Park Ji-yeon’s Intense Turn as U-jin’s Mother in Teach You a Lesson Revives Interest in Her 12-Year Love Story

Actress Park Ji-yeon, who appeared as 'U-jin's mother' in the Netflix series 'Teach You a Lesson', is gaining attention even outside of her work. In episode 5, she played a parent who pressures a homeroom teacher to protect her son, leaving a lasting impression on viewers with a face that pushes discomfort to the limit within her significant screen time. As the reaction grew, her real-life history of marrying actor Hwang Sang-kyung after a 12-year relationship was also brought back into the spotlight.

The Pressure of U-jin's Mother in Episode 5 of 'Teach You a Lesson'

Episode 5 of 'Teach You a Lesson' deals with a situation where an elementary school teacher breaks down under the pressure of a parent. The episode follows Na Hwa-jin as he steps in as a temporary teacher to turn the situation around, and in this episode, the character of U-jin's mother played by Park Ji-yeon provides a more realistic sense of fatigue than a simple villain. This is because she constantly shifts responsibility to the teacher while hiding behind the claim of doing it for her child, continuously taking issue with minor words and actions.

The reason this character left such a strong impression is that she built up pressure in daily life rather than through a single major incident. Park Ji-yeon did not push the character through scenes of merely raising her voice. She created tension in the episode by delicately portraying moments where she crosses the line while smiling and changes her tone as if she were the victim. The fact that the actress's name was searched again immediately after the release is connected to this point.

Park Ji-yeon and Hwang Sang-kyung, Married After 12 Years of Dating

Park Ji-yeon and Hwang Sang-kyung are known to be a campus couple who met at Hanyang University's Department of Theater and Film. The two continued their relationship for 12 years before marrying in 2017, and they acted as a couple in the omnibus film 'Grida' released in the same year. Within their works, they played lovers together, and outside of their works, they turned their long-standing relationship into a marriage.

Hwang Sang-kyung is an actor who debuted with the film 'Modern Boy' in 2008. Park Ji-yeon has steadily appeared in works such as 'Juvenile Justice' and 'Daily Dose of Sunshine' following the film 'Another Public Enemy' in 2005. Both are actors closer to those who have long held necessary positions within works rather than being flashy stars. Therefore, this interest does not stop at simple couple gossip. A single episode featuring a strong supporting character has made people look back at the actress's long career.

'Teach You a Lesson' Reaches No. 1 in Non-English TV Category

After its release on June 5, 2026, 'Teach You a Lesson' rose to number 1 in the global non-English TV category in the tally from June 1–7. During that period, views were tallied at 6.4 million, and viewing time was tallied at 68.7 million hours. As the setting, which resolves school violence and teacher rights issues through the action genre, spread rapidly, a trend was created where villains and surrounding villains and supporting characters from each episode are being brought back into the conversation.

For Park Ji-yeon, this episode became an opportunity to re-introduce her name and a scene that makes people revisit her long-accumulated filmography. As the overall buzz of the work continues, the presence of characters who are briefly but strongly imprinted, like U-jin's mother, remains as well.