[PREVIEW] MBC TV series "Road No.1"

MBC TV series "Road No.1" - Love blooms amidst the gunfire


MBC "Road No.1"
- Written by Han Ji-hoon
- Directed by Lee Jang-soo, Kim Jin-min
- Starring: So Ji-sub (as Lee Jang-woo), Kim Ha-neul (Kim Soo-yeon), Yoon Kye-sang (Shin Tae-ho), Choi Min-soo (Yoon Sam-soo), Son Chang-min (Oh Jong-ki)
- In one sentence: A story that blooms like a wild flower after enduring the hurricane of Korean War
- Premiere date: June 23, 2010, 9:55 PM

Soo-yeon (played by Kim Ha-neul) has been dreaming of becoming a doctor while solely waiting for Jang-woo (played by So Ji-sub) to return alive. But she receives a letter -- one which informs her that Jang-woo has died in the war. Soo-yeon goes into denial and is tormented by the unbelievable news but as time passes, she gradually begins to accept Jang-woo's death as reality. As her last thread of hope of Jang-woo returning home wears thin, another man comes into Soo-yeon's life. Military school graduate and elite army officer Shin Tae-ho (played by Yoon Kye-sang) confesses his love for her and makes a marriage proposal. But then, Jang-woo, who had been presumed to be dead, miraculously returns home. Just when the two men are about to collide with each other, a gun battle breaks out on Youngchon Bridge and the country's history is changed forever as it reaches four a.m. on June 25...

Anticipation Quotient (1-10 points)
If "Charming So" and his small screen comeback make your eyes and nose watery - 9 points
Can the comradeship run thicker than love and survive till the end? - 6 points


MBC TV series "Road No.1" tells a love story that bloomed during the times of war. "Road No.1," which drew attention with the casting of So Ji-sub, Kim Ha-neul and Yoon Kye-sang, is a war melodrama that combines the grimness of war, as shown in MBC's drama "Eyes of Dawn" [MBC, 1991] and the melodramatic elements of SBS' "What Happened in Bali." Writer Han Ji-hoon, who penned war epics such as the film "Taegukgi" and "Road No.1," wrote about "the story of people who survived the war" under the main theme of love. Writer Han explained, "In the beginning, 'Taegukgi' was about a widower who could not find the remains for her dead beloved but it changed to a story about brothers. In this drama, I told the story of a widower with a long take."

It is a known fact that it took over three years to just plan and prepare to make "Road No.1," which has completed all of its filming before going on air with a 13 billion won production budget. The drama tells the story of three people who interact with each other over a long period, from the scene where a young Jang-woo, who is the son of a servant, has a secret crush on Kim Soo-yeon, the daughter of the master whose family was ruined, to the major battles of Korean War and to their destiny sixty years later. Jang-woo, who was planning to marry Soo-yeon, and Tae-ho, who later falls in love with Soo-yeon, clash with each other over everything on the battlefield. But one is curious to see how convincingly "Road No.1" will deliver the complicated, intricate emotions of comradeship as the two battle through life and death experiences together. Kim Ha-neul expressed her anticipation for the series, saying "I could see how solid it was, to the extent that I wondered whether I would get to see such a script in the next 10 years." So Ji-sub, his face still glowing with excitement, said "I saw the first episode after it was edited and the quivering I felt watching it still hasn't faded away." Let us see how the love that bloomed out of the hurricane of the war and the comradeship will move our hearts when "Road No.1" premieres on MBC, at 9:55 p.m., on June 23.

Reporter : Won Sung-yoon
Photographer : Chae ki-won ten@
Editor : Lynn Kim lynn2878@