"Valid Love" is the latest k-drama to tackle the tricky subject of divorce. Not quite done with its run, viewers may wonder if Lee Si Young's character will return to her almost ex-husband, played by Uhm Tae Woong or choose her other love, played by Lee Soo Hyuk. While Lee Soo Hyuk has those model good looks going for him and Uhm Tae Woong's character acted like a baby after learning about his wife's almost affair, the k-drama odds favor a return to her husband. That's what happens in most k-dramas about divorce and the break-up of long-term relationships.
Like last year's divorce drama, "One Warm Word," "Valid Love" does a good job of showing the family fall out of divorce Korean style. Lee Si Young's character does not just lose her husband but also her in-laws and the break-up also hurts her mother. In a country where marriage involves plenty of family obligations, divorce negatively affects many relationships. But in "One Warm Word" adultery did not prevent both couples from reconciling, albeit with new ground rules for marriage.
In "Emergency Couple," the divorcees played by Choi Jin Hyuk and Song Ji Hyo reunited at the end, despite other romantic offers. In "Cunning Single Lady," the older and wiser couple played by Lee Min Jung and Joo Sang Wook realized they were meant for each other.
Even if a couple was not married, a woman's first love won out. Last year's romantic comedy "Discovery of Love" showed the heroine, played by Jung Yu Mi, returning to her first love, the man she spent five years with. While Eric Moon's character was a great-and persistent-suitor, her current boyfriend was also very worthy.
The dramas seem to imply that your first love is your best love. But what is really so great about your first love in real life? Most people are too young and impulsive to make a rational decision about a life mate the first time they love.
The only recent divorce drama that did not reunite the spouses in the process of getting a divorce or after a divorce was "Temptation," starring Choi Ji Woo and Kwon Sang Woo. The original couple, composed of Kwon Sang Woo and Park Ha Sun, split up and stayed apart, although they eventually became friends. And he was happier with his new wife.
In real life, few divorced couples reconcile.
Will Lee Si Young's character in "Valid Love" return to her husband and first love? According to k-drama rules of divorce logic, yes, but the drama may yet surprise viewers.
