Post by mikey on Aug 1, 2006 18:52:00 GMT -5
“Seoul 1945” - Episode #1
By far the best episode of “Seoul 1945” so far, and it’s a shame that some Chicago fans missed it. It was absolutely action-packed.
Apologies if this summary turned out to be a little long winded. ;D
April 11, 1950
Yi Dong-woo and his fiancée, Kim Hae-kyong (who was known in her childhood as Kim Kehee) are motoring along the Korean countryside in Dong-woo’s American-supplied Cadillac. Both are outwardly happy, but a closer look reveals that Hae-kyong is secretly nervous about something. That something, we discover, is that - unknown to Dong-woo - an injured Communist infiltrator, Choi Oon-hyuk has been hiding in the car’s trunk. They are headed North, in the direction of the border with communist North Korea.
In the studios of the Seoul Central Radio Station is Moon Suk-kyong, an elegant, if haughty, radio announcer. However, she seems something more than just a radio announcer, given that she calls a ROK Army headquarters and instructs them to relay a message to all the military checkpoints north: stop Yi Dong-woo, and tell him to “wrap up the picnic.”
Yi Dong-woo, it seems, is a pretty important man himself. He’s director of communications of “KMAG” (Korean Military Advisory Group).
Overhearing the order from Moon Suk-kyong is Lt. Col. Park Chang-ju. Even he isn’t sure what Suk-kyong’s coded message means, but he immediately suspects that something’s fishy.
Dong-woo is finally stopped at a checkpoint, and Suk-kyong’s telegrammed message is relayed to him. Not sure himself of the coded message’s meaning, he calls Suk-kyong and asks her what it’s all about. “How much do you trust Hae-kyong?” she asks him. “Enough to die for her?” He irritatedly tells her that yes, he trusts her enough to die for her. “Then,” she tells him, “go ahead and die for her. Or, better yet, all three of you die together. Choi Oon-hyuk is hiding in your car’s trunk.”
Dong-woo appears genuinely shocked, but he continues on and says nothing about it to Hae-kyong until a few miles down the road, where he abruptly pulls off and begins throwing luggage out from the trunk. And, indeed, inside was the injured Choi Oon-hyuk. Furious, he tells Oon-huyk that he warned him to never appear in his presence again - and he pulls out his pistol to make the point absolutely clear to him.
Back in Seoul, Lt. Col. Park Chang-ju, still suspecting that something’s up, goes to confront Suk-kyong, telling her that he knows that Dong-woo is trying to help a Communist sympathizer escape to the North. No, she tells him, he’s wrong: it’s not Dong-woo, but Hae-kyong who’s helping the Communist escape. Dong-woo, she tells him, doesn’t even know about Hae-kyong’s plan. She warns Chang-ju that she doesn’t care about Oon-hyuk or Hae-kyong, but if anything happens to Dong-woo, she’ll make sure he dies, too. Chang-ju then rushes to a military base, boards a helicopter, and orders the ROK Army’s 1st Division troops to move out in search of Dong-woo’s car.
Back at the car, Dong-woo had forced Oon-hyuk from the automobile, and is holding him at gunpoint in an empty field. Hae-kyong begs him not to kill him, telling Dong-woo that if he kills Oon-hyuk, she can’t go on living, either. Dong-woo just can’t get himself to pull the trigger, and he ultimately hands the keys over to Hae-kyong and allows them to head together towards the North Korean border in his car. He stays behind.
And, back in Seoul, an obviously tormented Suk-kyong is furiously playing the piano as Col. Park’s troops move out in pursuit of Dong-woo, Hae-kyong, and Oon-hyuk.
Across the border, a senior looking Communist party official, Moon Dong-gi, is shown at his headquarters, anxiously looking at his watch. He seems to know that something is under way, too. He heads out to the border, where he sees Hae-kyong laboriously carrying the injured Oon-hyuk towards the North Korean positions. They’re both warmly welcomed by Moon Dong-gi. Hae-kyong pays her respects to Dong-gi, and then tells Oon-hyuk goodbye - and to never come back to the South again.
Then, bullets start flying. ROK troops have just reached the border, and they see Oon-hyuk attempting to flee to the north. Oon-hyuk begs Hae-kyong to come with them, but she refuses. She tells him that what she did to Dong-woo was so unforgivable that if she has to die for lying to him, than so be it. Shortly thereafter, Hae-kyong falls, having been deliberately shot by Col. Park. Oon-hyuk escapes into North Korea.
