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Der Yalu Fließt 압록강은 흐른다

Genre: Period, Biographical
Episodes: 3
Broadcast network: SBS (Korea), BR (Germany)
Broadcast period: Nov 14 2008
Produced by 이종한 (Lee Jong-Han) [연개소문 (Yeon Gaesomun), 토지 (Land)
Written by 이혜선 [translated Der Yalu Fliesst in Korean]
Soompi Thread

CAST:
* Jung Yoon Seok/No Min Woo/Choi Sung Ho/Woo Byeok Song as Mirok Li
* Na Moon Hee as Mirok’s Mother
* Shin Gu as Mirok’s Father
* Kim Yeo Jin as Choi Mun Ho
* Jung Woon Taek as Won Shik
* Lee Cham as Seyler
* Roland Pfaus as Kurt Huber
* Ute Kampowsky as Eva
* Hwang Bo Ra as Guwol
* Han Bo Bae as Mudeon

BRIEF INFO:
“Yalu River Flows (German title: Der Yalu Fliesst)” is originally an autobiographical novel written by Korean ex-pat writer Li Mirok. Now the novel has been turned into a TV series co-produced by Korea’s SBS and Germany’s BR (Bayerischer Rundtunk). The drama portrays the life of Li Mirok, who fled to China and finally settled in Germany after fighting for Korea’s freedom while studying medicine in Tokyo during the Japanese colonial regime. The dramatic life of Li reflects the turbulent era of modern Korean and Germany history.

The role of Li is played by Woo Byeok-song, a Korean actor living in Germany, and Li’s parents are played by esteemed Shin Gu and Na Moon-hee. Its executive producer Lee Jong-han says the drama has been in preparation for nearly 30 years and it’s going to be his signature piece. The three episodes of “Yalu River Flows” is to be aired on November 14, the founding day of SBS, and also in Germany in 2009.

SYNOPSIS:
They called him “Mireuk,” Korean for Maitreya, the future incarnation of Buddha, born to save us all from oblivion. In the Later Three Kingdoms period, that was the moniker attached to Gung Ye, one of the biggest names to eventually pave the way (at his expenses) for the birth of Goryeo. But I guess Lee Mi-Reuk’s (or, if you prefer the slightly sinicized version of his name, Li Mirok) parents didn’t have such grandiose plans when they gave him that name. Born into a family of noble literati, Lee witnessed the disintegration of that Joseon (and the following Korean Empire) which had held strong for five centuries, finally collapsing in the name of Japanese imperialism. Unable to find his voice in the increasingly changing colonial Korea of the 1920s, young Li crossed the famous river dividing the Korean peninsula from Manchuria, the Amnok (Yalu, as they spell it on the other side), and set sail for what he considered the promised land, Europe.

What he found wasn’t exactly a paradise, considering his new home away from home was the same Germany which would soon begin the path to the Großdeutsches Reich, better known as the Third Reich, with the infamous Fuhrer Adolf Hitler on top. But what Li Mirok managed to do was impressive: his memoirs Der Yalu Fließt, where he narrated stories of his childhood and all the peaceful atmosphere which painted his early days, was one the biggest literary shock in Germany at the time, enough that parts of the novel were added to German textbooks, giving him a place in the pages of history.

The first co-production between Korea and Germany, made to celebrate the 125th year of diplomatic relations between the two countries, 압록강은 흐른다 (Der Yalu Fließt) is not only a very faithful adaptation of the original (the first episode is more or less the novel’s content, while the remaining two talk about the rest of Li’s life in Germany), but also a throwback to the great period dramas of the early to mid 90s, like 카레이스키 (Kareisky) and 여명의 눈동자 (Eyes of Dawn). Its slow paced and poetic prose might feel out of place in today’s K-drama industry, so preoccupied with shallow glitz and glamour, but it’s with substance and narrative fundamentals that this drama succeed on almost all accounts, as one of the best overlooked gems of the year.

SUBTITLES:
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ZIPPED SUBTITLES – All Episodes

EPISODE 1
Main Translator & Timer: MisterX
Timing QC: Zealousy
Editor/QC: szhoang
Coordinators: mily2, ay_link

EPISODE 2
Main Translator & Timer: MisterX
Timing QC: szhoang
Editor/QC: szhoang
Coordinators: mily2, ay_link

EPISODE 3
Main Translator & Timer: MisterX
Timing QC: selvaspeedy
Editor/QC: szhoang
Coordinators: mily2, ay_link