The new SBS drama "One Warm Word" is notable for a few reasons. On a serious note, it's an interesting drama that explores marriage and divorce from a uniquely Korean perspective. It focuses on what it takes to make a marriage work and who it affects when a marriage doesn't. The rate of divorce is growing rapidly in South Korea and that's changing the fabric of family-focused Korean culture.
But the drama has also drawn plenty of netizen comments for a far less serious reason, namely the attractive actors who play the lead roles.
Lee Sang Woo plays Kim Sung Woo, a man trying to preserve his marriage. He works hard to get his wife Na Eun Jin to forgive him for cheating but doesn't yet know she also cheated on him. They discuss divorce but seeing how a divorce would hurt those around them, they decide to give their marriage another try. Na Eun Jin, played by Han Hye Jin, is sure that once her husband knows about her affair it's all over anyway. Lee Sang Woo, who previously appeared in "Childless Comfort," "Goddess of Marriage" and "Horse Doctor," does a good job of playing a clueless husband. Though it's easy to see why Kim Sung Woo's marriage with Na Eun Jin is in trouble, it's still a stretch to imagine cheating on anyone so appealing.
But Han Hye Jin does cheat and she does so with the character Yoon Hae Jak, played by Ji Jin Hee. The actor, who appeared in "Dating Agency: Cyrano" and "The Great Seer," plays a man who thinks he's beyond moral judgement. Everyone in the drama recognizes his character's chiseled good looks but he's not a very warm or likeable character. He is not very nice to the wife he cheats on, even before he goes astray.
Park Seo Joon, who appeared in "Dream High," plays the younger brother of Yoon Hae Jak's wife, Song Mi Kyung, played by Kim Ji Su. He's a sweet and serious character who falls for the sister of Han Hye Jin's character. And he's also quite good looking.
As in many other dramas, the heroine is in the middle of a love triangle, but since she's married that's not a good place to be. The affair between Ji Jin Hee and Han Hye Jin threatens to unravel both their marriages and disrupt the lives every family member that depends on them. Although the cast of attractive stars makes the drama easier to watch, the dilemma Han Hye Jin faces is a painful one and will be complicated to resolve.
