Ji Sung and Won Jin-ah. Based on a best-selling web novel, the series follows Lee Han-young, a corrupt judge caught up in the influence games of a powerful law firm, only to be mysteriously sent back ten years.
A high-voltage first meeting
Ji Sung plays the role of this fallen magistrate with a troubled past, once docile in the face of outside pressure, now determined to correct his mistakes. Opposite him, Won Jin-ah lends her features to Kim Jin-ah, a prosecutor from Seoul's central prosecutor's office driven by one obsession: revenge on the man who destroyed her father's life.
In the first images unveiled, their meeting is icy cold. Sharp eyes, measured words, palpable tension: right from the opening, each sees the other as an obstacle. Lee Han-young has a sulphurous reputation, while Kim Jin-ah trusts no one when it comes to justice. Their face-to-face meeting resembles less a discussion than a silent duel.
An alliance born of pain
But the momentum shifts when Lee Han-young realizes he has nothing left to lose. Back ten years, aware of the mistakes he's made and the disasters to come, he decides to change course, and Kim Jin-ah becomes his unlikely ally.
The new visuals show a radically different duo: Side by side, discreet but determined, the two characters now seem bound by a common ambition. No longer blind vengeance, but the downfall of those truly responsible.
It remains to be seen whether this alliance can survive the secrets, manipulations and weight of the past. For Lee Han-young remains a man marked by his faults, and Kim Jin-ah a woman consumed by rage.
Their battle has only just begun, and justice this time may well have a much darker face.
The Judge Returns will be broadcast from January 2, 2026 at 9:40pm (KST) on MBC (no international distributor yet).
