TV Dramas


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Korean TV dramas are a significant cultural export. They sell widely in Asian countries and also in the Middle East, and are increasingly available in legal DVD versions with English subtitles – though at prices in the region of $80 for a series you need to be a dedicated fan to pursue this particular interest.

I’m open to any views and contributions here, because it’s not a field I’m terribly familiar with. For people new to the genre I would recommend the following three K-dramas, all of which are now available from YesAsia with English subtitles

  • Winter Sonata – probably the TV drama that most epitomises the Korean Wave. It gave rise to the superstardom in Japan of Bae Yong-jun, aka Yonsama; and you can do Winter Sonata holiday tours of Seoul. Here’s a link to an essay explaining Winter Sonata’s popularity in Asia.
  • Sandglass – historically important for its controversial backdrop – the Kwangju uprising in 1980. This series was very big in its day (1995). I’m hoping someone will give it to me for Christmas.
  • Jewel in the Palace – OK, this is on the list because I like Lee Young-ae, its star, but I’ve also heard good reviews of it. Alice Bennell has started a campaign to get the BBC to buy this series and is also running a blog on the subject, while UKfan has started a comic relief bulletin board devoted to DJG comic strips.

The Korean Tourist Board has an English language site, Hello Hallyu, which gives an introduction to some of the more recent K-dramas, and encourages you to visit some of the locations where they were filmed. And recognising the growing interest in Korean TV dramas, Darcy’s Koreanfilm.org now has an ever-growing page devoted to reviews of them.

For dedicated followers, there’s www.clubbox.co.kr, which I understand enables you to download episodes of your favourite serial, sometimes subtitled by other dedicated followers. I understand it takes several hours to download one episode, so I don’t intend trying it out. I don’t know whether it’s legal either, though that may not be a bother to some. It’s in Korean, so you need to know how to work it. There are some links here which might help.

Alternatively try mysoju.com, which breaks down drama series into 10-minute subtitled chunks

For the serious addict there’s d-addicts.com, and a burgeoning Wiki site, http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Main_Page on Asian drama of all nationalities.

{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }

Chunji 2 November, 2006 at 2:50 pm

Hi there,

I’d like to watch 19 Soonjung (KBS 1), can anyone help me to find web to download the up to date series. Thanks a lot.

Sakari Aaltonen 11 January, 2007 at 11:37 am

Considering the variety and quality of Korean TV dramas, to call them “soap operas” is somewhat misleading, if not downright condescending. I prefer to call them KDramas.
(There are also JDramas from Japan and CDramas from the various Chinese-speaking countries.)

If you are interested in SANDGLASS, you might also be interested in EYES OF DAWN (1991); it deals with the 1940’s. A DVD boxset became available a few weeks ago.

Philip Gowman 15 January, 2007 at 4:18 pm

Duly chastened by Sakari’s comment above, I’ve removed all references to “soaps” on this page, instead calling them TV dramas or K-dramas. The term “soap opera” was not meant to be disparaging, but I guess it could be read as such.

Sakari also adds the following comments on EYES of DAWN:

EYES OF DAWN (a few online stores use the title BURNING DAWN) does go into the 1950’s, too (the Korean War). It’s certainly an impressive series, up there with SANDGLASS. What’s even more impressive is that the two scripts were written by the same person, Song Ji-na

Thanks, Sakari.

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