Jumong (TV series)

Jumong (Korean: 주몽, Hanja: 朱蒙) is a historical drama which aired on South Korea's MBC television network as a 45th Anniversary Special Drama. Originally set to be 60, MBC decided to extend it to 81 episodes due to its popularity. It portrays the life of Jumong Taewang, (founder of the kingdom of Goguryeo). Because few details are found in the historical records on Jumong, much artistic license is taken. Much of the original myths surrounding Jumong have been replaced with more down-to-earth storylines, such as that concerning his birth. It is also considered a major part of the "Korean wave." (Hallyu)

ummary

Gojoseon has fallen to the Han Empire of China. All that is left are separate city-states that have no choice but to appease the Han Empire. In the series, the Han are portrayed as cruel, taking refugees prisoner and demonstrating their new iron weapons on them.

Hae Mosu, a legendary soldier, joins forces with Geumwa, the crown prince of Buyeo, in order to counter Han savagery, creating the Damulgun, (Damul army) a band of soldiers who defend Gojoseon refugees. Hae Mosu is injured after a skirmish against Han soldiers, and floats down a river, half alive. The princess of the Haebaek tribe finds him and nurses him back to health. The two start a relationship. However, the Han are looking for Hae Mosu, and discovering that the man the princess was sheltering looked like (and was) Hae Mosu, they raze the tribe to the ground. Hae Mosu escapes just in time and travels until he meets a caravan from the tribe of Gyeh-Ru. The head merchant, who is also the ruler of the Gyeh-Ru tribe, offers Hae Mosu a job within the caravan, not knowing who the man is. The ruler, Yeon Ta-Bal, tells Hae Mosu to join him in his tent, and they introduce each other and share a conversation. News of the Haebaek tribe pops up in the middle of the conversation, and seeing the shocked look on his guest's face, Yeon Ta-Bal begins to suspect that his guest is Hae Mosu himself. The next day, the caravan travels but stops when they hear that Yeon's wife has gone into labor. They set up camp and So Seo-No is born and protected, as Hae Mosu defends the trade caravan against a band of thieves, reinforcing Yeon's assumption. Yeon's caravan has trading rights with the Han Dynasty itself, so Yeon knows of Hae Mosu's escape, and of the great reward for his capture. At this point, he is fully convinced that his guest is Hae Mosu. Yeon decides not to turn Hae Mo-su in, because he had protected his caravan and his daughter from harm.

Hae Mosu returns to Geumwa, and they resume the skirmishes. However, as the Damulgun progress in their objective to free all refugees, the Han disguise their soldiers as fake refugees, whom the Damulgun attempt to rescue. Ambushed by the fake refugees and "ironclad cavalry," the Damulgun with him are killed, and he is captured. Hae Mosu is subsequently tortured and blinded by the Han.

Geumwa frees Hae Mosu, who, though blind, is able to ride a horse. Due to his blindness however, he and Geumwa get separated while fleeing from the Han forces in pursuit. Geumwa believes he ultimately fails in his task to save Hae Mosu, who Geumwa sees, trapped upon a chateau, shot with arrows and presumably falling dead into the river.

The Haebaek princess has Hae Mosu's child. She goes to the Crown Prince of Buyeo after bearing her son, Jumong. He becomes a prince of Buyeo (after the enthronement of the Crown Prince) and she a Royal Concubine upon the new Emperor's insistence.

The series then flashes twenty years into the future, where the majority of the story takes place. Having grown up being overshadowed by Geumwa's two sons Daeso and Youngpo, Jumong has grown into a weak and cowardly prince with a talent at womanizing. Yoohwa decides that she has had enough, and arranges for Jumong to begin training in swordsmanship and the martial arts. The man that trains Jumong is the chief jailor of an underground prison, and Jumong begins train there. Within a few episodes however, Jumong causes major trouble. First he womanizes a royal priestess, causing her to be kicked out of the palace. After that, he accidentally starts a fire in the Buyeo blacksmith workshop, exposing its existence to the wary Han nation and bringing major dishonor to Buyeo. Following these two events, he is stripped of his title as a prince and is expelled from the palace. His expulsion does little to staunch the rivalry between him and his two brothers, who send assassins to tail and kill him.

