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Winter Sonata (겨울연가): Plot, Characters and Cast

Winter Sonata (겨울연가, Gyeoul Yeon-ga) is a romantic melodrama that KBS2 aired in 2002. It has 20 episodes, written by Kim Eun-hee and Yoon Eun-kyung and directed by Yoon Seok-ho. It's credited with pushing the Korean Wave into Japan and the Philippines, and it turned Bae Yong-joon into a superstar. Here you have the spoiler-free plot, the characters, the cast and a playful Saju for each one.

Cast: Bae Yong-joon, Choi Ji-woo, Park Yong-ha, Park Sol-mi
KBS2: 2002 · 20 episodes

Official video

Official video by KBS Drama on YouTube. It only loads if you press play.

Plot (no spoilers)

A new student arrives in the snowy city of Chuncheon: Kang Joon-sang, introverted, talented and searching for his father. At school he meets Jeong Yoo-jin, a cheerful, warm girl who soon falls for him. Between the snow and the school hallways, a tender first love is born, the kind that seems like it will last forever.

But not everyone is happy about it. Kim Sang-hyuk, Yoo-jin's childhood friend, has loved her for years. And Oh Chae-rin, a glamorous, self-centered classmate, wants Joon-sang for herself.

On New Year's Eve, everything shatters: Joon-sang is hit by a car and everyone believes he has died. Ten years later, Yoo-jin is about to marry Sang-hyuk. That's when she meets Lee Min-hyung, an architect identical to Joon-sang who, however, doesn't seem to know who she is. Is he the same person? A cruel trick of fate? Can a first love come back after a decade of silence? That doubt, wrapped in winter landscapes, carries the whole series and turns every encounter into a small earthquake.

Characters and their Saju

癸

Kang Joon-sang / Lee Min-hyung 강준상 / 이민형

Bae Yong-joon · Yin Water · The Rain

Joon-sang is a student newly arrived in Chuncheon, withdrawn and very talented. He is looking for his father and keeps almost everything he feels to himself. Ten years later, Yoo-jin meets Lee Min-hyung, an architect with his same face, and the mystery of that identity shapes the story.

If Joon-sang had a Saju card, it would be Yin Water · The Rain, or rather, the snow: silent, cold on the outside and able to cover an entire landscape. What falls in winter holds water that, sooner or later, flows again.

丁

Jeong Yoo-jin 정유진

Choi Ji-woo · Yin Fire · The Candle

Yoo-jin is a cheerful, warm girl who falls in love with the new student. Her tenderness lights up the classroom and the snowy days in Chuncheon. When she loses him, she holds on to that first love for years, even as her life moves on and there's a wedding on the horizon.

If Yoo-jin had a Saju card, it would be Yin Fire · The Candle: a warm light in the dead of winter. It doesn't set things ablaze; it keeps you company. And even after ten years, a well-tended candle always remembers the first hand that lit it.

戊

Kim Sang-hyuk 김상혁

Park Yong-ha · Yang Earth · The Mountain

Sang-hyuk is Yoo-jin's childhood friend and has been in love with her for years. He is steady and patient, the kind who waits without pushing. Ten years later he is about to marry her, and his loyalty is put to the test when a face from the past appears.

If Sang-hyuk had a Saju card, it would be Yang Earth · The Mountain: stable, loyal and always in the same place. He waits with the patience of stone, but his lesson is learning that not everything you hold up can be held on to.

辛

Oh Chae-rin 오채린

Park Sol-mi · Yin Metal · The Jewel

Chae-rin is a glamorous and rather self-centered classmate. She wants Joon-sang for herself and sees Yoo-jin as an obstacle. For someone like her, staying in the background isn't an option, and that makes her a rival who complicates an already difficult romance.

If Chae-rin had a Saju card, it would be Yin Metal · The Jewel: eye-catching, well-kept and aware of how people look at her. A jewel that wants to be the only one in the display case, though in Saju the longest-lasting shine is the one that doesn't compete.

And what would your Saju be? Find out free with your birth date.

Why so many people fell for it

Winter Sonata is the first-love melodrama par excellence: snow, losses, impossible lookalikes and breathtaking reunions. In Latin America it aired on many channels: TV Perú and Panamericana in Peru, RCN in Colombia, Ecuavisa in Ecuador and La Tele and TVes in Venezuela. It also made Bae Yong-joon an idol in Japan, where he was called "Yon-sama", and visits to Nami Island, where it was filmed, more than doubled.

Facts

Written by Kim Eun-hee and Yoon Eun-kyung; directed by Yoon Seok-ho.
It has 20 episodes and aired on KBS2 in 2002.
It's credited with driving the Korean Wave in Japan and the Philippines.
Visits to Nami Island, where it was filmed, more than doubled.

Ending (spoilers)

Show the ending

Spoiler: Joon-sang goes blind after brain surgery. Three years later, Yoo-jin finds him in a house by the sea built from her own design, and there, at last, they are reunited. An ending that is bittersweet and luminous at the same time.

If you liked it, watch next

Stairway to Heaven 2003 · SBS
Moon Embracing the Sun 2012 · MBC
Full House 2004 · KBS2

Frequently asked questions

What is Winter Sonata about?

A first love in Chuncheon is broken when the boy is hit by a car and everyone believes he is dead. Ten years later, the heroine meets an architect identical to him who doesn't seem to recognize her.

How many episodes does Winter Sonata have?

Winter Sonata has 20 episodes. KBS2 aired it in 2002, written by Kim Eun-hee and Yoon Eun-kyung and directed by Yoon Seok-ho.

Why is Bae Yong-joon called Yon-sama?

Winter Sonata made him a superstar in Japan, where his fans started calling him "Yon-sama". In the series he plays Kang Joon-sang and Lee Min-hyung.