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Kim Eun-sook

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For the basketball player, see Kim Eun-Sook (basketball).
In this Korean name, the family name is Kim.

Kim Eun-sook
Kim Eun-sook in 2016
Born1973 (age 50–51)
Gangneung, South Korea
EducationSeoul Institute of the Arts - Creative Writing
OccupationScreenwriter
Years active2003–present
Agent(s)Hwa&Dam Pictures
(a subsidiary of Studio Dragon)
SpouseChoi Sang-hyun
Korean name
Hangul
Hanja
Revised RomanizationGim Eun-suk
McCune–ReischauerKim Ŭnsuk

Kim Eun-sook (Korean: 김은숙; born 1973) is a South Korean screenwriter. She wrote the popular television dramas Lovers in Paris (2004), On Air (2008), Secret Garden (2010), A Gentleman's Dignity (2012), The Heirs (2013), Descendants of the Sun (2016), Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (2016–2017), Mr. Sunshine (2018), and The Glory (2022–2023).

Career

Lovers "trilogy" and film debut

Kim first gained attention when her television drama Lovers in Paris became a major hit in the summer of 2004, with viewership ratings averaging 41.3% and a peak of 57.6% (#11 highest rated of all time). The cast and crew flew to France to film several scenes in Paris and Nice, igniting a trend among Korean dramas for overseas location shoots. A Cinderella-like story of a cheerful, ordinary girl who becomes the housekeeper of a cold and suave businessman, lead actors Park Shin-yang and Kim Jung-eun shared the Grand Prize ("Daesang") at the 2004 SBS Drama Awards. Then at the 2005 Baeksang Arts Awards, Lovers in Paris won the following awards: the Daesang, Best TV Actress for Kim Jung-eun, and Best TV Screenplay for Kim Eun-sook and Kang Eun-jung. It also became popular internationally, and Kim Jung-eun was named Best Actress at the 2005 Asian Television Awards.[citation needed]

Kim chose another European setting for her next drama, Lovers in Prague (2005). In a gender reversal, Jeon Do-yeon played a diplomat in Prague, Czech Republic, who falls in love with a police detective, played by Kim Joo-hyuk. Kim Eun-sook said she wanted to feature a romance in which the woman's social status is higher than her partner, and wanted to make the social difference between the two main characters as extreme as possible by also making the heroine the daughter of the president of South Korea. Kim added, "Although some might say it is another unrealistic story, a drama is a drama. I just want to make people enjoy the fantasy."[1] Jeon won the Daesang at the 2005 SBS Drama Awards, and Kim Joo-hyuk won Best TV Actor at the 2006 Baeksang Arts Awards.

Kim tried her hand at writing for the big screen in the 2006 melodrama Fly High (also known as Loving is Okay). Directed by Kwak Ji-kyoon, it starred Ji Hyun-woo as a high school student who falls for a girl with a terminal illness (Im Jung-eun). The film was a critical and box office disappointment,[2] and Kim soon returned to her milieu, television.

Despite overseas shoots in Hainan, China, the conclusion to Kim's loosely named "Lovers trilogy" was simply titled Lovers (2006-2007). Based on the Lee Man-hee stage play Turn Around and Leave (that also inspired the 1998 film A Promise), Kim again cast Kim Jung-eun, this time opposite Lee Seo-jin, as they played a plastic surgeon and a gangster entering into an unlikely romance.[3][4] Though not as successful as its predecessors, Lovers recorded solid ratings in the high teens to low-20s.

On entertainment, politics, and body-swapping

Kim's next drama, On Air (2008), revolved around four entertainment industry figures - a newbie TV director (Park Yong-ha), an established screenwriter (Song Yun-ah, as Kim's alter-ego), a diva actress (Kim Ha-neul), and her struggling manager (Lee Beom-soo), whose personal and professional lives intertwine during the shooting of a fictional TV drama.[5] Filled with cameos and a gossipy, insider look at stars behind the scenes, On Air was a hit, and director Shin Woo-chul (in his fourth collaboration with Kim) won Best TV Director at the 2009 Baeksang Arts Awards.

