Typhoon Family bursts onto screens this fall with the restless energy of late 90s survival. Picture cheap coffee in plastic cups, fax machines whining at midnight, and parents balancing ledgers while the world tilts.
Typhoon Family plants itself in 1997 South Korea, the year the IMF crisis ripped through paychecks and pride, and asks what happens when a carefree son is shoved into a collapsing business he barely understands.
At first glance Typhoon Family feels like a corporate drama. Look closer and it becomes a story about debts that aren’t just financial, the weight of legacy when the numbers stop adding up, and the strange mix of love and resentment that keeps people fighting even when quitting seems easier. It promises hustle, heartbreak, and small victories that feel seismic when everything else is falling apart.
Typhoon Family isn’t a glossy fantasy of boardrooms and power suits. It’s a story of peeling wallpaper, overworked accountants, and a reluctant heir trying to grow up while the country reels. And because it’s a K-drama, there’s still room for romance, fragile but persistent, blooming right in the wreckage.
Typhoon Family’s setting: 1997 and the fight to survive
Typhoon Family unfolds during the 1997 IMF crisis in South Korea, a period when countless companies collapsed and families scrambled to adapt overnight. Factories shut down, office workers lost lifelong careers, and small businesses faced bankruptcy almost overnight. This was the first time many Koreans felt the floor vanish beneath them, and the series uses that upheaval as fertile ground for its characters.
At the center of Typhoon Family is Kang Tae-poong, a son forced to step into his father’s shoes and keep the family business alive when the economy implodes. The company he inherits isn’t thriving; it’s a shell of what it used to be, and he doesn’t have the experience or network to save it easily.
The story of Typhoon Family isn’t about overnight success but learning to make impossible decisions when every mistake could cost jobs and dignity. We can expect a detailed and almost tactile look at what survival meant in that era, from desperate negotiations with creditors to painful family sacrifices.

Cast leading the storm
Lee Jun-ho headlines as Kang Tae-poong, bringing the charm and resilience that made him a fan favorite in previous K-dramas. His performance promises to move between vulnerability and determination, showing a man who starts unprepared but learns to lead when there’s no other option. Tae-poong’s growth arc is likely to be one of the most compelling elements of the drama, balancing personal doubt with an emerging sense of responsibility.
Kim Min-ha, fresh from global acclaim in Pachinko, plays Oh Mi-seon, the meticulous accountant who becomes both ally and anchor as Tae-poong struggles to rebuild. Mi-seon isn’t written as a background helper; early previews describe her as someone with agency, sharp insight, and her own ambitions. Her dynamic with Tae-poong suggests both professional partnership and the slow unfolding of romance in a world that doesn’t make space for tenderness easily.
Veteran actor Sung Dong-il appears as the stern father Kang Jin-young, whose old school approach to business collides with his son’s uncertainty, while Kim Ji-young plays Jung Jeong-mi, the family matriarch who tries to hold everyone together as the crisis deepens.

The supporting cast fills out a vibrant, high stakes world: Kim Min-seok as loyal friend Wang Nam-mo, Mu Jin-sung as rival Pyo Hyeon-jun, Kim Sang-ho as the powerful Pyo Bak-ho, Kwon Han-sol as Mi-seon’s younger sister Oh Mi-ho, and Kim Young-ok as the grandmother Yeom Boon-i. Each role helps paint a picture not just of one man’s struggle but of an entire generation navigating collapse.

Lee Jun-ho’s return to dramas
Lee Jun-ho showing up in Typhoon Family is more than casting news; it feels like a cultural event. Long before he became one of Korea’s most magnetic leading men, he was the sharp dancing, big voiced powerhouse of 2PM, one of the groups that defined second generation K-pop. He moved into acting under the radar at first and then started stealing entire shows with layered turns in Good Manager and the aching romance of Just Between Lovers.
By 2023 he was no longer testing the waters. King the Land exploded across streaming charts and cemented him as a full fledged Hallyu star, proving he could balance breezy charm with real emotional weight.
Now Typhoon Family asks him to shed the rom com gloss and step into grit: a crumbling company, a country in freefall, a man forced to grow up fast. It is a sharp left turn and a bold flex that shows Jun-ho is not done surprising anyone.
Creative minds behind the scenes
The drama is written by Jang Hyun-sook and directed by Lee Na-jeong alongside Kim Dong-hwi, names familiar to K-drama audiences for crafting emotional yet grounded storytelling. Jang Hyun-sook’s past work shows a talent for weaving social commentary into intimate family sagas, while Lee Na-jeong is known for giving ordinary characters cinematic weight without losing realism.
Produced by Imaginus, Studio PIC, and Tree Studio, the series leans heavily into period detail. Costume teams recreated late 1990s corporate and casual styles with precision, from wide ties and muted office wear to the subdued colors of the era.
Sets are built to mirror the look of small and mid sized Korean companies before the tech boom, from cluttered desks to aging signage. Props like pagers, fax machines, and analog ledgers ground the drama firmly in 1997, avoiding an overly polished nostalgia. This attention to realism signals a production that wants viewers to feel the economic crisis, not just hear about it.
Release date and streaming details
The series premieres on October 11, 2025, airing on tvN every Saturday and Sunday at 9:10 p.m. KST. Episodes will stream globally on Netflix, giving international viewers access without delay. This simultaneous global release reflects Netflix’s ongoing push to bring high profile K-dramas to audiences worldwide while keeping local broadcast prestige through tvN.
Typhoon Family runs for 16 episodes, each around an hour long, and is expected to conclude by the end of November. The two-episode-per-week schedule allows the drama to maintain momentum and stay in conversation for nearly two months, ideal for fans who enjoy weekly anticipation but want a relatively quick finish.
Given the strong leads and Netflix’s global reach, Typhoon Family is positioned to trend quickly in the first weekends of release.
What to expect from Typhoon Family
While its backdrop is heavy with economic anxiety, early interviews and teasers suggest Typhoon Family won’t be relentlessly bleak. Expect warmth and perseverance threaded through the struggle, with characters finding surprising humor and solidarity as they adapt to loss. Tae-poong’s journey is about more than just saving a company; it’s also about redefining adulthood and discovering resilience when easy options disappear.
The romance between Tae-poong and Mi-seon adds emotional texture without hijacking the survival story. Their partnership starts in the trenches of crisis and slowly transforms into something more intimate, a bond born of shared hardship and mutual respect. Around them, family members and rivals add layers of generational conflict, business intrigue, and personal pride.
Ultimately, Typhoon Family aims to show that reinvention can rise from ruin. Instead of glamorizing wealth or corporate power, it promises to look at ordinary people rebuilding in extraordinary times. For global audiences, it’s a window into Korea’s late 90s upheaval, but also a universal story of resilience and love when the world suddenly changes.