Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-sin

Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-sin (Hangul: 불멸의 이순신; RR: Bulmyeolui I Sun-sin; lit. "The Immortal Yi Sun-sin") is a South Korean television series based on the life of Yi Sun-sin, starring Kim Myung-min in the title role. It aired on KBS1 from September 4, 2004 to August 28, 2005 on Saturdays and Sundays at 21:45 for 104 episodes.

The series filmed on location at the actual battle sites. It made extensive use of rendered images and a reconstruction of a turtle ship. Due to the preparation needed, the show took many months to produce.

Plot

It is late 1598, shortly before the Battle of Noryang, the final confrontation of the Imjin War. The remnants of the Japanese invasion force are desperate to go home, but are also driven by personal motivation to beat their greatest adversary, Admiral Yi Sun-sin, once and for all. Self-serving Ming generals and Joseon officials also fear Yi's growing popularity and its impact on their personal base of power. These incidentally combining ambitions fan King Seonjo's paranoia and make him eventually fear that Yi might come after his throne, and after a series of what he calls acts of high treason, he decides to have Yi arrested.

Yi, on the other hand, is determined to teach the Japanese a lesson for the atrocities they committed on the Korean people, and despite orders to remain quiet while the Japanese are to pull out without anymore bloodshed, he rallies his naval force and prepares for the upcoming engagement. The battle commences and the Japanese are dealt a crippling blow, but Yi is fatally wounded by an arquebuse bullet. As he lies dying, the plot backtracks on the important events of Yi's life, from his boyhood to his military career, his efforts before and during the Japanese invasion, his disgrace at the hands of his king, and his reinstatement, back to the battle of Noryang, where he succumbs to his wound just as victory is declared.

Cast

Main characters

• Kim Myung-min as Yi Sun-sin
• Choi Jae-sung as Won Gyun
• Lee Jae-ryong as Yu Seong-ryong, Prime Minister of Joseon
• Choi Cheol-ho as King Seonjo
• Kim Kyu-chul as Im Chun-soo

Supporting characters

Artistic license in the series

The drama has been the focus of some attention due to historical inaccuracies, explained away with artistic license, though it concerns some that it may be promoting itself as based on fact.^[1]

When Admiral Yi is portrayed as a boy, he is shown to be a weak, shy, and lonely boy though common belief is that he had leadership and creativity at an early age. Nevertheless, he is portrayed to display those qualities as a growing man, unable to avert his eyes from social injustice.

Instead of vilifying Won Gyun, a Korean admiral who contributed to the jailing of Admiral Yi for jealous reasons, Won Gyun is portrayed as a strong and smart, but very hot-tempered man who befriends and leads Yi throughout his early life. This deviates from the common belief that Won Gyun had always conspired against Yi. In the show, his jealousy and rivalry is portrayed in his later years as a veteran commander when he begins to show his arrogance as one of Joseon's strongest warriors, refusing to follow along with what he deems to be Yi's cowardly tactics and treachery to the king. His betrayal to Yi is explained through the show's ongoing politics and his inability to distinguish military merits from protection of the people. There is much debate about this positive portrayal of Won Gyun as recent research suggests that he may have been excessively vilified during the Park Chung-hee administration.^[2] Reception and reviews have since been positive with much praise for the show's emphasis for humanity and their portrayal of Won Gyun.

Awards and nominations

• 2004 4th KBS Right Language Awards: Kim Myung-min
• 2005 41st Baeksang Arts Awards: Best TV Director - Lee Sung-joo
• 2005 41st Baeksang Arts Awards: Best TV Drama (Nominated)
• 2005 41st Baeksang Arts Awards: Best TV Actor - Kim Myung-min (Nominated)
• 2005 18th Grimae Awards: Best Actor - Kim Myung-min
• 2005 KBS Drama Awards: Best Supporting Actor - Park Chul-min
• 2005 KBS Drama Awards: Grand Prize (Daesang) - Kim Myung-min
• 2006 18th Producers Awards of Korea: Best Performer - Kim Myung-min
• 2006 33rd Korean Broadcasting Awards: Best TV Actor - Kim Myung-min

International broadcast

The series also aired in the United States and China in 2005 via KBS World.^[3][4]

References

External links

• Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-sin official KBS website (Korean)
• Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-sin at HanCinema
• Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-sin at the Internet Movie Database