Namib – From Long-Term Idol Trainee to Global Superstar

By cmoneyspinner - December 27, 2024

“Namib” is a 2024 Viki Orignal Korean drama series, with 12 episodes, and categorized as music, musical, and workplace drama.

SUMMARY: Is is true that every cloud has a silver lining? You’re a young kid and your mother abandons you. That’s a dark cloud. Your child is hearing-impaired and your husband stays at home to care for him. You are the breadwinner but someone falsely accuses you and you lose your job. That’s a dark cloud for sure. But maybe there’s a silver lining behind those clouds.

♦ When Life Forces Lemons Down Your Throat …

In “Namib”, Kang Soo-Hyun and Shim Joon-Seok have a hearing-impaired son. The father chose to stay home and care for his son while the mother worked a full-time job. But before making that decision, the two of them had worked hard together and they built the company, Pandora Entertainment. The popular K-Pop group known as RAID owed their success to Kang Soo-Hyun. But instead of being grateful, one of the members in the group connived with others who had an axe to grind and got her fired from her position as co-CEO of the company. The “others” took over the company.

While she was being terminated, the new management was also getting rid of any long-term trainees that had been at the company. Yoo Jin-Woo was an idol trainee who had been there for 10 years. The trainees lived in a dorm room and they were provided for. Yoo Jin-Woo’s mother brought him to the company one day and just left him there. Before she left she borrowed 200 million won. When the company let Yoo Jin-Woo go they told him he would have to pay back the money … somehow. Somehow? He’s in high school!

Because she had been wrongfully forced from her job, the company did not give her any severance pay. One of the employees showed her the file on Yoo Jin-Woo. It was clear that the young man had talent. But he had been overlooked instead of being developed into the outstanding artist that he could be.

Kang Soo-Hyun always had an eye for talent and she knew she could turn Yoo Jin-Woo into a star. She got him to sign a contract and then brought him home to live with her, her husband, and her son. After all, he couldn’t live in the dorm at Pandora Entertainment, and he had nowhere else to go. She made this decision without discussing it with her husband or her son. Was her husband displeased? Ah well! They’re family. They’ll work it out … somehow. When she brought Yoo Jin-Woo into her home, her husband asked who he was, she replied: “He’s my severance pay.”

Pandora Entertainment’s new management had a personal vendetta and the takeover was hostile. They felt they had been wronged by Kang Soo-Hyun and wanted to get back at her for ruining their lives. They didn’t give her severance pay but they were so hell-bent on getting their revenge that they let a precious talent like Yoo Jin-Woo, slip through their fingers. Kang Soo-Hyu is a producer and her husband, Shim Joon-Seok, is a former music producer. If they combined their knowledge, skills, and abilities and developed Yoo Jin-Woo’s talent, Kang Soo-Hyun did not doubt that she could make him a global superstar.

Main Characters:

Kang Soo-Hyun (played by Ko Hyun-Jung, “The Great Queen Seondeok”)
Yoo Jin-Woo (played by Ryeo Un, “Twinkling Watermelon”, “The Secret Romantic Guesthouse”, “Through the Darkness”)
Shim Joon-Seok (played by Yoon Sang-Hyun, “Perfect Family”)

Where to Watch

Viewership and Rating:

IMDb: 3.2 out of 10 stars
My Drama List: 8 out of 10 stars
Viki viewers rated this series 9.5 out of 10 stars

My personal rating is the same as the Viki viewers.

This TV series was very thought-provoking. Geography was never one of my best subjects but I was pretty sure “Namib” was somewhere in Africa. Based on what I could find the title of this K-drama references a desert in Africa. Some say the title of the K-drama symbolizes the beauty and resilience under extreme conditions, and the determination of the characters face the challenges of the entertainment industry and rise above their struggles. OK! That sounds like a good interpretation to me. I like the title! I found the characters to be very admirable. There was a young boy who was abandoned and parents who were caring for a hearing-impaired child.

The Idol Trainee:

I have no sympathy for parents who abandon their children. At least not in democratic countries. In America, for example, we have all kinds of laws designed to help parents who feel they cannot care for their child and may think about abandonment. There are child welfare and protective services, adoption agencies, foster care, etc. There is no reason to abandon a kid.

But I actually witnessed parents (or let’s just say two adults) walk into a store with a toddler and walk out, leaving the child. It happened so fast, that I didn’t realize it happened. There was no way what those people did was not intentional. They meant to leave that small child all by himself. Before I knew it, the store owner was calling the police. Child abandonment is a felony and if the adults are caught, they should be punished.

Parents of the Hearing-Impaired Child:

Parenting a healthy child is challenging. My heart goes out to parents who struggle to take care of children with disabilities or illnesses. When a couple has to decide on primary care and one stays at home while the other takes on the burden of providing full financial support, nobody should make their lives more difficult! Yet there are some evil people out there who will do their best to stomp on you! And they don’t care if those who depend on you are hurt.

As soon as the mother lost her job unfairly, I became the cheerleader for the entire family, rooting for them all the way! Once I understood the idol trainee’s life experience, I rooted for him too!

Here’s something I would like to say to anyone who might find themselves being unfairly dismissed from a job, whether or not they have a family. Know this. The only thing an employer can do is terminate you from a job. When you leave, you take your brain, your knowledge, skills, abilities, and work experience WITH YOU! The employer doesn’t get to keep that! That’s your wealth.