The premiere of KBS drama “Inspiring Generation” aired Wednesday and came second to SBS’ “Man from the Stars,” emerging as a strong rival to the front-runner.

The drama generated two times the viewership ratings at 7.8 percent, premiering as a follow-up in the Wednesday-Thursday TV drama time slot, taking away 1.3 percent of viewers from “Man from the Stars.”

“Inspiring Generation” started with a 15 billion won budget and stars K-pop idol Kim Hyun-joong as Shin Jung-tae, a fighter who is torn between love and friendship in the 1930s in Shanghai, China.

By Yoon Ha-youn, Intern reporter (yhayoun@heraldcorp.com)