In City Hall (2009), Cha Seung-won played an elite deputy mayor with presidential aspirations who unexpectedly falls for an unwitting female government employee-turned-town mayor (Kim Sun-a).[6] Though she left space in the script for Cha and Kim to ad-lib, Kim Eun-sook called it her funniest work. She said she used politics as a backdrop for the romance to show her idealism regarding public officials.[7]

A love story between the rich, arrogant and eccentric president of a department store (Hyun Bin) and a brave but sweet stunt woman (Ha Ji-won) whose bodies switch souls whenever it rains, Secret Garden (2010-2011) became one of the biggest hits of Kim's career.[8] After writing six dramas, Kim said she "contemplated on whether to write a drama that benefits the world or one that will garner good ratings" and decided to "abandon the depth I showed in City Hall" (which recorded solid, if unimpressive, ratings in the high teens). Instead, she "made an easy, light drama for the whole family to enjoy on weekends," and intentionally wrote it "to be fun."[9][10][11] Secret Garden won Best TV Drama at the 2011 Baeksang Arts Awards, as well as Best TV Screenplay for Kim, Best New TV Actress for Yoo In-na, and the Daesang for Hyun.[12] Kim also won Best Writer at the Seoul International Drama Awards, the Korea Drama Awards, and the Korea Content Awards.

Jang Dong-gun's TV comeback

By this time, the writer-director duo of Kim and Shin had gained a reputation for making hits, and their projects attracted high-profile actors. In 2012, after 12 years of acting in films, superstar Jang Dong-gun made his television comeback in A Gentleman's Dignity. Jang said that Kim and Shin's involvement in the project influenced his decision. After repeatedly alluding to him in On Air, Kim confessed her "ulterior motives" that she had really wanted to work on a drama with Jang. She and the crew were so determined to cast him in the lead that not only was the airdate moved back from March to late May to accommodate his schedule, but Kim, in the hopes of getting him to take the role, lied to Jang's wife, actress Ko So-young that there would be no kissing scenes.[13] Instead, Kim wrote racy and sexy scenes, as befitting what has been called a "40-year-old, male version of Sex and the City."[14] The drama portrayed the humorous love lives of a group of close-knit male friends played by Jang, Kim Min-jong, Kim Su-ro, and Lee Jong-hyuk, and previous On Air star Kim Ha-neul played Jang's love interest.

The Heirs

Kim said she wrote the hero of 2013 drama He Who Wishes To Wear the Crown Endures Its Weight: Heirs (also known as The Heirs or The Inheritors, 2013) specifically for actor Lee Min-ho.[15] He starred opposite Park Shin-hye in a Gossip Girl-esque trendy drama set in a high school populated by the uber-rich.[16][17] Kim said the biggest difference was writing about 18-year-olds when her previous characters had been in their thirties and forties, calling The Heirs "a teen romance for grown-ups". She admitted that she utilizes clichés, "but all my previous works used plenty of cliches and were embraced by audiences. The key is making characters that are different, so the audience forgets the clichéd setting. That's what I'm good at, and that is what I find fun. I want people to think, 'I've seen something like this before, but still this is strangely fun.'"[18]

Descendants of the Sun and pre-produced dramas

Three years since The Heirs, Kim Eun-sook announced that she would be coming back with a human melodrama about a man and a woman who bond gradually as they save lives in disaster zones and end up falling in love. Titled Descendants of the Sun, the drama starred Song Joong-ki in his first television drama after military discharge along with Song Hye-kyo. Set in the fictional world of Uruk, Song Joong-ki plays a special forces captain who juggles peacekeeping duties with wooing a surgeon played by Song Hye-kyo. The military drama gained huge success and received immense popularity across Asia.[19] It has given rise to the popularity of Korean soldier talk.[citation needed] The show also contributed to the rise of tourism in Greece, where scenes of the drama were shot.[20]

The success of Descendants saw a change in tide toward pre-produced Korean dramas. However, in an interview, Kim Won-seok (co-writer of Descendants) stated that said there were some parts that could have been improved on if the show had been shot as it was being aired, per local industry norm.[21]

Following the success of Descendants of the Sun, Kim Eun-sook wrote her next two dramas, Guardian: The Lonely and Great God and Mr. Sunshine for cable network TVN in 2016 and 2018. Both dramas held the highest average nationwide ratings recorded for cable dramas—12.955% for Mr. Sunshine, and 12.428% for Guardian: The Lonely and Great God—until the former's two-year long record was broken by The World of the Married in 2020.

