The Art of Negotiation

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Drama: The Art of Negotiation (English & literal title)
Revised romanization: Hyeobsangui Kisool
Hangul: 협상의 기술
Director: An Pan-Seok
Writer: Lee Seung-Young
Network: JTBC
Episodes:
Release Date: March 8, 2025 --
Runtime: Saturday & Sunday 22:30
Language: Korean
Country: South Korea

Plot Synopsis by AsianWiki Staff ©

A story following an M&A expert (Lee Je-Hoon), who is known as a legendary negotiator, and his team including Lawyer Oh Soon-Young (Kim Dae-Myung) and Choi Jin-Soo (Cha Kang-Yoon). The M&A expert specializes in large corporation deals.

Notes

"The Art of Negotiation" takes over JTBC's Saturday & Sunday 22:30 time slot previously occupied by "The Tale of Lady Ok" and followed by "Heavenly Ever After" April, 2025.

Cast

Lee Je-Hoon

Yoon Joo-No



Kim Dae-Myung	Sung Dong-Il	Jang Hyun-Sung	Oh Man-Seok	Ahn Hyun-Ho
Oh Soon-Young	Song Jae-Sik	Ha Tae-Soo	Lee Dong-Joon	Kwak Min-Jeong

Cha Kang-Yoon

Choi Jin-Soo

Sanin Group (Ha Tae-Soo's Line)



Kim Jong-Tae	Choi Beom-Ho	Jang Ho-Il
Jo Bum-Soo	Park Tae-Ho	Choi Dong-Gyu

Sanin Group (Lee Dong-Joon's Line)



Kim Hak-Sun	Jung Suk-Yong	Sung Yeo-Jin
Kim Woo-Chul	Oh Chi-Young	Min Hye-Sung

Sanin Group



Lee Kyu-Sung	Park Hyoung-Soo
Lim Hyung-Sub	Kang Sang-Bae

Additional Cast Members:

Jang Yong-Chul - taxi driver (ep.1)
Kwon Yuri - (cameo)

Trailers

Comments

Haru Jan 07 2026 3:36 pm Great drama, high standard. But the ending is unexpected. Seems like the producer forced to cut it short. I suggest to have a 2nd season. There must be another episode. Otherwise the whole serious looks lousy.

venkat Dec 10 2025 11:00 pm Great series, with excellent script direction and acting. A must watch. Just watch it.

Though it is a different genre, it is an all time classic K-drama. As enjoyable, satisfying (left it open for another season I guess) and comparable to some the the best k dramas I watched and I have watched at least a thousand or more.

Shin Nov 14 2025 8:14 pm Most anticlimactic finale in what I at least thought to be a “revenge” show ever… It was slow, deceitfully long (12 episodes but the overall runtime was closer to that of a 16 episode show) and the ending was quite unsatisfying The other members of his team were purely decorative Felt like an attempt to give an insight on each one’s character was made showing a little bit of their background but in the end the writers were like “we ain’t got time for that” and scrapped the whole thing 5/10 because after it ended I felt like I wasted my time Can’t say I would recommend watching especially with so many better shows out there. Disappointing :(

Anb Oct 14 2025 12:58 am Haha..i confused who is Teo because while watching i saw his picture in Chairman family picture. Then i look at the name of the actor no sur name only Teo. Maybe i mistaken with the photo. Then the ending episode why havr Teo scene and not sure who is hr wife until i read the comment. She's the doctor of Chairman. But why Teo want take over his father company like that and why Chairman did not want inherited the company to hia only son?

Shairli Jun 23 2025 12:32 pm I need 2nd season soon! Please jagga-nim, pd-nim, K-Entertainment channel. Should be 16 eps instead of 12. Need to see the ending of x-CEO Ha & the story behind Samoel BOD / son? Do maintain LJH-ssi's hair colour, suits him well.

Raul Jun 09 2025 5:57 am An excellent corporate sageuk, that was let down by garish music, and non-existent editing. A twelve episode Drama that was barely 50 minutes shorter in runtime than a standard 16-episode Drama back in the day? Puhleeze!