May 7, 1950
Kim Hae-kyong survived her bullet wounds, and she is now housed in a ROK prison, awaiting sentencing for her crimes. Yi Dong-woo safely returned to Seoul, but is getting harshly interrogated by Park Chang-ju. Chang-ju refuses to believe that Dong-woo didn’t know that Oon-hyuk was hidden in his car’s trunk, and Dong-woo tells him that he doesn’t understand why he just keeps coming after him. Or, he asks, does it have anything to do with his feelings for Suk-kyong? Chang-ju replies that he regrets that he didn’t shoot Dong-woo first that night.
Before he can do anything more, Chang-ju gets a phone call. Dong-woo obviously has powerful friends in the ROK government, and Chang-ju is ordered to release him. As he leaves, though, the creepy Chang-ju informs him that Hae-kyong is getting sentenced this afternoon for her crimes. Dong-woo rushes to the courthouse, where he halted by MPs, who ridicule him as the man who got betrayed by his fiancée for a Communist infiltrator. He pushes them aside and enters the courtroom, just as Hae-kyong is sentenced to death.
Up north, Oon-hyuk has recovered from his injuries, and he is praised for his work in preparing the South for revolution. He then quietly confronts Moon Dong-gi, begging him to save Hae-kyong’s life. Put her on a hostage exchange list, he asks. Dong-gi angrily remarks that you can’t place her on the same level as heroes who gave their lives for the revolution. He feels sorry for the girl, he tells Oon-hyuk, but there can be no revolution without sacrifice.
Moon Dong-gi proceeds to the North Korean Communist party headquarters in Pyong-yang, where he attends a meeting headed up by the Chairman of the Korean Worker’s Party (KWP) Kim Il-sung. They vote on an undisclosed measure. Only Dong-gi votes “nay.” All the other delegates vote “aye.” Following the vote, Kim Il-sung announces that, after a meeting with Soviet Premier Stalin, he will return to lead them to victory in a war of unification.
June 25, 1950
North Korean troops are furiously being mobilized. At 4:00 AM, North Korean General Lee Hak-gu issues the order Storm - the code word for “attack.” Moments later, ROK troops along the border are horrified to discover artillery shells raining down on them. The Korean War has begun.
4:05 AM, Kim Hae-kyong’s mother and little sister are making a run for the northern border. The sister is refusing to go, saying that she wants to stay behind and support Hae-kyong. Her mom orders their guide to forcibly drag her daughter to the northern border. As she’s being taken away, the mother tearfully tells here to have a good life, and have lots of children. A few moments later, artillery shells begin exploding around them. It’s not clear if any of them survived.
Artillery rounds cease firing upon a ROK Army infantry position, giving the South Korean soldiers a few brief moments of relief - until they hear North Korean tanks on approach. They put up a furious fight, but are overwhelmed by the North’s armor. That North Korean armored unit, we discover, is being commanded by Choi Oon-hyuk.
6:45AM At the ROK presidential palace, the president of South Korea is oblivious to the war’s initiation. He scolds an aide for disturbing his Koi fish. His face turns white when he’s informed that South Korea is at war, and he hastily calls a cabinet meeting. But, the South Korean government officials all seem to be shellshocked. Everyone just sits there dumbfaced. The south is being invaded, and nobody knows what to do about it.
7:00 AM At the Seoul Central Radio Station, radio announcer Suk-kyong is informing her listeners of the outbreak of war. She assures them that the North Korean army is being routed, and that ROK Army forces have moved north and taken the North Korean city of Haeju. On the eastern front, she tells them two enemy regiments have surrendered to ROK forces. She urges the public to remain calm, assuring them that their brave soldiers will protect them.
10:00 AM Radio Pyong-yang broadcasts a message from KWP Chairman Kim Il-sung. At midnight, he announces, armed forces of Rhee Syngman’s puppet regime invaded North Korea, but that North Korean soldiers have halted the South’s advance. The government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, he says, has ordered the People’s Army to counterattack, and disarm the enemy.
Another ROK infantry division attempts to slow the North Korean advance, destroying a few North Korean tanks with bazookas, but in extremely violent fighting, they too are ultimately defeated. Again, these advancing North Korean troops the ones being commanded by Choi Oon-hyuk.
June 27, 1950
7:00 AM Lt. Col. Park Chang-ju orders the execution of any prisoners who might be Communist sympathizers . . . specifically including Kim Hae-Kyong (Kehee). She - along with a few dozen other prisoners - are taken from the prison to an open area, where they will be shot. Two of the prisoners, who defiantly proclaim “Long live the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea!” are personally executed by Chang-ju. Then he glares at Hae-kyong, making it clear to her that she’s the next one in line to be executed.
