TVING has officially confirmed that High School Queen, also known by its alternate title The Queen Goes to High School, will premiere in 2027, with Kim Sejeong, Bae Hyeonseong, and Cho Hangyul attached as the lead cast. The series adapts the popular Naver webtoon of the same name by critie and Nehae, and it already ranks among the most talked-about Korean drama projects on the 2027 slate.
The Plot: Korea’s Greatest Swordswoman Gets a Second Life
The premise of High School Queen is the kind of high-concept setup that K-drama fans immediately latch onto. Kim Cheong-ha is a legendary warrior queen from the Joseon Dynasty, raised in a military family and feared as the kingdom’s finest swordswoman. Her life ends in a palace conspiracy — but death isn’t the final chapter.
She wakes up in present-day Seoul, inside the body of Park Da-jin, a quiet, overlooked student at Juwon High School who has been enduring relentless bullying. Cheong-ha now has royal instincts, centuries-old martial arts mastery, and absolutely zero patience for the social hierarchy of a modern Korean high school.
What follows blends several genres at once: slick fight choreography performed in school uniforms, fish-out-of-water comedy as Joseon etiquette collides with smartphones and K-pop culture, a slow-building romance, and a revenge arc that gives the story its emotional backbone. The closest comparison floating around fan communities is Mr. Queen crossed with The Glory — body-swap fantasy on one side, calculated comeuppance on the other — but the webtoon’s tone is distinctly its own, balancing empowerment with genuine humor and warmth.
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Kim Sejeong Anchors a Strong Three-Person Lead Cast
Casting is where High School Queen makes its strongest early statement.
Kim Sejeong takes on the dual role of Kim Cheong-ha and Park Da-jin, which is essentially two performances fused into one character. She has already proven she can carry both comedy and steel — Business Proposal showed her rom-com timing, while I Wanna Hear Your Song demonstrated her dramatic range. Playing a battle-hardened queen trapped in a teenager’s life requires an actress who can switch between regal authority and youthful vulnerability within a single scene, and her track record suggests she’s built for exactly that. Her action sequences alone are expected to be a major talking point once the drama airs.
Bae Hyeonseong steps in as the male lead. The rising actor, recognized from projects like When I Fly Towards You and The Sound of Your Heart, has been steadily building a reputation as one of his generation’s most promising young stars. His character serves as the story’s key counterpart, and the romantic tension between him and Sejeong’s queen-in-disguise is one of the elements webtoon readers are most eager to see translated to screen.
Cho Hangyul rounds out the central trio, adding another layer to the ensemble. Details about his exact role remain under wraps, but his inclusion in the headline cast signals a character with real narrative weight rather than a supporting turn.
The Webtoon Foundation Gives It a Head Start
High School Queen isn’t arriving cold. The source webtoon by critie and Nehae has built a loyal readership on Naver, drawn in by Cheong-ha’s no-nonsense personality and the story’s refusal to let its heroine shrink herself to fit her new surroundings. Readers consistently praise how the comic handles its bullying storyline — the confrontations land as cathartic rather than gratuitous, and Da-jin’s growth matters as much as Cheong-ha’s dominance.
That built-in audience matters. Recent years have shown that webtoon adaptations with established fanbases, from Extraordinary You to Alchemy of Souls, tend to generate strong premiere momentum and sustained online discussion. High School Queen enters production with that same advantage, plus a premise that practically markets itself through word of mouth.
Why This Drama Stands Out in the 2027 Lineup
Several factors position High School Queen ahead of the typical upcoming-release pack. The strong female lead trend in Korean television continues to draw both domestic and international viewers, and a protagonist who is literally royalty — with the combat skills to back it up — pushes that archetype into fresh territory. The Joseon-to-modern visual contrast also gives the production design team room to create something visually distinctive, from period flashbacks to stylized school-set action.
There’s also the bullying narrative, a subject Korean dramas have approached with increasing seriousness. When handled with care, these stories resonate far beyond entertainment, and early indications suggest the series intends to treat its empowerment themes with weight rather than using them as a simple revenge delivery system.
Release Date and What Comes Next
High School Queen is slated to air on TVING in 2027, though an exact premiere date has not been announced. Production is actively moving forward, and additional announcements covering the director, supporting cast, and first teaser materials are expected in the coming months.
For viewers who gravitate toward reincarnation stories, underdog justice, action-driven female leads, or webtoon adaptations with built-in depth, this one belongs on the watchlist now. With Kim Sejeong leading a promising young cast and a source webtoon that already has fans invested, High School Queen has all the ingredients to become one of 2027’s defining K-drama releases. Expect casting additions and teaser drops to arrive well before the premiere — this is a production worth tracking from day one.
