Race – K-drama Episode 6 Recap & Review

Navigating New Levels and Struggle for Power

Episode 6 of Race begins with Yoon-Jo on the phone with Eun talking about Yoon-Jo’s day at work. Yoon-Jo then arrives home and finds Hwa-Ja in her car sleeping. She joins her, and they talk about how their day was.

Later that night, Yoon-Jo with the Seyong Cosmetics’ proposal, and she still can’t believe Eun-Jeong made her in charge of that project. She tries calling Jae-Min, but he doesn’t pick up as he’s out drinking with Yi-Jung.

Jae-Min asks Yi-Jung why she returned to Korea when she told him she’d never do so. Yi-Jung tells him that Ji-Hyeon needed her help, and the job position Ji-Hyeon offered her was a good one, which is why she returned. Jae-Min gets up to leave, but before he does, he tells Yi-Jung that the reason he’s working at Seyong is because of her.

The next day, Seyong’s staff find copies of a statement around the headquarters. The statement was an apology for how Seyong responded to the controversy surrounding the non-discriminatory employment program. It was also an apology to Yoon-Jo for how those rumours affected her.

Meanwhile, at Gu-Young’s office, Yeon-Soo and Gu-Young aren’t happy with the apology statement. They even call in Yi-Jung, who came up with the idea of the apology statement and start lecturing about why they see this as a wrong move.

Sun-Tae demotes Jae-Min as PR Team 1’s assistant manager and asks him to join Choi Young-Ho’s PR Team 1. He even looks to promote one of the remaining PR team 2 members to assistant manager. Sun-Tae’s decision to demote Jae-Min is most likely because he confronted him yesterday when he wanted to transfer Yoon-Jo to another Seyong branch and told Yi-Jung about the non-discriminatory employment program evaluation report. PR team 1’s assistant manager, Gi Dae-Chun, isn’t thrilled to see Jae-Min join their team.

Yoon-Jo, Ji-Hyo, Eun-Jeong, Dong-Hoon, and An (who’s Earth Comms’ general manager) hold a meeting to discuss Seyong Cosmetics’(dubbed CELLTICS) marketing project. And it’s obvious how excited Yoon-Jo is to be part of this project. During the meeting, Eun-Jeong asks Yoon-Jo if there’s anything she’d like to add about the current marketing strategies put in place. She suggests some modifications, but An tells her that Ji-Hyo said everything was fine, and Yoon-Jo apologizes. Dong-Hoon, however, urges Yoon-Jo to say what she thinks needs to be modified. Eun-Jeong then suggests they all have dinner together.

After the meeting, Eun-Jeong advises Yoon-Jo not to feel intimated and to say something if she thinks anything about the project should be modified. She tells Yoon-Jo to approach this project with authority as she no longer works in a small agency.

Ji-Hyeon and Yi-Jung go out for dinner, and Ji-Hyeon asks Yi-Jung why Gu-Young asked to meet her earlier. Yi-Jung tells her that Gu-Young scolded her for the apology statement, saying it was a bad idea. Ji-Hyeon asks Yi-Jung if the apology statement was really a good idea, and Yi-Jung starts lecturing her on why it was the right move for Seyong.

Later, PR team 3, except Heo Hyuk, Dong-Hoon, and An, go out for dinner as they had agreed. Jae-Min and Chul-Jun also join them. The next day, Young-Ho asks Jae-Min to plan for dinner for Ji-Hyeon, Yi-Jung, the PR team leaders, and the leaders of the Strategy Management Division departments. This is a dinner to welcome Yi-Jung to Seyong.

The heads of the departments from the Strategy Management Division and the Operation Division, together with Gu-Young, Ji-Hyeon, and Yi-Jung, have a meeting to decide who will fill in Ji-Hyeon’s former position as Chief Strategy Officer. Ji-Hyeon isn’t happy with Gu-Young’s recommendation for the position. He’s recommending a man named Jeong Su-Hwan. Ji-Hyeon knows too well that since Su-Hwan is on Gu-Young’s side, his being the Chief Strategy Officer means Gu-Young will have more control over Seyong.

Yoon-Jo goes with Dong-Hoon for CELLTICS’s promotion event. Yoon-Jo also joins Dong-Hoon for a conference call with an overseas trader helping with CELLTICS’s product sales. During the conference call, Yoon-Jo is mesmerized by how well Dong-Hoon is well-articulated. She even tells him later how much she admires him.

At Hae-Jo’s school, Hae-Jo and her friends are doing what seems like a TikTok dance. Yi-Jung’s daughter, Yoo-Jin, who attends the same school as Hae-Jo, walks in and finds them struggling to master the dance moves. She then starts dancing the TikTok routine, leaving Hae-Jo and her friends surprised. Hae-Jo then follows Yoo-Jin and requests her to teach those to her.

That evening, Jae-Min is at Eun’s bar drinking in frustration because of how Dae-Chun is treating him.

The next day at the office, Chul-Jun tells Jae-Min how the Strategy Management Division’s department leaders are panicking because Su-Hwan will likely be the next Chief Strategy Officer.

Chul-Jun asks Jae-Min where the department leaders, team leaders, Yi-Jung, and Ji-Hyeon, will be having dinner. Jae-Min tells him the place, and Chul-Jun retorts that Yi-Jung and Ji-Hyeon will likely be uncomfortable as the restaurant requires people to sit on the floor while eating. Meanwhile, Seung-Hee is in the restroom taking a pregnancy test and she discovers that she’s pregnant!

Yoon-Jo is going through the customer survey for the CELLTICS’s promotion event they were at earlier and realizes the sales aren’t that good.

Later that night, the Strategy Management Division administration team arrive for dinner at the restaurant Jae-Min reserved for them. Yi-Jung and Ji-Hyeon also arrive, wearing trousers. Jae-Min had text Yi-Jung earlier that the restaurant they’ll have dinner in has their customers sit on the floor, so she shouldn’t wear a skirt.

They start having dinner and start by making a toast. It turns out, Ji-Hyeon came up with a slogan they usually chant before toasting. Things go well until Byung-Man remarks upon Ji-Hyeon learning that slogan from Yeon-Soo back when she was a “rookie.” Ji-Hyeon gets upset and leaves.

Yi-Jung also tries to leave, but Ji-Hyeon tells her to stay since this dinner is for her. After Ji-Hyeon leaves, the dinner starts going south. Young-Ho even gets drunk and almost spills his drink on Yi-Jung.

They finish dinner and Yi-Jung leaves. Jae-Min sees her off, but before she leaves, Jae-Min tells her how amazing she was at handling the controversy surrounding the non-discriminatory employment program. He also tells her that being at Seyong gives him hope.

The episode ends with Su-Hwan coming to the PR department and asking for Yoon-Jo. It seems he has already been appointed as the Chief Strategy Officer.

The Episode Review

Seyong is an excellent example of how many companies are all about struggling for power rather than focusing on what they offer. Seyong’s top administration is busy struggling for control when CELLTICS is clearly not doing well in terms of sales. I’m happy to see Yoon-Jo smoothly adapting to her new role as the leader of the CELLTICS marketing project though!

As for Jae-Min, I’m sad that his standing up for the truth cost him his job position. But I know it won’t be long before Sun-Tae is put in his place. Now that Su-Hwan is the Chief Strategy Officer, I wonder how things will go.