Be Strong Geum Soon

Be Strong Geum Soon 

Title: 굳세어라 금순아 / Goot-se-eo-ra Geum-soon-ah
Also known as: Aja, Geum Soon
Episodes: 163
Broadcast network: MBC
Broadcast period: 2005-02-14 to 2005-09-30
Air time: Monday-Friday 8:20 PM

Synopsis

This is a story of a young widow, Geum-Soon, who never becomes discouraged or blames other people - no matter what happens in her life. The viewers will get both hope and comfort by watching her do her best in everything she does.

It is also a story of a family who loves and takes care of each other. You can always turn to your family and their love gives you the hope to get through the tough times. Sometimes, they seem to make your life more difficult, but they will always stand up for you and love you whatever you do.

Source: MBC Global Media

Cast

Han Hye Jin as Na Geum-soon (24)
Choi Ja Hye as Na Geum-ah (Geum-soon’s cousin, 24)
Kang Ji Hwan as Goo Jae-hee (30)
Lee Min Ki as Noh Tae-wan (So-jang’s second son, 26)
Yoon Yuh Jung as Geum-soon’s grandmother
Yang Hee Kyung as Geum-soon’s aunt
Park In Hwan as Noh So-jang (63)
Kim Ja Ok as Kim Jung-sim (56)
Kim Yoo Suk as Noh Si-wan (So-jang’s oldest son, 37)
Kim Nam Kil as Noh Jung-wan (Geum-soon’s husband-to-be)
Kim Suh Young as Ha Sung-ran (32)
Jang Yong as Jang-pak (56)
Yang Mi Kyung as Young-ok (Geum-soon’s real mother)
Lee Se Eun as Jang Eun-joo (28)
Kang Ji Hwan as Goo Jae-hee (30)
Yoon Mi Ra as Oh Mi-ja (54)

Production Credits

Director: Lee Dae Young
Writer: Lee Jung Sun

Ballad Of Seo Dong

Ballad Of Seo Dong 

Title: 서동요 / Seo Dong Yo
Also known as: Seo Dong’s Song
Genre: Period Drama
Episodes: 52
Broadcast network: SBS
Broadcast period: 2005-09-05 to 2006-03-21
Air time: Monday & Tuesday 9:55 PM

Synopsis

Producer Lee Byung-Hun and writer Kim Yeong-hyeon from “Jewel in the Palace (Dae Jang Geum)”, last year’s major hit drama here and in China, have again teamed up for a new historical drama.

The SBS drama “Sodongyo”, translated as “Sodong’s Song”, has much in common with “Jewel in the Palace”. Both deal with similar themes: a success story of a lower class person rising to the top, a love that transcends social position, a secret of birth and a rivalry between main characters.

However, whereas “Jewel” is set in the Choson Kingdom (1392-1910), “Sodongyo” takes place in the Paekche Kingdom (18 B.C. - A.D 660), a first for a TV drama. Aside from the romance between a princess and a commoner, an interesting part of the drama is that it focuses on a fierce technology war almost 1,500 years ago.

The protagonist is Sodong, a commoner who strives to become a top technician. Sodong later became King Mu, the 30th king of Paekche as he was finally recognized as of royal birth.

The main background of the drama is Taehaksa, Paekche’s prestigious institute of science technology. As it possessed and developed the most up-to-date technology at that time, the institute was always in danger of industrial espionage from other countries like the Koguryo Kingdom and the Silla Kingdom.

“The 21st century is an era of information technology. The viewers will be able to see not only the splendidly rich culture of the Paekche Kingdom but also their ancestors’ passion for information technology, which is in line with today’s trend”, said the drama’s writer Kim.

The drama also reveals the role of monks as industrial spies at that time, an aspect of monks in the past that is rarely focused 0n.

“Monks were the advance guards of intelligence war at that time. The leaders of the three countries made the best use of the monks’ mobility as they were allowed to move freely from country to country on sacred missions”, said Kim.

The drama also features a character who was originally from the Silla Kingdom (57 B.C. - A.D 935) but went over to Paekche as a child and smuggled himself into Taehaksa, concentrating on secretly getting out high-quality information over a long time.

Various agricultural technologies considered the most up-to-date at that time also appear in the drama.

In some episodes, to solve the problems of excessive dryness of the land, they released earthworms, and used ondol (hot floor) for the first time to decrease the humidity of homes.

“Sodongyo” is said to be one of Korea’s oldest folk songs. According to Samgukyusa (The Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms) from the Silla Kingdom, the song was written by Sodong, a commoner from the Paekche Kingdom. Hearing that Princess Sonhwa, a daughter of King Chinpyong of the Silla Kingdom was beautiful, he writes a song saying that the princess visits Sodong’s room every night and spreads the song around. When her father hears the song, he condemns the princess to exile. Sodong picks her up and takes her to Paekche, and they become the royal couple of the country.

Cast

Jo Hyun Jae as Suh Dong (King Mu of Baekje)
Lee Bo Young as Princess Sun-hwa of Shilla
Ryu Jin as Sa Taek Gi Ru / Kim Do Ham
more (http://tv.sbs.co.kr/seodong/character_main.html)

Production Credits

Director: Lee Byung Hoon
Writer: Kim Young Hyun
Asst. Director: Lee Jung Hyo
Asst. Director: Song Ji Won

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