END OF EPISODE #1
If there’s any interest, I can put an Episode #2 summary together in a day or two. Let me know.
By far the best episode of “Seoul 1945” so far, and it’s a shame that some Chicago fans missed it. It was absolutely action-packed.
Apologies if this summary turned out to be a little long winded. ;D
April 11, 1950
Yi Dong-woo and his fiancée, Kim Hae-kyong (who was known in her childhood as Kim Kehee) are motoring along the Korean countryside in Dong-woo’s American-supplied Cadillac. Both are outwardly happy, but a closer look reveals that Hae-kyong is secretly nervous about something. That something, we discover, is that - unknown to Dong-woo - an injured Communist infiltrator, Choi Oon-hyuk has been hiding in the car’s trunk. They are headed North, in the direction of the border with communist North Korea.
In the studios of the Seoul Central Radio Station is Moon Suk-kyong, an elegant, if haughty, radio announcer. However, she seems something more than just a radio announcer, given that she calls a ROK Army headquarters and instructs them to relay a message to all the military checkpoints north: stop Yi Dong-woo, and tell him to “wrap up the picnic.”
Yi Dong-woo, it seems, is a pretty important man himself. He’s director of communications of “KMAG” (Korean Military Advisory Group).
Overhearing the order from Moon Suk-kyong is Lt. Col. Park Chang-ju. Even he isn’t sure what Suk-kyong’s coded message means, but he immediately suspects that something’s fishy.
Dong-woo is finally stopped at a checkpoint, and Suk-kyong’s telegrammed message is relayed to him. Not sure himself of the coded message’s meaning, he calls Suk-kyong and asks her what it’s all about. “How much do you trust Hae-kyong?” she asks him. “Enough to die for her?” He irritatedly tells her that yes, he trusts her enough to die for her. “Then,” she tells him, “go ahead and die for her. Or, better yet, all three of you die together. Choi Oon-hyuk is hiding in your car’s trunk.”
Dong-woo appears genuinely shocked, but he continues on and says nothing about it to Hae-kyong until a few miles down the road, where he abruptly pulls off and begins throwing luggage out from the trunk. And, indeed, inside was the injured Choi Oon-hyuk. Furious, he tells Oon-huyk that he warned him to never appear in his presence again - and he pulls out his pistol to make the point absolutely clear to him.
Back in Seoul, Lt. Col. Park Chang-ju, still suspecting that something’s up, goes to confront Suk-kyong, telling her that he knows that Dong-woo is trying to help a Communist sympathizer escape to the North. No, she tells him, he’s wrong: it’s not Dong-woo, but Hae-kyong who’s helping the Communist escape. Dong-woo, she tells him, doesn’t even know about Hae-kyong’s plan. She warns Chang-ju that she doesn’t care about Oon-hyuk or Hae-kyong, but if anything happens to Dong-woo, she’ll make sure he dies, too. Chang-ju then rushes to a military base, boards a helicopter, and orders the ROK Army’s 1st Division troops to move out in search of Dong-woo’s car.
Back at the car, Dong-woo had forced Oon-hyuk from the automobile, and is holding him at gunpoint in an empty field. Hae-kyong begs him not to kill him, telling Dong-woo that if he kills Oon-hyuk, she can’t go on living, either. Dong-woo just can’t get himself to pull the trigger, and he ultimately hands the keys over to Hae-kyong and allows them to head together towards the North Korean border in his car. He stays behind.
And, back in Seoul, an obviously tormented Suk-kyong is furiously playing the piano as Col. Park’s troops move out in pursuit of Dong-woo, Hae-kyong, and Oon-hyuk.
Across the border, a senior looking Communist party official, Moon Dong-gi, is shown at his headquarters, anxiously looking at his watch. He seems to know that something is under way, too. He heads out to the border, where he sees Hae-kyong laboriously carrying the injured Oon-hyuk towards the North Korean positions. They’re both warmly welcomed by Moon Dong-gi. Hae-kyong pays her respects to Dong-gi, and then tells Oon-hyuk goodbye - and to never come back to the South again.
Then, bullets start flying. ROK troops have just reached the border, and they see Oon-hyuk attempting to flee to the north. Oon-hyuk begs Hae-kyong to come with them, but she refuses. She tells him that what she did to Dong-woo was so unforgivable that if she has to die for lying to him, than so be it. Shortly thereafter, Hae-kyong falls, having been deliberately shot by Col. Park. Oon-hyuk escapes into North Korea.
