The Ballad of Suh Dong (SBS Drama)

[P-Chan]

Has anyone watched this before? Or is anyone from Singapore watching it now on Starhub Cable Ch 55?? It's a very interesting drama with an engaging plot so far but I wonder why there's no discussion on it here or elsewhere in the English-speaking Internet...

Hailed from the same team behind Jewel In The Palace (Dae Jang Guem).

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Synopsis from Drama Wiki:

Producer Lee Byung-Hun and writer Kim Yeong-hyeon from "Jewel in the Palace (Dae Jang Geum)", last year's major hit drama here and in China, have again teamed up for a new historical drama.

The SBS drama "Sodongyo", translated as "Sodong's Song", has much in common with "Jewel in the Palace". Both deal with similar themes: a success story of a lower class person rising to the top, a love that transcends social position, a secret of birth and a rivalry between main characters.

However, whereas "Jewel" is set in the Choson Kingdom (1392-1910), "Sodongyo" takes place in the Paekche Kingdom (18 B.C. - A.D 660), a first for a TV drama. Aside from the romance between a princess and a commoner, an interesting part of the drama is that it focuses on a fierce technology war almost 1,500 years ago.

The protagonist is Sodong, a commoner who strives to become a top technician. Sodong later became King Mu, the 30th king of Paekche as he was finally recognized as of royal birth.

The main background of the drama is Taehaksa, Paekche's prestigious institute of science technology. As it possessed and developed the most up-to-date technology at that time, the institute was always in danger of industrial espionage from other countries like the Koguryo Kingdom and the Silla Kingdom.

"The 21st century is an era of information technology. The viewers will be able to see not only the splendidly rich culture of the Paekche Kingdom but also their ancestors' passion for information technology, which is in line with today's trend", said the drama's writer Kim.

The drama also reveals the role of monks as industrial spies at that time, an aspect of monks in the past that is rarely focused 0n.

"Monks were the advance guards of intelligence war at that time. The leaders of the three countries made the best use of the monks' mobility as they were allowed to move freely from country to country on sacred missions", said Kim.

The drama also features a character who was originally from the Silla Kingdom (57 B.C. - A.D 935) but went over to Paekche as a child and smuggled himself into Taehaksa, concentrating on secretly getting out high-quality information over a long time.

Various agricultural technologies considered the most up-to-date at that time also appear in the drama.

In some episodes, to solve the problems of excessive dryness of the land, they released earthworms, and used ondol (hot floor) for the first time to decrease the humidity of homes.

"Sodongyo" is said to be one of Korea's oldest folk songs. According to Samgukyusa (The Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms) from the Silla Kingdom, the song was written by Sodong, a commoner from the Paekche Kingdom. Hearing that Princess Sonhwa, a daughter of King Chinpyong of the Silla Kingdom was beautiful, he writes a song saying that the princess visits Sodong's room every night and spreads the song around. When her father hears the song, he condemns the princess to exile. Sodong picks her up and takes her to Paekche, and they become the royal couple of the country.

[edit]Cast
Jo Hyun Jae as Suh Dong (King Mu of Baekje)
Lee Bo Young as Princess Sun-hwa of Shilla
Ryu Jin as Sa Taek Gi Ru / Kim Do Ham

[Aphraeleiss]

http://www.spcnet.tv/forums/showthre...ht=song+prince

[Suet Seung]

I don't like Jo Hyun Jae very much.

[P-Chan]

http://www.spcnet.tv/forums/showthre...ht=song+prince

Wow... awesome!! Thanks!! This serial has sooo many titles! Maybe that's why I couldn't find much on it.

Anyway, the serial is still great now. Lee Bo Young is a wonderful and beautiful actress, while Jo Hyun Jae... Well, I like him but so far he seems like a misfit for the role. He's just not able to bring out that streetwise, weathered person. Think he's more apt at characters that are the quiet, princely types (which he is in real life!)

[Aphraeleiss]

I actually thought Jo Hyun Jae showed alot of intensity in this role. He wasn't that good in Only You or Gumiho (nine-tailed fox). My fav character was however the spy guy. He just seemed so misunderstood. I was particularly impressed by the dance he did just before he died.

Tons of quotable quotes from the series, wish I understood Korean so I didn't have to rely on the Chinese subs, which could be horrible at times. The scenery was fantastic though.

[P-Chan]

I actually thought Jo Hyun Jae showed alot of intensity in this role. He wasn't that good in Only You or Gumiho (nine-tailed fox). My fav character was however the spy guy. He just seemed so misunderstood. I was particularly impressed by the dance he did just before he died.

I'm watching only up till the episode when he escaped to Baekje alone and helped the Baekje army light the beacon. But yah, I think that intensity is finally starting to emerge from Jo Hyun Jae now. He's getting more and more watchable

The spy guy is the character is dislike the most so far, not only because he broke up the couple through unscrupulous means, but because it really seems like he is doing all these not for the sake of love. More like forcing the princess to his side for the sake of possessing her