Seoul 1945 spoiler thread

[Lucy]

Put 'em here, people. No need for special tagging, just type away.

[mikey]

(Moved from the "For those who missed the first two episodes" thread).

I just finished watching episodes #49 and #50, and for people who missed the first episode, #49 and #50 are essentially a streteched-out version of episode #1 (the very start of the Korean War). Many of the scenes were simply taken from episode #1 and re-used again.

One very minor (but fascinating) spoiler about Oon-hyuk that I hadn't known:

At the start of the Korean War, Oon-hyuk is serving as a Lt. General in the North Korean Army!

[Candylover]

If I'm not mistaken, he was not a Lt. general, but a Lt. colonel. He was too young to be a general. I remember watching it without subtitle, and the Korean word "jung-jwah" is equivalent to Lt. colonel. His friend Chul-Hyung was a dae-jwah (colonel). I think maybe the subtitle was mistaken.

[mikey]

Just as a follow-up, I double-checked the above . . . and Candylover was correct.

Here’s the shoulder insignia for a NK Lt. General (Sangjang)



And here’s the shoulder insignia for a NK Lt. Colonel (Jungjwa)



Having just reviewed the scene in question, there’s no doubt about it: Choi Oon-hyuk is wearing the gold-with-red-stripes insignia of a Lt. Colonel. And, indeed, (though my capability of comprehending spoken Korean is pretty marginal) it sure does sound like he’s being addressed as “Choi Jungjwa.”

It’s the subtitler’s goof. When I first saw it, I was also amazed that he was a “Lt. General,” since I also felt that he was too young for that rank. But, who was I to doubt the subtitler???

Good call, Candylover!

[Candylover]

Good Job, Mikey!

BTW, do you collectively call the three ranks of major, lieutenant colonel, and colonel "the field grade (ryong in S. Korea)"? My Korean-English dictionary says that.
There seems to be four field grade ranks of North Korean Army instead of three as in the US or S. Korean Army.

The US: major - lieutenant colonel - colonel
S. Korea: soryong - jungryong - daeryong
N. Korea: sojwa - jungjwa - sangjwa - daejwa

Sojwa is equivalent to major, jungjwa is equivalent to lieutenant colonel, and sangjwa is equivalent to colonel, but daejwa actually has no counterpart. If the subtitler comes across 'daejwa', he/she would be at a loss for the translation of the rank.

[mikey]

Well, I’m hardly the world’s authority on the NK Army, but as I understand it, the NK Army was organized along Soviet Army lines, just as the ROK army was set up similarly to the US Army.

I may be completely wrong about this, but I’ve always categorized them into “Enlisted Ranks,” “Officer Ranks” and “General Ranks.” Thus, in the “Officers” ranks, the NK army has two positions that don’t exist in the US or ROK Armies: “Daewi” (between a US Captain and Major) and “Daejwa” (between a US full Colonel and Brigadier General).

And no, I wouldn’t be completely sure of how to properly translate those positions into English, either.

The NK Army also has the interesting rank of “Dae Wonsu” (which, I guess, translates into something like “Great General”). It seems similar to the rank of Field Marshall in the Soviet or German Armies, but of course there are no "Field Marshalls" in the US or ROK Armies.

And that just about exhausts my knowledge of the topic! ;D

[mikey]

Well, I’m up to Episode #53 now, and the Korean War is underway. And, what has been a pretty good series all along is quickly becoming a GREAT series. Especially, since we now have characters representing all four corners of the Korean political spectrum.

On the Right:

Yi Dong-woo (the compassionate Capitalist) and
Park Chang-ju (the brutal, fascist Capitalist).

On the Left:

Choi Oon-hyuk (the compassionate Communist) and
Oh Chul-hyung (the brutal, Stalinist Communist).

(for those who don’t remember Chul-hyung, he’s Oon-hyuk’s longtime friend and comrade, the one who quietly loves Oon-hyuk’s little sister).

