First Love (1996 TV series)
| First Love | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Romance, Drama |
| Written by | Jo So-hye |
| Directed by | Lee Eung-jin |
| Starring | Bae Yong-joon Choi Soo-jong Lee Seung-yeon |
| Country of origin | South Korea |
| Original language(s) | Korean |
| No. of episodes | 66 |
| Production | |
| Production location(s) | Korea |
| Running time | Saturdays and Sundays at 19:55 (KST) |
| Release | |
| Original network | Korean Broadcasting System |
| Original release | 7 September 1996 – 20 April 1997 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Men of the Bath House |
| Followed by | A Bluebird Has It |
| First Love | |
| Hangul | 첫사랑 |
|---|---|
| Revised Romanization | Cheot Sarang |
| McCune–Reischauer | Chǒt Sarang |
First Love (Hangul: 첫사랑; RR: Cheot Sarang) is a South Korean television series starring Bae Yong-joon, Choi Soo-jong and Lee Seung-yeon. It aired on KBS2 from September 7, 1996 to April 20, 1997 on Saturdays and Sundays at 19:55 for 66 episodes.
It is currently the number one highest-rated Korean drama of all time based on single episode viewership ratings, reaching 65.8% on its April 10, 1997 episode.[1] Its average rating for its entire run was 52.6%.
Plot
Depicting the afflictions of youth, First Love is the story of two brothers who fall for the same woman.
Sung Chan-woo and Sung Chan-hyuk live in the poor suburbs of Seoul with their father, trying to get through the hardships of life. When Chan-woo (Bae Yong-joon) finds out that his high school crush Hyo-kyung (Lee Seung-yeon) is dating his older brother Chan-hyuk (Choi Soo-jong), his heart breaks. But not all is rosy between Hyo-kyung and Chan-hyuk, as Hyo-kyung's rich gangster father and uncle are unhappy about their precious girl dating a poor aspiring artist, and wreak havoc on their relationship. When a mysterious accident caused by Hyo-kyung's uncle leaves Chan-hyuk in a paralyzed state, Chan-woo, by then a rebellious law student, gives up a promising career and joins the underground world of the mafia so he can seek revenge on Hyo-kyung's family in payment for his own family's suffering. Waiting patiently in the wings is Suk-hee (Choi Ji-woo) who has never given up on her love for Chan-woo.
Cast
- Bae Yong-joon as Sung Chan-woo
- Choi Soo-jong as Sung Chan-hyuk
- Lee Seung-yeon as Lee Hyo-kyung
- Song Chae-hwan as Sung Chan-ok (Chan-hyuk and Chan-woo's sister)
- Choi Ji-woo as Kang Suk-hee
- Park Sang-won as Kang Suk-jin (Suk-hee's brother)
- Lee Hye-young as Park Shin-ja
- Son Hyun-joo as Ju Jung-nam (guitarist)
- Bae Do-hwan as Oh Dong-pal
- Jo Kyung-hwan as Lee Jae-ha (Hyo-kyung's father)
- Yoon Mi-ra as Hyo-kyung's mother
- Kim In-moon as Sung Duk-bae (Chan-woo's father)
- Jeon Yang-ja as Chairman Jun (Suk-jin's mother)
- Park Jung-soo as Shin-ja's mother
- Kim Tae-woo as Park Hyung-ki (Chan-woo's classmate)
- Song Hye-kyo as one of the students being tutored by Hyo-kyung
- Park Sang-min
- Lee Kyung-shim
- Park In-hwan
- Cha Tae-hyun as Chan-woo's friend
International broadcast
Due to Bae Yong-joon's popularity post-Winter Sonata, First Love was aired in Japan on NHK in 2005.[2]
