East of Eden - Korean Drama Series

East of Eden is one of the Korean Drama that gained huge attention in 2008 - 2009. Although the drama did not receive the Best Drama Awards, East of Eden got at least 15 MBC Drama Awards in 2008 MBC Drama Awards.

The rating also quite high, about 2nd and 3rd rank, especially Episodes 16 and 17, they gained 1st rank in rating (27.6 % to 30.5 %), still can not beat the Queen Seon Deok's :) Yes, I'm KDrama freak, so maybe I will build more hubs about this.

Title : East of Eden or 에덴의 동쪽 / Edeonui Dongjjok
Genre : Action, Romance
Episodes : 56 (quite long huh..?)
Directed by : Choi Byeong Gil and Kim Jin Man
Screenplay by : Lee Hong Goo and Nah Yeon Sook
Production : MBC, August 26, 2008 to March 10, 2009

Summary :

The story is about two baby boys that were born in the same hospital at the same time in the 60s of a coal mining town. Those babies are Lee Dong wook and Shin Myung Hun. Lee Dong Wook is Lee Ki Chul's second son, and Shin Myung Hun is Shin Tae Hwan's son. Shin Tae Hwan is a business man, he expanded their construction into building a port in Macau and he hopes of getting hotel there. Basically, Shin Tae Hwan is a kind of businessman who will do anything to get what he wants, he's the bad guy here, and Shin Tae hwan made a mistake by seduced a nurse and refused to take the responsibility.

That nurse, Nurse Yoo Mi Ae, switched the two babies, in order to fulfill her own revenge to Shin Tae Hwan. And the complicated story begin..

Shin Tae Hwan is really an evil man, he killed Lee Ki Chul (Lee Dong Chul and Lee Dong Wook father, miner) who blocked his path to become the inheritor of the coal mining company, the Taesung Grup. He burried Lee Ki Chul alive in the coal mining, while Lee Dong Chul, the eldest son of Lee Ki Chul, watched that vicious scene with horror. That moment, little Lee Dong Chul sworn to kill Shin Tae Hwan.

Lee Dong Chul (actor Song Seung Heon)

He saw his father was killed before his eyes and it's done by Shin Tae Hwan. He cursed and opposed Shin Tae-hwan who killed his father. Because of Shin Tae-hwan, he ends up in a juvenile facility at a young age and experiences the dark shadows of life. Despite this cold bitterness, nobody can shake the love and passion he holds in the depths of his soul.

Later, Dong-chul becomes the right hand man of a casino tycoon. He ascends as a member of the Asian mafia, and eventually comes face-to-face with Shin Tae-hwan. He loves his brother Dong-wook more than his own life, and because of this, he remains aloof from the woman he truly loves.

Dong Chul, was played by actor Song Seung Heun, and with this drama he got the Popular Actor Award, Best Couple Award with Lee Yeon Hee, and Grand Prize Award. His acting is quite good on this series.

Lee Dong Wook (actor Yeon Jung Hoon)

He is actually Shin Tae Hwan real son/ direct bloodline of Shin Tae hwan, but he is raised as the son of Lee Ki Chul because of Nurse Yoo. Despite being the offspring of the rich Shin Tae-hwan, he is thrown into a world of hunger and poverty. Despite these challenges, he grows up to be a man with a beautiful, pure soul unlike his father, and he arises as a symbol of hope. However, due to Shin Tae-hwan’s acts of violence of conspiracy, he loses his first love and falls on the brink of despair. Overcoming all obstacles, he later becomes a prosecutor, but his heart waivers after discovering the truth about his birth and who his real biological father really is.

Actor Yeon Jung Hoon was really good to play the Lee Dong Wook role. Specially on the last scene, when he has to confront his biological father and when "his brother" died in his hand.     

Shin Myung Hun (actor Park Hae Jin)

He has grown up to be a fine young man under the love and guidance of his mother. However, under the negative influence of his father, Shin Tae-hwan, he is gradually transforming into a vicious businessman.