This finally brings about the balance we’ve been missing. There was a lot of controversy about the sympathetic portrayal of the communists early on in “Seoul 1945” (much of it, I dare say, coming from hard-right Koreans who get all misty-eyed reminiscing about the good-old-days of Gen. Chun Doo-hwan’s military dictatorship of the 1980’s) but with the arrival of the Stalinists, we’re now witnessing a frightful situation developing in Seoul. And

SPOILER: Click to show

our intellectual Marxist Oon-hyuk is being put to the test by his Stalinist leaders, as he’s been appointed to prosecute Lord Yi in a sham “People’s Court.” And, he’s fully expected to demand - and get - the death sentence imposed upon Dong-woo’s elderly father.

Though I had my doubts about this show in the beginning, it’s getting better and better by the episode. I’m really going to miss it when it ends.

[kathleen34]

Thank you so much Mikey! Such contrast in ideology. What a great overview you just provided us with. I cannot imagine liking this drama any more than I already do... but after reading your post, I can see that our intellect with be broadened.

such good writing/acting/casting

[gpaul]

How come there are no spoilers for "Seoul 1945"? I am just hoping that there is a happy ending for our favorite characters and that Officer Chang Ju and Lady Sukkyuong get their just rewards.

[TM]

In the last episode, Oon-hyuk dies, saving Dong-woo from a bullet in a final battle. Park Chang-ju dies too. With pressure from Dong-woo, Suk-kyong helps Hae-kyong escape to the north. So Hae-kyong survives but is stuck in the north, presumably a life of misery and she can never see her mother again. Dong-woo and Suk-kyong survive in the south, but part ways. At the end, they pass each other on the street, recognize each other, but say nothing. A sad ending.

[gpaul]

Thanks TM, I knew it couldn't have a happy ending, but I will still watch every week even though it is so very painful to watch it.

[eamarie]

Not too many historical dramas end happily do they?

[guestnumba1]

TM said:

In the last episode, Oon-hyuk dies, saving Dong-woo from a bullet in a final battle. Park Chang-ju dies too. With pressure from Dong-woo, Suk-kyong helps Hae-kyong escape to the north. So Hae-kyong survives but is stuck in the north, presumably a life of misery and she can never see her mother again. Dong-woo and Suk-kyong survive in the south, but part ways. At the end, they pass each other on the street, recognize each other, but say nothing. A sad ending.

I'd like to add some points...and get some questions answered. :-D
>Hae-kyong lives and is in Japan, yes? If not where is she?
>Oon-hyuk's younger sister Eun-hae lives to see her remaining family again
>Oh Choi-ryung is released from the prison and he's surprisingly healthy and definitely alive.
>Dong-woo gives his farewell to his parents...his father looks really surprised, but Dong-woo leaves anyway.
>Dong-woo walks out with two suitcases. (why is he walking??? He's the son of a rich gentleman?)
>Dong-woo meets Suk-kyoung on the way (on a country road...why is Dong-woo walking on a country roadside? ), who drives up to him in a car. Dong-woo looks surprised at first, but then Suk-young nods at him, and he smiles, bringing his luggage towards the back of her car, but the ending never shows whether or not he gets in the car with her...nor whether/not Suk-kyoung and Dong-woo leave Korea together for good.

Wow this is definitely a spoiler...but I just want to know what's going on, because open endings always make me overanalyze. Hahaha... so, thanks. I'll see you all in a bit.

[Guy Incognito]

I thought Park Chang-ju was gonna die. Being responsible for the deaths of some kids and main characters, and raping a main character sorta destines one for the chopping block. Good too, that guy was such a dick.

Ep 62 was the best, Moon suk-kyong utterly destroyed him in that episode. Shame she wasn't killed too. I am pretty glad to see that it ends on a depressing note, with a lot of death, since I didn't really like any of the characters.

Just wondering, does Jong-ja ever get together with Mr. Moon? Or do they stay separated?

[korean patriot]

italian and jewish and irish and cholla province
all this people re sly and corrupted
i am sure that you lucy's blood has some of them.

and seoul 1945 is good film.
i wish people discriminate "seoul 1945" and cholla province people(roh mu hyun)
roh mu hyun is not left wing sided.he is just thief.
kim dae jung(former a fraction of japanese regime)i s just another park chang ju