As the first of my Korean drama review post series, I chose “Mr. Sunshine,” a period drama that tells the story of the people of the Joseon dynasty leading up to and during the Japanese colonization of Korea. Written by one of the most successful Korean drama writers, Kim Eun-Sook, the drama is brilliantly written and almost poetic. The characters are vivid, and the storyline is tragic, with occasional humor. Even after re-watching the show, it does not fail to induce an endless amount of tribute towards the many lives sacrificed for which I thank my life.
This review will be centered around the three leading male characters in love with the main protagonist, Go Ae-shin. I do this purposefully because the drama cleverly builds and utilizes each man’s distinct characteristics to represent the complicated political relations between the U.S., Japan, and Korea while invoking questions on the most “noble” form of love.
The quotation marks around the word noble are made to resonate with how one’s status was everything during this period.
Go Ae-shin belonged to the “yangban” class, the most privileged class with the ruling power, and hence, she is referred to as the noblewoman. On the other hand, Eugene Choi and Gu Dong-mae are children of those who belonged to the lowest social class — Eugene is the child of an enslaved person, and Dong-mae is the child of a butcher. Both are witnesses of their parents’ tragic deaths caused by deeply rooted discrimination based on social class. Yet, it does not stop there and continues threatening their lives, forcing them to flee the country and reinvent their identity as foreigners. They find refuge in this anonymity, as their past is concealed in front of strangers. They take advantage of their break from their status in Joseon to become some of the most ferocious individuals in the countries where they sought refuge.
Meanwhile, Kim Hui-seong shares the same noble status as Ae-shin. While Ae-shin, whose freedom is restricted due to her being a woman, Hui-seong is free to do whatever he wants and has spent ten years in Japan, away from the marriage arranged between him and Ae-shin and the wrongdoings of his grandfather, who had exploited everyone less powerful than him to the extent of their demise (Hui-seong’s grandfather was the one who ordered Eugene’s parents’ death when his mother refused sexual approach from another nobleman). In other words, Ae-shin is forced to think about the restrictions Joseon’s strict social system imposes on people through the patriarchy, which inhibits her from exploring, learning, and even reading. At the same time, Hui-seong’s grandfather’s abuse of their noble status gives him an acute sense of the repercussions the system has on people of lower status. In a way, the class system also forces Hui-seong to disassociate himself from Joseon, as it did for Eugene and Dong-mae, due to his guilt about the privilege and status he enjoys back in his country.
Throughout the story, such implications of the class system drive the thematic question. As the three male characters devour strategies to protect Ae-shin, they protect the Joseon they defiantly try to distance themselves from. This is because Ae-shin, through her fierce commitment to saving Joseon, aims to bring her country closer to a place where Eugene, Dong-mae, and Hui-seong could all live harmoniously. The different expressions of love, all incredibly sacrificial and hence sacred, compete to contest the noblest form of love.
Eugene Choi: Protection
I find it extremely beautiful yet unfortunate that Ae-shin and Eugene fell in love with each other. Their love for one another is inevitable since, from the first encounter, they instantaneously recognize that they are similar people — that they will walk down only the righteous path and act on only what they believe to be correct. This high moral compass creates an incredible attraction between the two, and hence, as Ae-shin walks down the path toward fighting for Joseon’s independence, Eugene must also walk down that path. I found it extremely tragic as this country killed Eugene’s parents and made him flee for miles in hunger and terror. However, it is inevitable because, as a forever foreigner in the U.S., Eugene never had someone offering to walk by his side, which Ae-shin does not hesitate to do. Even after she struggles after finding out that he comes from low status, she is determined to extend her hand to Eugene and go through whatever it is that lies in front of them. When Eugene questions whether there is a place for people like him in the Joseon Ae-shin is trying to save, Eugene already knows the answer. Although Ae-shin had never actively tried to think about it herself, in her tenderness toward those around her, she shows that she is against all forms of oppression and exploitation. I also believe that this is why Ae-shin was so relentlessly committed to saving her country against Japan; she tends to the weak and resists the abuse of power and status.
In exchange, Eugene leverages his status as a Korean-American to provide all the protection necessary for Ae-shin to continue doing what she wants: saving Joseon. Personally, their love was heartbreaking because they always had a more significant cause that they had to tend to — but when you are in love, what else is greater? You become blinded, engrossed, and greedy — yet they tame their burning feelings repeatedly. The only thing they do to pursue their burning love for each other is to walk together, side by side, and nothing more. They put aside any other possible actions because they know that will get in the way of saving Joseon.
Gu Dong-Mae: Pursuit
On the other hand, Dong-mae insults and shames Ae-shin for her privilege and status every chance he gets. This expression of love is the complete opposite of Eugene’s subtle expression of love, who refuses to project his resentment to Ae-shin and instead converts it into a ferocious commitment to protect her. Nevertheless, Dong-mae risks losing the trust of his organization and the consequence of death and works in favor of saving Ae-shin. He cannot play diplomatically like Eugene and orchestrate the demise of certain characters burdening Ae-shin’s life and purpose, but he will not hesitate to pull his knife out to remove them out of her way. His perplexion and obsession with Ae-shin make him the fiercest protector of Ae-shin, ready to harm anything in her way, even her, in his wish that she remains safe and does not put her in a situation where anything could hurt her, including him. His obsession with Ae-shin prevents him from realizing that Eugene would do anything to save her, as jealousy does — making us underestimate others’ feelings. Had he recognized this, as he may have near the end of the drama, I do not think he would have made the mistake of hurting Ae-shin as he did. But he could not resist because this was the only form of love he had learned — like his mother did when she hurt him to save him from the disgusting results of being a butcher in Joseon. My favorite scene of Dong-mae is when he confesses his true feelings for Ae-shin at a temple where her parents lie dead. Dong-mae sought a love that could never be his because they could never forgive each other for the hurtful words they said every time they met. Dong-mae could never understand why Ae-shin would sacrifice her everything to save the weak, like himself, and saw this as an extension of her privilege — his love for her was too big, and he could not stand losing her, despite never having her, to such petty cause. Her life was too precious and sacred, while he treated his life as something that could be over any second. He always valued the lives of those around him, including Hotaru and Kudo Hina, more than himself.
Kim Hui-seong: Resignation
Personally, I had the most challenging time understanding Hui-seong’s feelings towards Ae-shin. It may be intentional, as he is a master of suppressing his deep feelings, which possibly stems from his inclination to avoid the dirty truth of where his family’s extreme wealth and privilege stems from — the exploitation of other fellow Koreans. Hence, his interactions with other people are incredibly shallow, and the same is true with Ae-shin. It is not until he decides to play into her game of breaking their engagement and willingly becomes the sacrifice she needs to complete her deed that we realize the depth of care and love he holds towards her. Whether it is driven by shame or his avoidant personality, the implications from his childhood trauma, and his inclination towards things that are pretty, shallow, and useless, he demonstrates his love by giving up the chance to hold on to what he desired the most for the first time in his life and resigning to the intense feelings Ae-shin shares towards Eugene and their country. Hui-seong’s demonstration of love directly conflicts with the mainstream or often cliche belief about love, that love is only for the courageous, but maybe that is because this kind of selfless and sacrificial love towards another is rare and, therefore, sublime.
When watching this drama, one might wonder why these three males are each obsessed with saving Ae-shin. It may be because different feelings, purposes, and beliefs are necessary to create a change for good, and history proves that a brilliant mind for the right cause can inspire something palpable.
