Lee Jun Young’s ‘Chairman Kang’ Ends With 13.6 Percent Ratings and a Final Twist

JTBC’s weekend drama Chairman Kang the New Employee ended its run with the kind of upward finish that broadcasters hope for: a series-best rating, a resolved succession battle, and one final twist designed to keep viewers talking after the credits.

According to Nielsen Korea figures cited by Korean news outlets on July 6, the drama’s 12th and final episode, which aired the previous night, recorded 13.6 percent nationwide. That marked a sharp climb from its 3.7 percent premiere and confirmed that the office-fantasy series had built word of mouth across its run rather than peaking early.

The drama starred Lee Jun Young as Hwang Jun Hyun, a former soccer prospect whose future is derailed by an accident connected to the powerful Choi Sung Group family. The story’s central hook arrives when the spirit of 72-year-old chairman Kang Yong Ho, played by Son Hyun Joo, enters Jun Hyun’s body, forcing a young employee to carry the authority, habits, and strategic instincts of a corporate patriarch.

A Finale Built Around Corporate Reckoning

The final episode returned the main players to the center of the company’s succession war. After Jun Hyun and Kang Yong Ho regained their own bodies, they joined forces with allies inside Choi Sung Group to expose the wrongdoing of Kang Jae Kyung, portrayed by Jeon Hye Jin, during an emergency boardroom showdown.

That confrontation allowed the series to wrap up its main corporate conflict with a clear consequence: Jae Kyung was removed from power and arrested, while Choi Sung Group moved toward a professional management structure two years later. Jun Hyun, meanwhile, was shown building a new life as a coach at a soccer foundation run by Kang, giving the character a gentler ending after a season driven by family betrayal and boardroom conflict.

Yet the drama did not close on pure calm. In its final moments, Jun Hyun accidentally crossed paths with a woman played in a cameo by ITZY’s Ryujin, triggering another body-swap incident. The scene did not undo the main ending, but it added a playful question mark to a drama that had always mixed revenge, office politics, comedy, and fantasy.

Lee Jun Young’s Performance Drove the Premise

Much of the show’s reception centered on whether Lee could make the unusual premise feel convincing. The role required him to play Jun Hyun as himself and, at key points, as a young man carrying Kang Yong Ho’s manner, authority, and emotional history. Korean coverage of the finale noted that his one-person duality helped make the drama’s body-swap setup work for viewers.

In a post-finale interview published through Daum, Lee described the project as demanding but rewarding. He said he had watched Son Hyun Joo’s performances repeatedly to study details such as speech, behavior, and atmosphere, which helped him express Kang’s presence inside Jun Hyun more naturally.

Lee also said the part did not feel difficult in the way he expected, though he singled out the challenge of portraying Jun Hyun’s realistic nervousness as a young person stepping into society. That balance became important to the drama: Jun Hyun could not simply be a vessel for an older chairman, because the audience also needed to believe in his own interrupted ambitions and emotional wounds.

The actor pointed to scenes with Jeon Hye Jin and the strategy-planning team as especially memorable, saying the ensemble work left a strong impression. He also selected a scene involving Jun Hyun apologizing to his grandmother as one that stayed with him, because similar words carried different emotional colors depending on which version of the character was speaking.

Why the Ending Matters

The 13.6 percent finale is notable because it suggests the drama found late momentum in a crowded weekend slot. Rather than relying only on its high-concept premise, Chairman Kang the New Employee turned the body-swap device into a vehicle for questions about inheritance, accountability, age, ambition, and second chances.

Its ending also positions Lee Jun Young’s performance as one of the key talking points of the run. For an actor who has continued to move between idol roots, film, streaming projects, and television dramas, the series gave him a showcase built on physical detail and tonal shifts rather than a single emotional lane.

Whether the final Ryujin cameo remains only a comic button or hints at future storytelling, the drama leaves behind a completed corporate arc and a rating trajectory that broadcasters will read as a success. It began modestly, grew steadily, and closed with its biggest audience, which is often the clearest sign that viewers stayed invested until the end.