While wondering around Buyeo with nowhere to go, he encounters three common robbers named Oh-yi, Ma-ri and Hyup-bo, who disrespect and beat him up at first, but decide to serve and treat him as an older brother once they learn his true identity. He also runs into a now twenty-one year old Soseono, Yeon Ta-Bal's daughter, and establishes a relationship with the Gyeh-Ru trading clan.

Jumong also encounters a mysterious old man in the prison that he used to train in, who tells him that he used to be part of the Damulgun. Though Jumong does not know this, the old man is actually Hae Mosu, his father. After narrowly escaping the prison together after Daeso and Youngpo attempt to assassinate them, Hae Mosu trains Jumong to become an even better fighter as well as an archer, and a strong master-student bond grows between them. Hae Mosu is assassinated by Daeso and Youngpo while Jumong is away however, and Jumong does not realize the old man's true identity until well afterwards, upon which he swears to complete the work that his father could not. Seeing that Jumong has finally become the worthy successor to Hae Mosu that he had always envisioned, Geumwa allows Jumong to return to the palace.

Meanwhile, intense rivalry breaks out between Daeso and Youngpo, who are both vieing to become the Crown Prince. Youngpo brashly makes an attempt on Daeso's life, but Jumong saves Daeso and earns his trust. Jumong uses this against Daeso, and with the help of his three lieutenants, commandeers a group of refugees that were to be sent as slaves to the Han nation, and establishes his own settlement in the mountains. Jumong names this new settlement the Damulgun, symbolic of is revival. Over the next three years, the new Damulgun (led by Jumong) and Gyeh-Ru (led by Soseono) cooperate to unite the nearby settlements under one banner. Through many struggles with Daeso, Youngpo, Buyeo and the Han nation, the kingdom of Goguryeo is finally established. Jumong becomes the nation's first king; Soseono its queen.

Cast

*Song Il Gook(송일국) as Prince Jumong(주몽)
*Han Hye-jin(한혜진) as Lady Soseono(소서노)
*Kim Seung-soo(김승수) as Prince Daeso(대소)
*Jeon Kwang Yeol(전광렬) as King Geumwa(금와)
*Oh Yeon-soo(오연수) as Lady Yuhwa(유화)
*Kyeon Mi-ri(견미리) as Queen Wonhu(원후)
*Sung Ji Hyo(송지효) as Lady Yesoya(예소야)
*Ahn Yong-joon(안용준) as Yuri
*Kim Byeong-ki (김병기) as Yeontabal(연타발)
*Jin Hee-kyeong(진희경) as High Priestess Yeomieul(여미을)
*Lee Jae-yong(이재용) as Prime Minister Budeukbul(부득불)
*Heo Joon-ho(허준호) as General Haemosu(해모수)
*Won Ki-joon(원기준) as Prince Yeongpo (영포)
*Bae Su-bin(배수빈) as Sayong (사용)
*Park Tam-hee(박탐희) as Lady Yangseolan (양설란)
*Lim So-yeong(임소영) as Buyeong (부영)
*Yoon Dong-hwan(윤동환) as Yangjeong (양정)
*Oh Uk-chul (오욱철) as Lord Hwang (황자경)
*Ahn Jeong-hoon(안정훈) as Mari (마리)
*Lim Dae-ho(임대호) as Hyeopbo (협보)
*Yeo Ho-min(여호민) as Oyi (오이)
*Park Kyoung-hwan as Bu-Buhn-No (부분노)
*Jeong Ho-bin(정호빈) as Wootae (우태)

Reception

Korea

"Jumong" has the highest rating of all Korean dramas in 2006 in Korea.

