Lee Ki-won (이기원)

'Jejoongwon' offers a glimpse into life in the Joseon Dynasty through the eyes of a surgeon
There are a number of reasons why medical dramas are popular. They depict the tensions that arise in emergency situations, the competition that elite med school students face, and the conflicts between the noble goal of saving lives and the hectic reality of working at a hospital.

The Korean medical dramas, "White Tower" and "New Heart" combined all of these elements to win high ratings and critical acclaim. But just as in medicine, there is no set formula for success on television, and it's hard to predict which combination of elements will win viewers over.

"Jejoongwon", a new drama that revolves around life at the first modern medical institution in Korea, is hoping it has the right combination of fact and fantasy. The show, which currently airs every Monday and Tuesday at 10 p.m. on SBS, is named after the hospital establis...More

SBS TV series "Jejoongwon" is set during the latter era of the Joseon Dynasty -- a time period never before handled in a Korean drama. It also revolves around Jejoongwon which is the first hospital in South Korea's history to use Western medicine. These elements topped with the collaboration of its scenarist Lee Ki-won, writer of MBC's hit medical series "White Tower", and producer Hong Chang-wook, who garnered a strong fanbase through his SBS drama "The Scale of Providence", leaves little space for hasty presumptions. 10Asia visited the set of "Jejoongwon" a week ahead of its premiere to get a closer look and a better understanding of the medical-historical drama.

Actors Sean Richard and Park Yong-woo act out a scene for SBS TV series "Jejoongwon" on set at the broadcaster's studio in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province of South Korea on December 30, 2009. [Chae Ki-won/10Asia]

A blond man sits at the door of a woman's room. He has an unidentifiable hose-like object stuck in one of his ears. A man sitting next to him says, "A tenth of 30 centimeters down from the neck, then another tenth of 30 centimeters to the left". That is when the woman sitting on the other side of the door starts moving. She places her hand, holding a stethoscope, to the chest of another woman whose jacket is undone. When the woman places the stethoscope to the other woman in accordance with the Korean man's directions, the blond man from the United States gives his diagnose of the patient's presumed illness.

This sight where three people -- American and Korean, male and female -- cling to this single lady brought up in a good family, helps us predict what "Jejoongwon" will show its viewers. Such a scene is from times when a married woman from a good family would get beaten up by her husband for reading a book. Yoo Suk-ran (played by Han Hye-jin), who learns English and medicine, plays the friend of such a woman in the drama and will remark, "The King himself said discrimination no longer exists regarding status", although the world has yet to accept freedom of status. The same situation will apply to foreigner Allen (Sean Richard) who has come from the U.S. to spread Western medicine and Hwang Jung (Park Yong-woo) who learns medicine from Allen whilst concealing the he is actually of low status with his occupation as a butcher. That is how "Jejoongwon", through a single scene, portrayed the medicine, the time period and the way people live during such times....More

From left, SBS TV series "Jejoongwon" main cast Park Yong-woo, Han Hye-jin and Yeon Jeoung-hoon pose during a photo session of a press conference held at the SBS building in Seoul, South Korea on December 23, 2009. [SBS]

SBS Monday & Tuesday TV series "Jejungwon"
Scenarist: Lee Ki-won
Producer: Hong Chang-wook
Cast: Park Yong-woo, Yeon Jeong-hoon, Han Hye-jin, etc
Premieres January 4, 2010 at 10 P.M.

It seems that SBS TV series "Jejoongwon" should lable itself more as a medical drama rather than a historical drama. And it is not just because its scenarist Lee Ki-won had written MBC's hit medical series "White Tower" or because the story revolves around Jejungwon, South Korea's first hospital which used Western medicine during the latter era of the Joseon Dynasty. A video containing a preview of "Jejoongwon" shown at a press conference held Wednesday, focused most of its story on medicine -- a life-long rivalry exists between Yeon Jung-hoon and Park Yong-woo, who play the role of doctors at Jejungwon in the drama, because of several surgical operations which split their fates while one's mother and the other's father are both in situations where they cannot receive proper medical treatment....More

What do you get when you combine a broken family and betrayal, throw in some adultery and revenge and top it all off with a dash of violence? A daytime soap opera.

Provocative, exaggerated and often unbelievable story lines have defined daytime soap operas almost as long as they've been in existence. The formula is a no-brainer: The more dramatic, the better. Sprinkle in a few scenes where a mean mother-in-law slaps her son's wife on the cheek or a guilt-free man lashes out at a woman with chauvinistic, insulting remarks and chances are the ratings will soar.

While this is nothing new in the world of daytime soap operas, these racy and controversial elements are quickly creeping into prime-time dramas as well, when children are more likely to see them. They're also getting even more provocative - and therefore controversial - as shows go all-out to gain more viewers.

The trend has even given birth to the word makjang, which literally means "blind-end", implying that things have gone all the way to one extreme and can't get any worse. Koreans call soap operas with these outrageously over-the-top scenes makjang dramas.

Now the debate over these shows - what types of programs can be classified as makjang dramas and whether they should be regulated - is heating up as some observers and officials say they are eroding the nation's morals and possibly harming children as well.

Calls for regulations

While upset parents are among those questioning these dramas, the shows are now drawing attention from the government as well.

"A husband and his mistress lying on the bed together while the wife watches, an indication of spousal rape, a name-calling quarrel between a husband and a wife - I thought all of these scenes were crazy", Choi Gu-sik, a ruling Grand National Party lawmaker, said last week during a parliamentary questioning of the government's education, social and cultural policies.

His comments came on the heels of similar statements by another GNP lawmaker, Jin Seong-ho, last month.

"I've seen other adultery-themed dramas in the past, but none so provocative", Jin said during the parliamentary audit of government ministries and organizations. "It's lamentable how dramas like "What's for Dinner??" are being aired at 8 p.m. when the family is watching TV together".

In response to these growing concerns, Lee Jin-kang - chair of the Korea Communications Standards Commission, the country's television and communications watchdog - recently took aim at makjang dramas, vowing to monitor and, if necessary, punish the producers behind these shows and the broadcasters that air them.

But there are differences of opinion even within the commission, highlighting how tricky the issue is. During one of its recent regular...More

Lee Ki-won, screenwriter of 'White Tower' of MBC, offered advice and personal experiences to aspiring writers. 'Inside the White Tower' that made him famous was based on a Japanese novel.

"When I first read the original work, I was shocked and there was something about it", said screenwriter Lee Ki-won. "I had conflicts because my first work could be an adaptation not creation of an original work. However, I decided to adapt the original novel, considering that there would not be many opportunities to work on well-made original works", Lee explained. "Now it is acclaimed that the drama opened a new chapter as a medical drama. However, there were many wh...More