Asian Drama

As the World Cup gets started in 2002, a North Korean squad commander stationed at the DMZ who is crazy about football is frustrated that he cannot participate in the excitement in the South. He loves football so much that he even memorizes all the names of the members of the South Korean national team. One night during a search operation in which the leader and his troops chase a boar to satisfy their hunger, they come face to face with soldiers from South Korea. It doesn’t take long for the soldiers to discover that they share a love of football and they begin secret radio communications so they can listen to matches together. When their secret is uncovered, the squad leader and his troops must find a way out of the situation.

Family relationships, fortunes, and fake marriages are at the heart of this delightful drama involving a restaurateur and his greedy sons. Bu Young Bae is the owner of a 50-year-old Pyongyang cold noodle restaurant whose health scare causes his children to quarrel over his vast wealth. Feeling betrayed by their behavior, he decides to marry Gye Ok, a 33-year-old single maid enticed by Young Bae's fortune and big family, under false pretenses. The move shocks his sons, but Gye Ok's strong work ethic makes Young Bae realize that she’ll be able to keep his cold noodle restaurant afloat. Unlike his siblings, Young Bae’s independent and headstrong son, Bu Seol Ak, isn’t interested in his wealth or family drama, but his disdain for Gye Ok and her presence in his aging father’s life motivates him to get involved, bringing the two adversaries closer together in unexpected ways.

Cha Eun Ho is a successful and handsome writer who is also the youngest chief editor at a publishing company. He has a calm demeanor and remains reasonable at work. He then becomes involved in the life of his childhood friend, Kang Dan Yi who was once a popular copywriter. She is now divorced, a single mother, unemployed and struggling in life though still attempts to find a job, but even with her once good career, she cannot.

However, in a desperate attempt to find a job, she lies about her background and begins to work as a temporary worker in the same building under none other than Cha Eun Ho. As they become involved in each other’s life more than often, a love story begins to unfold.

In late Joseon, a poor man named Cheon Bong Sam inherits a decrepit inn and honestly works his way up to becoming a powerful merchant. As tradesmen clash against the bureaucratic powers that attempt to oppress them by rigging bad deals, Bong Sam never loses sight of his humble beginnings as a peddler even after achieving great success and eventually shapes the way that industry and business are done in his time.

Lee Ji-Bong (Lee Beom-Soo) is a former 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics bronze medalist for weight-lifting, but a career-ending injury from the games forces him into early retirement. Unable to find another vocation because of the lack of support from the Korean Olympic Committee, he becomes destitute. Down and out, he ends up working at a shady nightclub passing out flyers that advertises its hostesses to passersby until he is visited by his former coach who insists he begin a career as a coach at a high school in Boseong - a rural region at the southwest tip of the Korean peninsula. There, he forms a weight-lifting team comprised of a rag-tag group of outcasts.

Jang Geu Rae has played the game of Go since he was a child. When his plans of becoming a professional Go player fail, the down-and-out Geu Rae is forced to take an office job as an intern set up for him by an acquaintance’s recommendation for him to a large company called One International.

On his first day of work, Geu Rae meets an eager fellow intern An Yeong Yi as they both try to please their new boss, Section Chief Oh Sang Shik, and keep up with the ambitious employee Jang Baek Ki. But they quickly find that their department is a little different from the others.

Geu Rae does his best at his new job while trying not to lose his humanity along the way.

Drama series follows the turbulent life of Jang Ok-Jung (Kim Tae-Hee), who is also known as Lady Jang Hui-Bin, one of the most famous royal concubines in the Joseon Dynasty. She began her career as a court lady who stitched clothing as a fashion designer of her time.

...

Jang Ok-Jung's mother was a slave, but her father was a middle-class merchant seller. When she was a teen, her whole family went on the run from slave hunters. Her older brother was lost during this time. Her father was also beaten to death and Jang Ok-Jung's mother was returned to her owner. Afterwards, Jang Ok-Jung lived with a friend of the family, Madame Jung Kang (Yun Yu-Seon). During this time she learned how to sew at Madame Jung Kang's linen shop. She also met for the first time Crown Prince Lee Soon (later played by Yoo Ah-In) around this time. Crown Prince Lee Soon spotted pickpockets stealing from Jang Ok-Jung and came to her aid. They spent a moment together while taking shelter from the rain. Crown Prince Lee Soon fell in love with Jang Ok-Jung then. Even though Lee Soon was the Crown Prince, he was basically powerless at the time. Power was actually wielded by the noblemen. This drove Lee Soon to become a powerful king one day.

As an adult, Jang Ok-Jung runs her own clothing boutique named "Booyongjung". Her handmade clothes become quite popular and in demand. Jang Ok-Jung hopes to free her mother from slavery with her earnings and eventually go to Qing with her.

Jang Ok-Jung then puts on a fashion show. Her mother's owner attends the fashion show and ruins everything for Jang Ok-Jung. She berates Jang Ok-Jung in front of all of her clients, informing everyone her mother is a slave. After the show, Jang Ok-Jung's business quickly goes downhill. A customer then requests Jang Ok-Jung to make clothes for a royal family member, which she promises to do.

Meanwhile, Crown Prince Lee Soon struggles to gain power from the nobility. He only trusts Prince Dongpyung (Lee Sang-Yeob). Lee Soon is now of age to marry. His mother and the man he despises the most, Nobleman Min Yoo-Joong (Lee Hyo-Jeong), decide that Lee Soon will marry nobleman Min Yoo-Joong's daughter Inhyun (Hong Soo-Hyun). Inhyun has been raised to become a queen from a young age and she has never once doubted her fate. Lee Soon's mother and Nobleman Min Yoo-Joong are nervous though that Lee Soon may reject Inhyun due to her father. Because of this, Crown Prince Lee Soon's mother and Nobleman Min Yoo-Joong concoct a plan.

Crown Prince Lee Soon then sees a woman in the garden. That woman is Jang Ok-Jung, who is waiting to take his measurements. Crown Prince Lee Soon thinks she looks familiar, but he can't place where they have met before. The Crown Prince then asks Jang Ok-Jung if they have met before, but she says no.

Jang Ok-Jung later goes to her mother's owner to buy her freedom, but the slave owner refuses. Jang Ok-Jung asks the slave owner for a reason why her offer is refused and the slave owner tells her to go ask her uncle Jang Hyun (Sung Dong-Il). Her uncle is a highly ambitious man, who hopes to use Jang Ok-Jung for his own ambitions.

Meanwhile, Prince Dongpyung, the man Crown Prince Lee Soon trusts the most, takes an interest in Jang Ok-Jung. Prince Dongpyung then arranges a party where he can spend more time with her. At the party, Crown Prince Lee Soon is also there.