May 7, 1950
Kim Hae-kyong survived her bullet wounds, and she is now housed in a ROK prison, awaiting sentencing for her crimes. Yi Dong-woo safely returned to Seoul, but is getting harshly interrogated by Park Chang-ju. Chang-ju refuses to believe that Dong-woo didn’t know that Oon-hyuk was hidden in his car’s trunk, and Dong-woo tells him that he doesn’t understand why he just keeps coming after him. Or, he asks, does it have anything to do with his feelings for Suk-kyong? Chang-ju replies that he regrets that he didn’t shoot Dong-woo first that night.
Before he can do anything more, Chang-ju gets a phone call. Dong-woo obviously has powerful friends in the ROK government, and Chang-ju is ordered to release him. As he leaves, though, the creepy Chang-ju informs him that Hae-kyong is getting sentenced this afternoon for her crimes. Dong-woo rushes to the courthouse, where he halted by MPs, who ridicule him as the man who got betrayed by his fiancée for a Communist infiltrator. He pushes them aside and enters the courtroom, just as Hae-kyong is sentenced to death.
Up north, Oon-hyuk has recovered from his injuries, and he is praised for his work in preparing the South for revolution. He then quietly confronts Moon Dong-gi, begging him to save Hae-kyong’s life. Put her on a hostage exchange list, he asks. Dong-gi angrily remarks that you can’t place her on the same level as heroes who gave their lives for the revolution. He feels sorry for the girl, he tells Oon-hyuk, but there can be no revolution without sacrifice.
Moon Dong-gi proceeds to the North Korean Communist party headquarters in Pyong-yang, where he attends a meeting headed up by the Chairman of the Korean Worker’s Party (KWP) Kim Il-sung. They vote on an undisclosed measure. Only Dong-gi votes “nay.” All the other delegates vote “aye.” Following the vote, Kim Il-sung announces that, after a meeting with Soviet Premier Stalin, he will return to lead them to victory in a war of unification.
June 25, 1950
North Korean troops are furiously being mobilized. At 4:00 AM, North Korean General Lee Hak-gu issues the order Storm - the code word for “attack.” Moments later, ROK troops along the border are horrified to discover artillery shells raining down on them. The Korean War has begun.
4:05 AM, Kim Hae-kyong’s mother and little sister are making a run for the northern border. The sister is refusing to go, saying that she wants to stay behind and support Hae-kyong. Her mom orders their guide to forcibly drag her daughter to the northern border. As she’s being taken away, the mother tearfully tells here to have a good life, and have lots of children. A few moments later, artillery shells begin exploding around them. It’s not clear if any of them survived.
Artillery rounds cease firing upon a ROK Army infantry position, giving the South Korean soldiers a few brief moments of relief - until they hear North Korean tanks on approach. They put up a furious fight, but are overwhelmed by the North’s armor. That North Korean armored unit, we discover, is being commanded by Choi Oon-hyuk.
6:45AM At the ROK presidential palace, the president of South Korea is oblivious to the war’s initiation. He scolds an aide for disturbing his Koi fish. His face turns white when he’s informed that South Korea is at war, and he hastily calls a cabinet meeting. But, the South Korean government officials all seem to be shellshocked. Everyone just sits there dumbfaced. The south is being invaded, and nobody knows what to do about it.
7:00 AM At the Seoul Central Radio Station, radio announcer Suk-kyong is informing her listeners of the outbreak of war. She assures them that the North Korean army is being routed, and that ROK Army forces have moved north and taken the North Korean city of Haeju. On the eastern front, she tells them two enemy regiments have surrendered to ROK forces. She urges the public to remain calm, assuring them that their brave soldiers will protect them.
10:00 AM Radio Pyong-yang broadcasts a message from KWP Chairman Kim Il-sung. At midnight, he announces, armed forces of Rhee Syngman’s puppet regime invaded North Korea, but that North Korean soldiers have halted the South’s advance. The government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, he says, has ordered the People’s Army to counterattack, and disarm the enemy.
Another ROK infantry division attempts to slow the North Korean advance, destroying a few North Korean tanks with bazookas, but in extremely violent fighting, they too are ultimately defeated. Again, these advancing North Korean troops the ones being commanded by Choi Oon-hyuk.
June 27, 1950
7:00 AM Lt. Col. Park Chang-ju orders the execution of any prisoners who might be Communist sympathizers . . . specifically including Kim Hae-Kyong (Kehee). She - along with a few dozen other prisoners - are taken from the prison to an open area, where they will be shot. Two of the prisoners, who defiantly proclaim “Long live the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea!” are personally executed by Chang-ju. Then he glares at Hae-kyong, making it clear to her that she’s the next one in line to be executed.
END OF EPISODE #1
If there’s any interest, I can put an Episode #2 summary together in a day or two. Let me know.