J: Jiyoon l P: Patrick
J: Today, we are going to talk about the popular T.V. Drama, Mr. Sunshine. I was astonished that you saw it. I also heard two
American girls talking about Mr. Sunshine at the Busan Global Center lounge.
P: Yes, it is a captivating story.
J: 오늘은 인기 있는 TV 드라마 미스터 션샤인에 대해 이야기 해 볼 텐데요. 이 드라마를 보셨다고 해서 굉장히 놀랐어요. 부산글로벌센터 라운지에서 미국인 여성 두 분이 미스터 션샤인에 대해 이야기하는 걸 듣기도 했고요.
P: 네. 굉장히 매력적인 드라마예요.
J: Tell me the story and how you feel about it.
P: The Korean TV drama "Mr. Sunshine" spans a period of Korean history starting with the Shinmiyangyo incident of 1871 (신미양요),
the first military confrontation between American and Joseon forces and runs up to the destitution of the Joseon Dynasty under Japanese pressure in 1910. This period of geopolitical shift with Japan emulating western power through colonization is more than intriguing enough to hold viewers' interest but the writer, Kim Eun-Sook, has layered this with a thick icing of emotional sweetness in the Romeo and Juliette relationship between a lowborn Korean-American Eugene Choi, played by Lee Byung-Hun and Kim Tae-Ri in the role of high-born Korean Lady Go Ae-Shin.
The plot has young Choi running for his life after seeing his father murdered by a nobleman, followed by Choi's mother drowning in a well. Through the help of an American missionary, Joseph Stenson, a father figure for Choi, the boy makes it to the streets of New York as an orphan immigrant. In a moment of despair, he sees a group of army soldiers and notices a black soldier laughing with the whites and decides this is his access to becoming an American.
Fast forward and U.S. Marine Captain Choi is dispatched to the American Legation in Hanyang (the former name of Seoul) under the orders of senior office and friend Kyle Moore (David Lee McInnis). Our dashing young officer meets proud and beautiful daughter of respected noble family. She also happens to be a highly trained sniper at the service of the underground Righteous Army dedicated to
resisting foreign influences from taking over the country. The man never forsakes his Americanness but assumes the cause of his love.