The KBS Daily Drama
Aigoo….I’ve been lost in my drama addiction these days and totally ignoring my blog. I started a drama review last week and still haven’t gotten back to it. We’ve had such a busy summer and now fall, and my drama watching has fallen to a minimum these days. My husband was out of town for almost all of August and September. I really like it best when we get into a good drama together. Hopefully, his work will slow down soon, so we can go back to watching some TV together!
When he left on this last trip, I decided to start watching the new KBS Daily Drama Pure in Heart. The daily drama runs M-F and is just over 30 minutes per episode. The daily dramas are longer, running around 160 episodes, and they are the most “soap opera-like” of all the dramas. However, the KBS daily drama is prime-time TV in Korea and very popular. You will usually find this drama at the top of the TV ratings. For me, I like the daily drama because it delves into the most mundane details of Korean life. I never fail to learn something new about Korean culture. I also like that they are “family” dramas, and while there is always a main love story, family relationships are a main focus of the drama.
The current drama is about a 19-year old girl, Gukhwa, who moves from Yanbian China to Korea to get married (read about the ethnic Koreans living in China- thanks Mace!). It was an arranged marriage, and she had only met her future husband a few times. During her journey to Korea to get married, her future husband is killed in a car accident. So, she arrives in Korea to the horrible news that her soon-to-be husband has died. It is clear that she is a warm, pure person when she returns to her future-husband’s family all the money he had sent her. His family embraces her and helps to send her back to China. Her fiancée’s nephew, Ugyeong helps her get to the airport and is very moved by her situation. However, after he leaves her at the airport, she changes her mind and stays in Korea. She has no parents and was living with her poor Aunt and Uncle in China. Rather than continue to be a burden on them, she decides to stay in Korea to make money and help support them. The drama centers on her struggle to make it in Korea. Ugyeoung falls in love with her, but because she was once engaged to his uncle, the relationship is impossible. Ugyeong is a warm-hearted, hard-working average guy, who is good to his family and doesn’t want to disappoint them. I absolutely adore his character. Also, a K-drama would not be complete without a rich guy! In this drama, it is Yun-hu, who is the college friend of Ugyeong. While he suppose to marry a girl that he has been raised with, he has never thought of her as more than a friend. Also, he finds himself drawn to the hard-working and bold Gukhwa.
Anyway, when I started watching, I had recorded almost 70 episodes. I would watch when I cooked dinner, folded laundry, and after the kids went to bed…anytime I got a chance. I’m now caught up to the current episode on KBS World. Ahhh…the addiction! If you get KBS in your city, I highly recommend the Daily Drama!
Check out one of the main ballads from the drama and see Gukhwa and Yunhu:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVE1jIBlsj0
Labels: Korean Culture
posted by Julie @ 12:50 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
A second cousin (Korean) married an ethnic Korean girl from Yanbian and because it was his second marriage, it was sort of arranged. She was glad to be moving to Seoul and told the family many girls are trying to get out of Yanbian to the point of being smuggled out to work illegally by shady people who exploit them.
Gukhwa's accent is so perfectly copied, she is a good actress!
I'm up to Ep 96 (same as Korea) and this drama really grew on me. I'm really enjoying it right now. There are some characters that start out irritating and stiff but they grow during the show and become the ones you root for.
Glad you're enjoying the show!
Thanks for the comments. I had never heard of Yanbian until the drama. My friend had a Chinese worker at her restaurant, who was Korean. That always confused me but now I understand where he was from. I was wondering if Gukhwa's accent was pretty good. Even tho I don't speak Korean, you can hear the difference!
BTW, I was the same way about some of the characters...they grew on me. In particular, Yun-jeong used to bug me and now I really like her. We are up to ep 75 on KBS World.
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