I'm Sorry, I Love You is a 2004 South Korean television drama series starring So Ji-sub and Im Soo-jung. It aired on KBS2 from November 8 to December 28, 2004, on Mondays and Tuesdays for 16 episodes. The series was a success and had Turkish, Chinese Thai and Japanese remakes. A new version was announced to celebrate its 20th anniversary.

Synopsis

Cha Moo-hyuk is a part-time scam artist working the streets of Australia. He was abandoned by his parents as a child and adopted by a couple in Australia. However, he was mistreated by his foster parents and thus roams the streets, cheating tourists out of their money. It is through one of these scams that he bumps into Song Eun-chae. Eun-chae is the fashion coordinator and childhood friend of a famous Korean singer, Choi Yoon. She sees Yoon as her life's focal point, and does everything she can to please him. Yoon visits Melbourne, Australia to do a photoshoot with another famous Korean actress, Kang Min-joo. Yoon asks Eun-chae to get him close to Min-joo, and though it breaks Eun-chae's heart, she does so. One day, Eun-chae's luggage and money are stolen by the same band of criminals as Moo-hyuk. Tired, hungry and helpless, she wanders the streets until she bumps into Moo-hyuk who, moved by her plight, manages to find the stuff stolen by his gang, and returns it to her. She returns to Korea and bumps into Min-joo and Yoon, who are now a couple. Several weeks later, Moo-hyuk receives an invitation to his ex-girlfriend's wedding. At the wedding, he is accidentally shot twice in the head when someone attempts an assassination on his ex-girlfriend's husband. The doctor saves him but can only remove one bullet, as the remaining bullet is lodged too deeply and cannot be surgically removed. It's killing him, and he has no longer than a year to live. Guilt-stricken, his ex-girlfriend gives him a stash of cash and tells him to go back to his native Korea to find his birth parents. He does so, and finds out that his mother is famous Korean actress, Audrey. Her son is Choi Yoon, and both mother and son are adored by the public. Moo-hyuk can't help but feel betrayed because his mother is doing so well in life, whilst he is suffering and has little time left. He vows revenge and starts by getting close to Yoon, becoming his road manager. He plots to bring Yoon and his mother down, but also falls in love with Eun-chae. Yoon becomes injured in a car accident, and will die without a heart transplant. Moo-hyuk is suddenly faced with the decision of saving his brother, or letting him die as revenge. Moo-hyuk then finds out that his mother did not abandon him. His mother had an affair with a married man, and Audrey's parents instructed Eun-chae's father (then Audrey's chauffeur) to give away Moo-hyuk and his twin sister as soon as they were born. Audrey was not cognizant of the fact that she had given birth to twins, and was simply told that her child had died. Eun-chae's father thought he was "saving" Audrey's reputation. Audrey had adopted Yoon in memory of her son. Eun-chae's father admits to the truth and tells Moo-hyuk he is willing to accept any punishment, and Moo-hyuk replies that one day he will receive it. Moo-hyuk kills himself in a motorcycle accident so that his heart can be transplanted into Yoon. Before his death, he calls Eun-chae and tells her, "I'm sorry. I love you." His heart is given to Yoon, who makes a full recovery. One year later, a heartbroken Eun-chae goes to Melbourne and to his grave, and dies next to it with a small red bottle, leading the viewer to believe she committed suicide by drinking poison. This is the punishment that Eun-chae's father receives — the death of his own daughter.

Cast

Main

Supporting

Others

Soundtrack

The original soundtrack of the series was released as two parts by BMG (KR). The first part was released on November 15, 2004 and the second one on December 24, 2004.

Track listing

Ratings

Source: TNSMK Media Korea

Awards and nominations

In popular culture

International broadcast

Animation

G&G Entertainment released a 35-minute animated version of the drama, titled Between of One Year, consisting of highlights from the drama and new scenes dealing with the year following Moo-hyuk's death and before Eun-chae commits suicide. The script was supervised by the writer of the original live-action drama, Lee Kyung-hee. It was released on DVD on February 6, 2008.

Remakes