Kim Eun-sook returned to free-to-air television with the series The King: Eternal Monarch on SBS. She worked again with Lee Min-ho of The Heirs and Kim Go-eun of Guardian: The Lonely and Great God in the leading roles. After premiering with a promising double-digit rating of 10.1%,[22] the drama peaked at 11.6%[23] for the second episode but ratings slid to as low as 5.2%[24] during the eleventh episode, the lowest ever recorded for her works including her cable dramas with the series received criticisms for its screenplay, direction and editing, leading to lower-than-expected domestic popularity in Korea.[25][26][27]

Kim reunited with Descendants of the Sun star Song Hye-kyo in the Netflix's series The Glory.[28] The revenge series revolves around a victim of brutal high school bullying who dedicates her adulthood to plot revenge against perpetrators. It was released in two parts: Part 1 on December 30, 2022, and Part 2 on March 10, 2023.[29]

Critical assessment

Kim's trademark is slick and glossy romantic comedies with fast-flying banter. Some critics have opined that Kim writes shallow characters, and she is as polarizing as she is successful. But not only do most of her dramas appeal to a wide age range of viewers and receive high ratings, but they often have that extra element that make them pop-culture buzz projects, whether it's due to a particularly catchy line of dialogue or a recurring joke.

In 2012, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the SBS Drama Awards.

Philanthropy

On March 10, 2022, Kim made a donation ₩60 millions to the Hope Bridge Disaster Relief Association to help the victims of the massive wildfire that started in Uljin, Gyeongbuk and has spread to Samcheok, Gangwon. and donated money ₩40 millions to help Ukraine war victims.[30]

On August 17, 2022, Kim donated ₩20 million to help those affected by the 2022 South Korean floods through the Hope Bridge Korea Disaster Relief Association.[31]

On March 7, 2023, Kim donated ₩20 million to the Hope Bridge National Disaster Relief Association to help collaborate to restore Guryeong Village from the fire. Kim donated together with Hwa & Dam Pictures CEO Yoon Ha-rim, donating ₩20 million each, totaling ₩40 million.[32]

Filmography

Television

Year Title
2003 South of the Sun [ko]
2004 Lovers in Paris
2005 Lovers in Prague
2006 Lovers
2008 On Air
2009 The City Hall
2010 Secret Garden
2012 A Gentleman's Dignity
2013 The Heirs
2016 Descendants of the Sun
2016–2017 Guardian: The Lonely and Great God
2018 Mr. Sunshine
2020 The King: Eternal Monarch
2022–2023 The Glory
2024 Everything Shall Come True[33][34]

Film

Awards

Awards and Nominations

Awards and nominations
Year Ceremony Category Work Result Ref.
2005 41st Baeksang Arts Awards Best TV Screenplay Lovers in Paris Won
SBS Drama Awards Special Award Won
2009 SBS First Half of the Year Award: Special Award Ceremony Special awards On Air Won [35]
2011 47th Baeksang Arts Awards Best TV Screenplay Secret Garden Won [36]
4th Korea Drama Awards Best Writer Won
6th Seoul International Drama Awards Outstanding Korean Screenwriter Won
SBS First Half of the Year Award: Special Award Ceremony Special Award Won
2012 2012 SBS Drama Awards Achievement Award A Gentleman's Dignity Won [37]
2014 2nd Asia Rainbow TV Awards Outstanding Scriptwriter The Heirs Won
2016 30th KBS Drama Awards Best Writer Descendants of the Sun Won [38]
2017 2017 53rd Baeksang Arts Awards Grand Prize (Television) Guardian: The Lonely and Great God Won [39]
2017 Seoul Institute of the Arts Alumni Association Light of Life Award Kim Eun-sook Won [40]
2023 59th Baeksang Arts Awards Grand Prize – Television The Glory Nominated [41]
Nominated
Best Drama Won
Best Screenplay Nominated

State honors

Name of country, year given, and name of honor
Country Award Ceremony Year Honor Ref.
South Korea Korean Content Awards[note 1] 2011 Prime Minister's Award in the Field of Broadcasting (Secret Garden)
7th Korean Popular Culture and Arts Awards 2017 Prime Minister's Commendation [42]

Listicle

Name of publisher, year listed, name of listicle, and placement
Publisher Year List Placement Ref.
KBS 2023 The 50 people who made KBS shine 14th [43][44][45]

Notes

  1. ^ Honors are given at the Korean Content Awards (대한민국 콘텐츠 대상) arranged by the Korea Creative Content Agency and hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The 2022 Korea Content Awards Ceremony , which started in 2009 and celebrated its 14th this year, aims to inspire pride in the content industry and develop the Korean cultural content industry by discovering and awarding contributors and excellent content that have contributed to the development of the content industry in 2022. It is a place to promote. The winners (works) of honor, which are recommended through the website of the Korea Creative Content Agency (www.kocca.kr) and announced through careful examination by experts and three-step verification, play a leading role in shining the Korean content industry in the world.