Had the let an editor loose to trim some of that fat and come in at say 13 hours instead just over 15, And hired a composer who wasn't fixated on the Imperial March, this would have been a keeper. The Japan And Jeju stories were highlights for me, that level of personal depth and humanity in corporate sageuks is rare imo. I gave it 7.75/10, coulda shoulda woulda been 9.5 but for those irritants above

Paris May 27 2025 5:56 am I love how PDNim uses the same actors from his previous works...

okja3000 May 01 2025 12:28 pm Watched this right after "Midnight Romance" and I was expecting/dreading what I thought could be a mix of "Wall Street Wolf Man" and that dumb 'Billions" show. Luckily it's neither and the guy with the BTS hair turned out to be Lee Je-Hoon who I hadn't seen since "Tomorrow With You" (one of the best Korean shows I've watched so far). The corporate plot drives the storylines but once you grasp the whole "oh noes our stock price" angle it flows well without sounding like a Wall Street Journal article.

The supporting cast is excellent and carries over almost everyone from "Midnight Romance" except the two leads. As some other reviews have noted Hitomi Miyauchi is ridiculously good and I hope to see more of her in anything ever. The Japan storyline in general is some of the best work I've seen from An Pan-Seok but Wow that episode 6 montage melted me. I've only seen Kim Dae-Myung in "Misaeng" and he's another standout in a cast of standouts. Truly funny guy.

Actual flaws? As many others have mentioned, the soundtrack is over-the-top, odd and distracting. Several scenes have an overbearing orchestra that sounds like Darth Vader just won the Game of Thrones. It's just stock prices, guys - not an End Times Red Wedding. Other scenes have an oddly Blade Runner/Vangelis feel that doesn't match the visuals while some have a guy doing what seems like a bad Tom Waits impression.

New Rule for directors while scoring their work: Vocals Only In Montages (VOiM). If it's hard to hear the actors talking because your sound guy fails at mixing and you picked a song with a guy going 'Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw Yeah Momma Nowwwwww" you're doing it wrong.

SPOILER WARNING*

The ending...what the actual F. They draw out the insider trading thing for two episodes and then the jerk of the show waltzes in with midlife crisis sunglasses and makes it seem like episode 13 is on the way. Just...wow. If you hated the Sopranos finale prepare to feel that feeling again.

Episodes 1-10 = 9/10. 11 and 12 = 6/10. Oh well.

kdrama Apr 26 2025 6:53 pm This show started slow, but once you get through it, its actually very interesting. You may like or dislike this kdrama. But as I do like procedural, complex kind of drama this is right to my alley.

monette Apr 22 2025 10:30 am waiting for season 2 !!!

M Apr 19 2025 11:43 am I just realized that at least 7 actors+actresses are from the midnight romance!

Emma Apr 19 2025 2:39 am Can't wait for season 2 !

yoon jono Apr 17 2025 12:35 pm SPOILER

Technically

This drama about a dad (Sanin Founder) loaning money from his son (Teo from Samoel Fund). If the stock falls below threshold Samoel Fund will take over it (literally his son). He loan more money using his stock as collateral, to buy hotel for his daughter.

So Teo want his dad business to failed and take over it, as we know that he and David are making multiple meeting with the corrupt CFO trying to get profit over Sanin's hard situation.

This is unlimited money glitch, if the business failed his son would own it, if not Sanin will stay there and Samoel get the interest from loan. No wonder Sanin founder enjoying his life loaning here and there splurging money for his daughter. He barely join meeting and doesn't give a f to his employee. He has no bias or siding with the employee unlike Ha Tae Soo and Lee Dong Jun.. He doing nothing and keep flipflopping his feeling over Yoon Jo-No

Hiring corrupt CFO as Samoel Fund owner is the best move to balance Sanin growth. His son want to destroy it so much even hiring that guy who absolutely would make some kind of revenge feeling to Sanin... Now his Dad with Yoon Jo-No must try harder to kept Sanin running.