He does all he can to hide the secret behind his birth, but he finds that it is impossible to evade his fate. He is a character that personifies the internal conflict and strife of the human psyche

Actor Park Hae Jin remind me of Kim Nam Gil (Bi Dam - Queen Seon Deok),  I'm not sure but his face expressions and his dark character in this serial just remind me of him. Park Hae Jin got the Male Newcomer Award.

Kim Ji Hyun (actor Han Ji Hye)

She is the childhood friend of the Lee brothers and Shin Myung Hun. The first love of Lee Dong Wook but married Shin Myung Hun, the man that loved her since childhood.

She was cursed and ousted by Yang Choon-hee, but she later returns to Yang’s life as her daughter-in-law.
Being highly competent in hotel management, she is supported by President Oh and Oh Yoon-hwee, and is fully acknowledged as a business executive of the Taesung Group. Her marriage to her husband is in shambles, and she is determined to walk a new path of fate.

Han Ji Hye is the leading actress in this series that played her role best, I think. She did really well, especially in this drama.

Min Hye Rin (actor Lee Da Hae)

She is the illegitimate daughter of the chairman of a very popular newspaper, Han Sae Daily. She had a very hard life being an outsider in her own family. She got tied up with the Lee brothers but ended up with no one.

As a graduate and valedictorian of Seoul National University’s Law School, she has always been considered an extremely bright girl. Although she loves Dong-wook with all her heart, she gives him up to steal the love of her sister.
Dae-hae is a character that has two faces of a saint and a witch. She is next in line to manage the Daehan Sae Daily, and towards the latter half of the drama, she reveals her political aspiration

Gook Young Ran or Grace (actor Lee Yeon Hee)

She is the only daughter of President Gook, the casino tycoon. Although she loves Dong-chul dearly, she experiences four brushes with death to conquer his love. She eventually become Dong Chul's wife.

Lee Yeon Hee is only 21 when she played this drama, and the character is much older than her real age, so I think she's doing just fine. Not the brilliant one, but will definitely deserves some attentions.

Mike Packard (actor Dennis Oh)

He played as Young Ran's fiancee, Mr. Steve Packard's son.
Young Ran’s husband. He is trying to gain all the power in Hong Kong, but that is not going well for him. He is involved in a huge fight with his siblings because they all want to inherit everything from their father.

There are three main big business involved in this series.
1. President Oh's business. He owned the Taesung Grup which is mainly involved in construction business. President Oh is Shin Myung Hun's grand father and has a good moral. He is now retired in Jeju island.

2. President Min's business. He has a big newspaper industry and is Min Hye Rin's daddy. His newspaper, Daehan daily has a big influence. Daehan daily is currently struggling financially due to the break up of Hye Rin Sung Hyun, which lost the financial support from Sung Hyun’s family’s company.

3. President Gook's busines. He's Young Ran father and a big casino tycoon. Lee Dong Chul's boss. His main thing is casinos and the International Hotel. He is huge in the gambling world, both with the high government officials and with the underground gang leaders. He is trying to buy TaeSung Electronics. 

Shin Tae Hwan, actor Jo Min Ki. He expanded their construction into building a port in Macau but President Gook saw this as a threat, and they've been business enemies. Now, Shin Tae Hwan's business is falling apart, because of the attacks from HK Bank. Who is HK Bank? It's Rebecca or Nurse Yoo Mi Ae.  Shin is being forced to sell a branch of his company. In the last episode, Rebecca took Shin Tae Hwan ended their lives together.

Nurse Yoo Mi Ae or Rebecca, actor Shin Eun Jeong, because of her, two baby boys had twisted their fate. She had a really bad relationship with Shin Tae Hwan, after being seduced and pregnant because of it, she's forced to had an abortion and dumped in the field in the middle of hard rain. Well, who would not crazy after that? And now, she is an investment bank representative for a Hong Kong bank. Obviously anti-Shin Tae Hwan, she supports Dong Chul. Nurse Yoo now has frequent business dealings with Dong Chul. She is president of HK Bank and has been buying stock in TaeSung Group (Shin Tae Hwan’s company) in an attempt to secretly take over. 


This drama is worth to watch and also has an ups and down story-line, and one more thing the children casts are really amazing, like when the little Dong Chul expressed his sadness during his daddy's funeral, it's really heartbreaking.