Playing It Safe Is the Real Risk: The Blue Road

The man behind D.P. has a new series, and his philosophy is simple: take the risk. At Netflix and BIFF’s second Creative Asia event, director Han Jun-hee looked back on his Netflix work and explained how The Blue Road came together.

The Blue Road : Overview

Detail	Info
Creator/director	Han Jun-hee
Stars	Nagayama Eita and Son Sukku
Format	8 episodes, based on a comic
Setting	2002, during the Korea-Japan World Cup
Production	Japanese-Korean co-production
Release	November 20, on Netflix
BIFF screening	3 of 8 episodes (On Screen section)

The Story Behind the Series

Han called this a work he’d imagined for a long time. With few episodes and few characters, he wanted the spotlight on two performers. So the show leans on the odd-couple chemistry of its leads, and the mystery plays out against the 2002 World Cup, which South Korea and Japan co-hosted. Han was about to finish high school that year, so the setting is personal as well as clever.

The series adapts a comic, but Han treated the source loosely. He described the story as a living creature, and the ending changed several times during development.

Korea vs Japan: Two Ways to Shoot

Asked about co-producing across borders, Han gave a candid answer. Korean crews work fast and accept compromises. Japanese crews are meticulous and chase the perfect result. He said the teams learned from each other. In his words, they plan carefully in advance, but on set things always change.

A Career Built on Genre

The masterclass, titled Making Unexpected Stories Resonate, was moderated by Netflix’s Kim Kijae, a longtime producing partner. It walked through Han’s Netflix projects:

D.P.: a military series adapted from Kim Bo-tong’s webtoon, tackling bullying and toxic masculinity. Han wanted a story nobody had told but people would still watch.
Weak Hero: Han served as creative director while Yoo Soo-min and Park Dan-hee directed, because he felt an emerging director would do the story better.
Pilot and Dead-End Job: Han helped adapt the film Pilot and created the genre-bending series Dead-End Job, directed by Kim Da-min.

His message throughout: if you play safe every time, that itself is a risk. Even his early Netflix days weren’t luck, he joked. The platform simply wasn’t that popular then.

Why You Should Watch?

The Blue Road promises a character-driven mystery with a nostalgic backdrop and two leads from different countries. If you liked how D.P. mixed genre thrills with real social themes, Han’s track record is a strong reason to give this a try. Watch for the 2002 World Cup details, which should add atmosphere and context.

Planning your watchlist? See our 12 must-watch K-dramas for 2026 and our guide to every big Netflix K-drama coming in 2026. To learn about the festival where the series screened, visit the Busan International Film Festival on Wikipedia.