References

  1. ^ Park, Chung-a (September 14, 2005). "Drama Looks for Love in Prague". The Korea Times via Hancinema. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
  2. ^ Kim, Tae-jong (August 17, 2006). "Fly High, Outdated Melodrama". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on November 9, 2011. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
  3. ^ Cho, Chung-un (December 1, 2006). "HERALD INTERVIEW: Actor Lee Seo-jin seeks versatility". The Korea Herald via Hancinema. Archived from the original on November 27, 2013. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
  4. ^ Garcia, Cathy Rose A. (April 17, 2007). "Celebrity Romance Heats Up". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on November 12, 2013. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
  5. ^ Kwon, Mee-yoo (February 27, 2008). "On Air Looks Into Making of Dramas". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on April 6, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
  6. ^ Oh, Jean (April 29, 2009). "More romantic comedy for prime time". The Korea Herald. Archived from the original on February 18, 2015. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
  7. ^ Han, Sang-hee (April 21, 2009). "City Hall to Bring Public Officials to TV". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
  8. ^ Kwon, Mee-yoo (January 26, 2011). "Secret Garden leaves fairytale love story". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
  9. ^ Lee, Ga-on (November 11, 2010). "PREVIEW: SBS TV series Secret Garden". 10Asia. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
  10. ^ Lee, Ga-on (November 19, 2010). "SBS Secret Garden – "Forget about City Hall, you'll find Lovers in Paris instead"". 10Asia via Otayamin. Archived from the original on May 21, 2013. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
  11. ^ Seo, Bo-hyun (November 14, 2011). "The 5 Charms of Secret Garden". Sports Seoul via Otayamin. Archived from the original on November 6, 2013. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
  12. ^ Hong, Lucia (May 27, 2011). "Hyun Bin, Lee Byung-hun win top prizes at Paeksang". 10Asia. Archived from the original on August 1, 2017. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
  13. ^ Oh, Jean (May 24, 2012). "Jang Dong-gun gets first 'proper' kiss scene". The Korea Herald. Archived from the original on March 31, 2013. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
  14. ^ Sunwoo, Carla (July 28, 2012). "Gentleman's Dignity to air in Japan". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on August 15, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  15. ^ Hong, Grace Danbi (March 29, 2013). "Lee Min Ho to Return to TV with Secret Garden Writer". enewsWorld. Archived from the original on June 6, 2013. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
  16. ^ Lee, In-kyung (July 25, 2013). "Officials Complain That The Heirs Has Swept Up All the Actors". enewsWorld. Archived from the original on November 7, 2013. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  17. ^ Oh, Jean (October 8, 2013). "Lee Min-ho, back to class". The Korea Herald. Archived from the original on February 12, 2019. Retrieved February 3, 2014.
  18. ^ Won, Ho-yeon (October 10, 2013). "Famed scriptwriter revels in cliche". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on August 11, 2018. Retrieved February 3, 2014.
  19. ^ Kang, John. "Korean Drama 'Descendants Of The Sun' Breaks Records Thanks To Chinese Investments". Forbes. Archived from the original on June 13, 2020. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  20. ^ "Tourists flock to this country to stand where Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo stood in 'Descendants of the Sun'". allkpop. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  21. ^ "Yonhap News Agency". Yonhap News Agency. Archived from the original on January 5, 2021. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
