K-Drama Flashback: ‘Eyes of Dawn,’ A Love Story Amid War Crimes

Korean dramas entered a new era with the launch of KBS (Korean Broadcasting System), the nation’s first public broadcaster. Dramas were nothing like the well-liked family entertainment they are now until the early 1960s when television distribution was still sparse and military censorship of show content was tightly enforced. Only in 1962 did Backstreet of Seoul, the first television drama ever, go on air. After the government lifted a ban on broadcasters acquiring money from ads in 1969, dramas proceeded to take the stage in television programming.

With the advent of the 1980s, K-dramas grew increasingly diverse thanks to works like Love Ambition. Broadcasters started pouring greater resources into drama productions in the 1990s, a period when new TV networks were formed and government restrictions and censorship were loosened. They started developing and marketing their shows more vigorously in response to rising consumer demand as a result. Eyes of Dawn gained notoriety at this time as the first popular television series in Korea.

The MBC premiere of Eyes of Dawn, based on Kim Seong-jong’s best-selling novel, starred Choi Jae-sung, Chae Shi-ra, and Park Sang-won. It covers the era from Japanese colonial rule through the Korean War during World War Two and is frequently referred to as the “National Drama.” The love triangle involving Yoon Yeo-ok (Chae), Jang Ha-rim (Park), and Choi Dae-chi (Choi) is the subject of the drama. The Japanese imperial soldiers forced Yoon into sexual servitude as a “comfort woman” when she was 17 years old. Choi was also compelled to join the imperial army as a student soldier. The two fell in love after he met Yoon.

Yoon, who was expecting Choi’s child at the time of the Korean War, loses her son and goes home while also taking care of the war orphans. She grieves for days. Yoon discovers Choi has sustained serious injuries while he is on a spying expedition around Jirisan Mountain, and Jang is assigned to track down North Korean agents. Choi passes away shortly after Yoon is unexpectedly killed by a gunshot. The drama ends with the narration of a grieving Jang saying that he cremated the girl he loved and an ally he could never detest down in Jirisan Mountain’s remote valley. They’ve all gone, save for him.

The drama is horrible, harsh, and unpleasant. You’ll experience Japanese crimes committed during the Korean War, including rapes of women, murders of unarmed civilians, the emergence of communism, and wailing children, among other awful scenes. It also offers an appealing romance that examines the tenacity of the human spirit as well as its imperfections. If you’re a die-hard fan of K-drama and haven’t seen Eyes of Dawn yet, add it to your watchlist.