Either way Sanin founder family always winning. This fiasco make them have some reason for doing something lol

J.D. Vance Apr 17 2025 10:17 am I've rewatched this 3 times, 12 episode in 2 days. Yoon Joo-No fixes his glasses 134 times. 60% of them occuring on the first three episode. The total silent conversation in this K-drama in 12 episodes combined are 82 minutes and 43 seconds. If they removed that scene including parts when Yoon Jo-no fixing his glassess frame, this K-drama would be a 10 episodes but it might be weird having first lead with low screen time. Yoon Joo-No talking portion was only 25% of total scripts, and longest script part was spoken by intern (43%) and Sanin group president (32%).

seokjinie Apr 17 2025 6:26 am @Han

What are you saying? Anna is Yoon Joo No's wife, and he's definitely not the Chairman's son, Teo is his son as seen on the picture from the Dado Resort episofe. The pregnant girl at the end is the daughter of the Chairman's personal doctor. I think he set up a marriage between the two.

Anyways, what a great drama, not a lot of script but you can definitely see the emotiom behind their eyes. As usual, veteran actors Sung Dong Il and Lee Je Hoon never fails to ace the drama they starred in.

The ending wad just slightly confusing tho because of the jumps in the timeline, nevertheless, it was still great but left me hanging. Hoping they release season 2 soon.

Han Apr 16 2025 9:25 am Wait! Anna who is supposed to be Joon Mo's wife is Samoel's, Teo's wife!??? Tho' im still confused on who the Chairman's son is, Teo or Joon MO!

seigoh Apr 15 2025 7:29 am tbh this drama should be 16 episodes!!! 12 is too short. also the ending in ep 12 is really make me think this should be continue to season 2

waeyo Apr 14 2025 10:38 pm hmmm Season 2? So the Directo's Son is the one Samoel Funds right? I think in season 2 it will be Dad vs Son for Sanin ownership?

Jane Kwok Apr 14 2025 1:10 am A good show but the ending seems incomplete. Are we having a Season 2? Thanks.

Mr.Brightside Apr 13 2025 8:13 pm This is indeed a good Kdrama. The storyline is superb and the cast portray their characters well. “Taxi Driver”, Mr Yoon is so cool and takes on each challenges very calmly. I hope there will be Season 2.

Chey Apr 13 2025 2:49 pm What a wonderful ride this was???!!! Congratulations to the whole cast, Writer-nim, PD-nim and especially to Lee Je-Hoon!!!!! His demeanor, his gait, his eyes = simply nailed Yoon Joo No's character and that playi white hair is astoundingly hot!

Season 2 please???

Jojo Apr 13 2025 1:25 pm Wow - Ep 12, that ending after the credits!!

Bring on Season 2 !!!

King A A Apr 12 2025 11:58 am Who would have thought that M&A would be so interesting in a drama. "The art of Negotiation" is indeed a state of art. Its so engaging with so much to learn. I always look forward to the next episodes. Kudos to the Casts, director and everyone involved. Lee Je Hoon is an exceptional Actor, his demeanour and communication is top notch, he portrays the character so well, it kept me glued to my screen. This is the best Kdrama I've watched thus far this year.

Anha Apr 11 2025 9:10 am Woww...the rating is sooo good. Must watch this drama!!! Fighting Lee Je Hoon - taxi driver 3... Good to see actor hospital playlist here too!!

Mc91 Apr 09 2025 9:27 pm I love the story line but I almost gave the drama up because of the background music. It really has a negative impact on how the actors performance in the scenes.

a79hsidb Apr 06 2025 4:31 pm Storyline was fantastic. Lol! the bg music in every scene is hideous, it doesnt suit the scenes. Why the hell did they use such bg music.

kang il-ham Apr 06 2025 12:10 pm if only i can ship le je hoon with lee chae won huhu

ish Apr 06 2025 10:49 am the story is great but the background music they used is terrible

Laughter Apr 06 2025 4:45 am This movie is the best movie I've watched recently, it's so engaging making me look forward to the next scene I love it and kudos to the writers and actors

Clare Tan Apr 05 2025 6:11 pm It's very engaging. No superfluous scene. I don't know much about stocks, shares and the complexities of company politics yet I'm kept wondering what would happen next.

seokjinie Apr 01 2025 12:27 am Is Teo of Samuel fund a son or son in law of the chairman??? If he is, that's why he always looks so bothered with director ha

REGGIN Read Backward Mar 31 2025 8:14 am Why Teo from Samoel Fund in the family photo of Sanin CEO and Ji O?