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  24. ^ "Nielsen Korea". www.nielsenkorea.co.kr. Archived from the original on June 13, 2020. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  25. ^ "[E!시청률] '더 킹' 8.5% 기록, 2049는 5.1%…두 자릿수 못넘고 '시들'". sports.hankooki.com (in Korean). May 10, 2020. Archived from the original on February 4, 2021. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  26. ^ "[SC초점] '더킹' 부진은 다 김은숙 탓? 디테일 부족→연출도 한몫했다". 스포츠조선 (in Kanuri). May 22, 2020. Archived from the original on November 6, 2021. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  27. ^ "Star screenwriter struggling with lower-than-expected popularity of 'The King'". Korea Herald. May 18, 2020. Archived from the original on August 3, 2020. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  28. ^ Lee Si-jin (December 20, 2022). "Screenwriter Kim Eun-sook challenges new genre with Song Hye-kyo". Korea Herald. Archived from the original on January 18, 2023. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  29. ^ Ali Shutler (January 18, 2023). "When is 'The Glory' part 2 on Netflix?". NME. Archived from the original on January 18, 2023. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  30. ^ Kim Kyung-hee (March 10, 2022). "김은숙 작가, 우쿠라이나 전쟁 피해자+산불 피해이웃돕기 성금 기부" [Writer Eun-sook Kim, donated money to help the victims of the Ukrainian war + the victims of forest fires] (in Korean). iMBC. Archived from the original on March 10, 2022. Retrieved March 10, 2022 – via Naver.
  31. ^ Yoon Seol-hwa (August 17, 2022). "김은숙 작가, 호우 이재민에 2천만원 기부…누적 기부금만 3억↑" [Writer Eun-sook Kim donates 20 million won to victims of heavy rain... Cumulative donation alone 300 million↑] (in Korean). Sports World. Archived from the original on August 17, 2022. Retrieved August 17, 2022 – via Naver.
  32. ^ Oh, Myung-joo (March 7, 2023). "김은숙·'화앤담', 따뜻한 선행…구룡마을 화재 복구에 기부" [Kim Eun-sook · 'Hwa & Dam', warm good deed... Donation to Guryong Village Fire Recovery] (in Korean). Dispatch. Archived from the original on March 7, 2023. Retrieved March 7, 2023 – via Naver.
  33. ^ Yoon Hyo-jeong (June 14, 2023). "김우빈·수지, 김은숙 신작 '다 이루어질지니' 출연…7년만의 재회 [공식]" (in Korean). News1 Korea. Archived from the original on September 10, 2023. Retrieved June 15, 2023 – via Naver.
  34. ^ Lee Gyu-lee (June 14, 2023). "Kim Woo-bin and Suzy to reunite in Kim Eun-sook's new series". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on June 14, 2023. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  35. ^ "[포토] 나영석 PD, 시청자들에게 재미와 감동을!" [[Photo] PD Na Young-seok, fun and touching to the viewers!]. 매일경제 (in Korean). March 6, 2009. Archived from the original on August 3, 2023. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  36. ^ "[SS포토] '한국방송대상' 나영석PD, '1박2일 작품상 감사드려요'" [[SS Photo] 'Korea Broadcasting Awards' PD Na Young-seok, 'Thank you for the 1 Night 2 Days Work Award']. 뉴스인사이드 (in Korean). September 2, 2011. Archived from the original on August 3, 2023. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  37. ^ Chung Hyun-chae (October 25, 2013). "G-Dragon awarded 'Style Icon' of 2013". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on March 1, 2016. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  38. ^ "Cable TV Awards: Incomplete Life and producer Na Young-seok sweep awards". Hancinema. March 13, 2015. Archived from the original on April 14, 2015. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  39. ^ "'Guardian,' 'The Handmaiden' win big at Baeksang Awards". Korea Herald. May 4, 2017. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  40. ^ "역대 '삶의 빛' 상 수상자". Archived from the original on August 29, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  41. ^ Park Soo-in (April 29, 2023). "'헤어질 결심' 대상→더 글로리' 3관왕, 이변 없는 수상[백상예술대상①]" ['Decision to break up' Daesang→The Glory' 3 crowns, no surprises [Baeksang Arts Awards ①]] (in Korean). Newsen. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved April 29, 2023 – via Naver.
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  43. ^ "송혜교·송중기·BTS·아이유…시청자 선정 'KBS를 빛낸 50인' 발표" [Song Hye-kyo, Song Joong-ki, BTS, IU... Announced '50 people who shined KBS' selected by the audience]. 언론사 뷰. Archived from the original on August 8, 2023. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  44. ^ Park, Jung-soo (March 9, 2023). "'연중' 고두심→최불암, '50주년' KBS를 빛낸 50인 ★ 재조명". Maeil Economy (in Korean). Archived from the original on August 6, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2023 – via Naver.
  45. ^ KBS 뉴스9: KBS를 빛낸 50인 on YouTube
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