War of Money

Main Characters
Geum Na Ra - Park Shin Yang
Shin Dong Wook - Ha Woo Sung
Lee Cha Yeon - Kim Jung Hwa
Seo Joo Hee - Park Jin Hee

Storyline

Geum Na Ra became a ruthless money-lender after his parents died because they were unable to return borrowed money from private money lenders. As a result, he broke off with his then-girlfriend Lee Cha Yeon for money (later we will find out that this was not the real reason). Seo Joo Hee's father owed a huge sum of money to private money-lenders and therefore she was forced to marry a rich man to pay her father's debts. Geum Na Ra came and ruined the wedding, thus she has much dislike for the man. She vowed to take revenge on him but ended up falling for Geum Na Ra instead.

Shin Dong Wook is a handsome young man who works for Lee Cha Yeon's grandmother. He grew up in an orphanage and had learned the art of money lending with the same mentor as Geum Na Ra. He likes Lee Cha Yeon and always tries to do things to win her affections.

Thoughts

I think Lee Cha Yeon is quite pitiful, she was so in love with Geum Na Ra but because she came from a rich household, along with a grandmother that looked down on Geum Na Ra, she was dumped for money (well, as in the money made the break up earlier even if Geum Na Ra did not totally love her!). And even though towards the end, money was not really the reason for the break up, she still has my sympathy. And Geum Na Ra was really mean to her later, so I do not really blame her developing hatred for Geum Na Ra. At the end, I admired her for letting Geum Na Ra go as she realized he did not choose her over money because he did not love her.

Seo Joo Hee irritates me a little. At the beginning of the drama, she was always commenting on how pretty she is in the show but frankly, I think Lee Cha Yeon is prettier. Of course, I understand that the dialogues are written in the script and that self-love issues have nothing to do with the actress.

Geum Na Ra's transition from a normal office worker to a ruthless money lender was portrayed very well by Park ShinYang. He was able to show just how evil human beings can be when they are desperate. I think he looks very cool in his new look in the show but I really miss him in a suit and tie.

Unfortunately, I do not feel any huge chemistry going on between the two main characters in the show. Park Shin Yang and Park Jin Hee did not manage to bring out the shivers down my spine when they look at each other. Maybe I had too many expectations for a money lending themed drama series, as I had really enjoyed Park Shin Yang's previous theme show "Lovers In Paris" and had the full impact of chemistry between him and Kim Jung Eun. On another hand, the authors of the drama might just want the audiences to focus on the theme, which was about money lenders in Korea. Thus this might be why they did not focus too much on the romance part of the show.

Private moneylenders in South Korea is actually quite a common thing in the country. My Korean friend told me that usually they will charge 30% to 200% of the amount borrowed and that they will even kill each other to get more money to lend to people and also even for revenge. In Singapore where I am from, we call them loan sharks.

I am not sure if Geum Na Ra’s ways of claiming back borrowed money are realistic or if any real money lenders have ever done those things before. In the drama, his version of claiming back borrowed money is relatively ingenious and humane, although some are quite absurd (like when he pretended to be a beggar to “steal” another beggar’s “customers” so as to force him to return money). Nevertheless I do enjoy the different gimmicks that were revealed as Geum Na Ra got through different money borrowers.

Ok, I hate bad endings. The ending in this drama was not what I expected (yes, it's like a cliffhanger, so it is bad.). Maybe the writers or directors of the show want to convey the message that money lenders are evil and they will not result in a good ending.

I would give the drama a rating of four stars because, although I do enjoy Park Shin Yang’s acting skills, I was uncomfortable with the relationship of the two main characters. Despite that, this drama is a must-watch for Park Shin Yang’s fans.