Dado Mar 30 2025 1:08 am This drama is the state of the art

Im Batman Mar 28 2025 7:46 pm Every time Lee Jehoon speaks English, I can’t help but think he sounds like he’s doing a Batman impersonation lol

Arah Mar 27 2025 2:02 pm @NEI GE Jang yong chul ? The the taxi driver??? Well I'm not sure about that but I read this on IG That she'll play Sung dong il's daughter Posted on naver

bruv Mar 27 2025 8:34 am I hope Hitomi Miyauchi can be a fl in kdrama soon her korean is good bruhh and shes cute

NEI GE Mar 27 2025 8:10 am Min jeong (ahn hyun ho) is sung dong ill's daughter Kwon yuri is jang yong chul wife

Arah Mar 26 2025 9:23 pm Kwon yuri will play Song JiO, Sung dong il's daughter

Rose Mar 26 2025 6:31 pm I like it very much. In the three cases so far, both parties have a win-win solution. The M & A group is able to resolve the concerns of the other party while getting sealing a good deal. The story line is amazing, there is always a twist and I am excited to watch the rest of the episodes.

L Mar 24 2025 10:10 pm is it just me or the Music is kinda loud and overpowering... i was listening to them but the weird music just came out of nowhere..

Wendi Mar 22 2025 7:24 pm I came for Lee Je Hoon and so far I’m staying because of Lee Je Hoon lol I’m not well versed in the financial world and tbh kind of find it daunting and boring so I’d generally avoid this kind of show but I want to give it a chance. So far I really dislike Sanin because it seems like everyone is corrupt and sketchy, except for the M&A team, which seems so obviously one sided that it’s a bit boring to watch so I hope there’s some plot twist later on or something

Aon Mar 20 2025 2:52 pm This is wonderful… I thought it would be boring like other similar genre but this is good. It has something that draws me to know what’s happening and all. Give it a shot y’all…it’s fun

rackham Mar 16 2025 6:11 pm I love it, eps 3-4 were really good. Can't wait for more.

Prince Mar 16 2025 4:06 pm Loving this. A boring procedural world like M&A has been given a beautiful makeover by director Ahn Pan Seok.

Sanin Group Daepyonim Mar 13 2025 11:13 pm Intern is so stupid Based on this I think I'm qualified to be the CEO

nurul Mar 12 2025 3:07 am it's joo no wife is Kwon Yuri ???

zzzz Mar 11 2025 9:55 pm I've all of Director Ahn Pan Seok's melo dramas, I'm curious because this is new genre. But one thing is for sure, I think I will know if it's Director Ahn PanSeok's work based on the supporting actors because you'll always see the same actors from his past works all together.

rackham Mar 10 2025 4:05 pm Liked the first two episodes. But I feel there's something weird that I can't figure out yet. I hope it gets a bit better with new episodes.

Love Lee Jee Hoon, he's so good.

Chad Mar 09 2025 3:16 pm woah the first 2 episodes gives me chills! worth watching. lee je hoon is seriously amazing

Rey Mar 09 2025 1:33 pm Man, I hate Ha Tae Soo from the get go. Idk why Yoon Joon No wanna stay still as that toxic subordinate, but let's just wait the next episode. I can't wait for next week.

miklo Mar 09 2025 12:27 pm Anyone who watches series to relax, skip this one. Your brain gets an overload of useless information, it's just too much.

(⁠｡⁠•̀⁠.•́｡⁠) Mar 09 2025 12:26 pm This is extremely bad...

Connie Jan 17 2025 6:35 am Excited to watch this series... Please update...

External Links

Official Website

The Art of Negotiation

Contents

User Rating

Profile

Plot Synopsis by AsianWiki Staff ©

Notes

Cast

Sanin Group (Ha Tae-Soo's Line)

Sanin Group (Lee Dong-Joon's Line)

Sanin Group

Trailers

Comments

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External Links