Dear Heaven

South Korean TV series or program

Love in Heaven
Dear God

Hangul

하늘이시여

Literal meaningDear SkyRevised RomanizationHaneurisiyeo Genre

Melodrama
Romance

Written byIm Sung-hanDirected by

Lee Young-hee
Shin Yoon-seob

Starring

Yoon Jung-hee
Lee Tae-gon
Cho Yeon-woo
Lee Soo-kyung
Wang Bit-na

Country of originSouth KoreaOriginal languageKoreanNo. of episodes85ProductionExecutive producerYoon Young-mukProducers

Jo Dong-suk
Lee Hyun-suk

Running time60 minutesProduction companiesKorean Broadcasting Entertainment for Satellite & Terrestrial (K-BEST), Inc.Original releaseNetworkSBS TVRelease10 September 2005 (2005-09-10) –
2 July 2006 (2006-07-02)

Dear Heaven (Korean: 하늘이시여) is a South Korean television series starring Yoon Jung-hee, Lee Tae-gon,^[1] Cho Yeon-woo, Lee Soo-kyung, and Wang Bit-na. It aired on SBS TV from September 10, 2005, to July 2, 2006, on Saturdays and Sundays at 20:45 for 85 episodes.

According to AGB Nielsen Media Research, it was the 5th highest rated TV program in Korea for the year 2006, with an average rating of 28.3%, and a peak rating of 44.5%.^[2]

The popular soap opera invited both criticism and high ratings for its provocative plot. The story revolved around a middle-aged woman who introduces her handsome news anchor stepson to her abandoned daughter, who had led a miserable life because of a cruel stepmother. It triggered controversy when the woman was revealed as the girl's biological mother. Viewers were divided on whether it was "immoral" and "incestuous" or a fresh take on relationship dramas, but director Lee Young-hee insisted that the show's theme was "deep maternal love, with a mother reclaiming her own daughter as a daughter-in-law in order to atone for having abandoned her as a baby."^[3]

Plot

When she was very young, Ji Young-sun (Han Hye-sook) gave away her baby Lee Ja-kyung after giving birth to her. She later remarries and creates a new family, but soon after, her husband dies, leaving her behind with her stepson Gu Wang-mo (Lee Tae-gon), and her daughter Gu Seul-ah (Lee Soo-kyung).

Now grown and a makeup artist, Lee Ja-kyung (Yoon Jung-hee) finds herself adrift with loneliness since her foster parents died when she was a child. She fell in love with her step-uncle but his family shuns her, dashing away any hopes of being with him. Deciding to focus on her career and find a new love, she meets Wang-mo, a TV news anchor.

Young-sun has been searching for the daughter whom she had abandoned in her youth. As if guided by the hand of fate, she discovers that Ja-kyung is already going out with Young-sun's own stepson, Wang-mo. In order to keep her secret daughter by her side, Young-sun does everything in her power to marry Ja-kyung to Wang-mo, and eventually succeeds. The two women form a curious double relationship, as at once mother/daughter and mother-in-law/daughter-in-law.

Cast

Yoon Jung-hee as Lee Ja-kyung^[4]
Lee Tae-gon as Gu Wang-mo

Gu family

Han Hye-sook as Ji Young-sun
Lee Soo-kyung as Gu Seul-ah
Jung Hye-sun as Hwang Maria (paternal grandmother)

Kang family

Wang Bit-na as Kang Ye-ri (TV news anchor)
Kang Ji-sub as Kang Yi-ri (brother)
Hyun Suk as Kang Dong-choon (father)
Lee Bo-hee as Kim Mi-hyang (mother)
Park Hae-mi as Kim Bae-deuk (aunt, Mi-hyang's sister)^[5]

Lee family

Im Chae-moo as Lee Hong-pa (Young-sun's first love)
Ban Hyo-jung as Mo Ran-shil (Hong-pa's mother)
Kim Young-ran as Bong Eun-ji (Hong-pa's wife)

Extended cast

Cho Yeon-woo as Kim Cheong-ha (movie star)
Geum Dan-bi as Mun-ok (Ja-kyung's friend)
Lee Sook as Bae-deuk's friend
Lee Dae-ro as Bae-deuk's dancing partner

Awards

2005 SBS Drama Awards

New Star Award: Cho Yeon-woo
New Star Award: Lee Tae-gon
New Star Award: Yoon Jung-hee

2006 SBS Drama Awards

Grand Prize (Daesang): Han Hye-sook^[6]
Top 10 Stars: Han Hye-sook

References

^ "Lovebirds". The Dong-a Ilbo. 16 March 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-10-13. Retrieved 2013-04-20.
^ "Dramas Sweep the Top 10 Ratings List". KBS Global. 5 February 2007. Archived from the original on 2 July 2013. Retrieved 2013-04-20.
^ "New SBS Drama Sparks Morality Controversy Even Before Its First Episode Airs". The Dong-a Ilbo. 8 September 2005. Archived from the original on 2014-11-13. Retrieved 2013-04-20.
^ "Yoon Jung-hee Overcame Her Fears on Way to Blissful". The Chosun Ilbo. 9 March 2007. Archived from the original on 2014-08-19. Retrieved 2013-04-20.
^ Oh, Jean (2 October 2008). "Youthful drama targets weekend audience". The Korea Herald. Archived from the original on 2022-07-05. Retrieved 2013-04-20.
^ Chung, Ah-young (1 January 2007). "Broadcasters Award Top-Rated Dramas". The Korea Times via Hancinema. Archived from the original on 2008-09-07. Retrieved 2013-04-20.