East of Eden
Promotional poster for East of Eden
Genre	Action Romance
Written by	Na Yeon-sook Lee Hong-ku
Directed by	Kim Jin-man Choi Byeong-kil
Starring	Song Seung-heon Yeon Jung-hoon Lee Da-hae Han Ji-hye Lee Yeon-hee Park Hae-jin
Music by	Kim Soo-han
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	56
Production
Executive producer	So Won-young
Producers	Kim Kwang-soo Kim Kwang-il Kim Ki-bum
Production locations	South Korea Hong Kong Macau Philippines
Cinematography	Ha Jae-young Jung Seung-woo
Editor	Bae Hee-kyung
Production companies	Core Contents Media Jellybox Chorokbaem Media
Budget	₩25 billion
Original release
Network	MBC TV
Release	August 25, 2008 (2008-08-25) – March 10, 2009 (2009-03-10)

East of Eden (Korean: 에덴의 동쪽; RR: Eden-ui Dong-jjok) is a 2008 South Korean television series, starring Song Seung-heon,^[1] Yeon Jung-hoon, Lee Da-hae, Han Ji-hye,^[2] Park Hae-jin and Lee Yeon-hee. It was produced by Chorokbaem Media as a 47th Anniversary Special Project Drama for MBC, on which it aired from August 25, 2008, to March 10, 2009, on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 for 56 episodes. The ₩25 billion drama tells the story of the brothers Dong-chul (Song) and Dong-wook (Yeon). Their fates diverge after the murder of their coal miner father, with one joining the mob and the other becoming a successful lawyer.^[3][4][5]

Plot

A period epic that spans the years 1960 to 2000s, East of Eden tells a saga of the bitter rivalry between two men who are eternally bound by fate. Historic events are referenced, such as the rapid industrialization of the 1970s and 1980s, Taebaek coal miners' strikes and student-led democracy movements.

Shin Tae-hwan (Jo Min-ki) is the managing director of a coal mine in Taebaek. The true embodiment of ruthless ambition, he strives to inherit the coal mining company Taesung Group. In the process, he kills Lee Ki-chul (Lee Jong-won), a miner crusading for worker's rights who has been blocking his path to success. He also seduces Yoo Mi-ae (Shin Eun-jung), a nurse at Taebaek Hospital, only to coldly brush her away after he's tired of her.

At the same moment that Yang Chun-hee (Lee Mi-sook), wife of the deceased Ki-chul, is giving birth to a son at Taebaek Hospital, Shin Tae-hwan's wife also gives birth to a baby boy. Filled with rage at Shin Tae-hwan's betrayal, the nurse Mi-ae comes up with a scheme to fulfill her own revenge. She switches the two babies. By doing so, she viciously transforms the fates of not just two lives, but those around them.

Years later, Chun-hee's sons Lee Dong-chul (Song Seung-heon) and Lee Dong-wook (Yeon Jung-hoon) have taken different paths in life. To alleviate their poverty, Dong-chul becomes a gangster, while the younger Dong-wook dreams of becoming a prosecutor to avenge his family by using the law against Shin Tae-hwan. Two women enter Dong-chul's life: the smart and sensible Min Hye-rin (Lee Da-hae), and Gook Young-ran (Lee Yeon-hee), the willful daughter of his gang boss (Yoo Dong-geun). Meanwhile, Shin Myung-hoon (Park Hae-jin), who's been molded in his father Tae-hwan's spiteful, selfish image, sets his eye on Kim Ji-hyun (Han Ji-hye), Dong-wook's sweetheart.

Although Dong-chul is on the other side of the law, he remains protective of Dong-wook, but a revelation shakes him to his core: that his nemesis Shin Myung-hoon is actually his biological brother while the beloved brother that had been beside him all these years is actually the biological son of his enemy.

Cast

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• East of Eden official MBC website (in Korean)
• East of Eden at MBC Global Media
• East of Eden at HanCinema
• East of Eden at IMDb