*Highest Rating Earned:
**Seoul: 52.7%
**Nationwide: 51.9%
*Lowest Rating Earned:
**Seoul: 17.5%
**Nationwide: 16.3%
*Final Episode:
**Seoul: 52.7%
**Nationwide: 51.9%
*Average:
**Seoul: 41.83%
**Nationwide: 40.98%

Source: [http://www.tnsmk.co.kr/ TNS Media Korea]

Other countries

Broadcast rights for Jumong had been sold to 7 countries by March 2006, including Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and the Philippines. It also airs in the US on the AZN TV network. [ [http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_entertainment/193994.html Popular historical TV drama has raked in $50 million] ]

Controversy Surrounding Hong Kong's Broadcast

In Hong Kong, Asia Television bought the broadcast right to the show, but controversy surrounding the translation of the show was widespread, and has further escalated debates about ATV's editorial independence in its news and drama operations.

The controversy main surrounds the cutting of certain segments [ [http://worldjournal.com/wj-ch-news.php?nt_seq_id=1484279 《世界日報》：韓劇醜化漢人 爆爭議 朱蒙 網友揚言抵制 (Translation: Korean drama attracts controversy for denigrating Chinese people. Net users calls for boycott)(In Chinese)] ] , the mistranslation of names of certain locations, and the mistranslation of one of the character's occupation, which turned the character from the master of one castle to the Criminal of a castle.

Also, the translation of the word "Nation" (in reference to Goguryeo) to "Tribe", and the translation of the Han Dynasty to the "Heavenly Dynasty" has attracted much controversy over the station's editorial independence. The importance of this is related to recent controversies involving the governments of China and South Korea over the history of Goguryeo. Ever since ATV was bought by mainland investors, concerns have been raised about the station's ability to report on news impartially, especially in cases where the news carries a negative view towards the mainland. This debacle has been seen by many as one more sign of the Pro-Beijing shift that ATV is allegedly undergoing.

Awards and Nominations

"Won"

*2006 MBC Awards: Highest Award (Song Il Gook)
*2006 MBC Awards: Top Excellence in Acting (Song Il Gook)
*2006 MBC Awards: Top Excellence in Acting (Jeon Kwang Yeol)
*2006 MBC Awards: Top Excellence in Acting (Han Hye Jin)
*2006 MBC Awards: Excellence in Acting (Kim Seung Soo)
*2006 MBC Awards: Best New Actor (Won Ki Jun)
*2006 MBC Awards: Best Daeha Historical Acting (Oh Yeon Soo)

"Nominated"

*2006 MBC Awards: Drama of the Year...lost to Fantasy Couple
*2006 MBC Awards: Top Excellence in Acting (Oh Yeon Soo)
*2006 MBC Awards: Popularity Award (Song Il Gook)...lost to Fantasy Couple's Oh Ji Ho
*2006 MBC Awards: Popularity Award (Han Hye Jin)...lost to Fantasy Couple's Han Ye Seul
*2006 MBC Awards: Popularity Award (Lee Gye In)
*2006 MBC Awards: Best Couple Award (Song Il Gook and Han Hye Jin)...lost to Fantasy Couple's Oh Ji Ho and Han Ye Seul

References

* [http://h0tpink20.multiply.com Song Il Gook Website]
* [http://kingjumong.multiply.com Jumong Photos,Music and Video Collections]
* [http://www.friendster.com/songilkook]

External links

* [http://imbc.com/broad/tv/drama/jumong Official MBC Site] - the ultimate source for information about the show (although this site is in Korean)
* [http://www.hancinema.net/korean_drama_Jumong.php Jumong on HanCinema, pictures, cast, news, fanclub and forum (English)]
* [http://www.efsaneprens.com Efsane Prens (Jumong)(주몽)Turkish Web Site]
* [http://www.korea-fans.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=151 Jumong music, episodes, pictures, cast, news, fanclub and forum (Turkish)]