Piano (TV series)

This article is about The South Korean TV series. For The British TV series, see The Piano (TV series).

2001 South Korean TV series or program

Piano

Genre| Romance
Melodrama
Written by| Kim Kyu-wan
Lee Young-chul
Directed by| Oh Jong-rok
Starring| Cho Jae-hyun
Go Soo
Kim Ha-neul
Zo In-sung
Country of origin| South Korea
Original language| Korean
No. of episodes| 16
Production
Production location| Korea
Running time| Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55 (KST)
Production company| JS Pictures
Original release
Network| Seoul Broadcasting System
Release| 21 November 2001 (2001-11-21) –
10 January 2002 (2002-01-10)

Piano (Korean: 피아노) is a 2001 South Korean television series starring Cho Jae-hyun, Go Soo, Kim Ha-neul and Zo In-sung. It aired on SBS from November 21, 2001 to January 10, 2002 on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55 for 16 episodes.[1]

A melodrama about a father's love for his children and a forbidden romance between stepsiblings, Piano received high ratings during its airing, as well as acting recognition at the year-end network awards ceremony.[2]

## Synopsis

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Han Eok-kwan (Cho Jae-hyun) is a ruthless, foul-mouthed small-time gangster in Busan. When fellow gangster Dok-sa (Lee Jae-yong) betrays their boss Byun Hak-soo (Im Dong-jin) to take his place as the new boss, Eok-kwan is exiled from the gang. Then a former lover contacts him to meet her in Seoul, but once he gets there, all he finds is a 10-year-old boy named Jae-soo, who claims to be his son. At first he plans to abandon the boy, but unable to do it, ends up raising him.

Shin Hye-rim (Jo Min-su) is a widow with two children, 12-year-old daughter Soo-ah and 10-year-old son Kyung-ho. After her husband, a district attorney, dies, she leaves Seoul with her children and moves to Busan, where she opens a piano school. Eok-kwan falls head over heels in love with the piano teacher, and they later marry.

Shortly after, Hye-rim dies in a boating accident. Soo-ah and Kyung-ho, who've always resented their new stepfather, blame him for her death and try to leave the family home, but Eok-kwan begs them to stay. Transformed into a loving and hardworking father, he raises the three children to the best of his abilities.

A few years pass, and all three children, and their sister Joo-hee (played by Kim Hee-jung first, then by Jung Da-hye), are now young adults. Unbeknownst to Eok-kwan, his biological son Jae-soo (Go Soo) and stepdaughter Soo-ah (Kim Ha-neul) are deeply in love with each other. Though not related by blood, they know that a romantic relationship between them would be taboo, so they suppress their feelings. After Kyung-ho kills a man attempting to rape Soo-ah, Jae-soo takes the rap and goes to prison in his place, with his spotless record ensuring a short sentence. Kyung-ho escapes to Seoul.

When Jae-soo is released from prison after several years, he studies to become a doctor. Soo-ah meanwhile works at a record shop. Kyung-ho, still a rebellious and angry young man, returns to Busan and becomes involved in the city's criminal underworld.

## Cast

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### Main cast

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* Cho Jae-hyun as Han Eok-kwan[3]
* Go Soo as Han Jae-soo[4]
* Kim Hak-joon as young Jae-soo
* Kim Ha-neul as Lee Soo-ah
* Kang Bo-kyung as young Soo-ah
* Zo In-sung as Lee Kyung-ho[5]
* Choi Tae-joon as young Kyung-ho
* Jo Min-su as Shin Hye-rim, widow of In Hak

### Supporting cast

[edit]

* Jo Hyung-ki as Si-sook
* Jung Da-hye as Han Joo-hee (daughter of Eok-kwan and Hye-rim, paternal sister of Jae-soo, and maternal sister of Kyung-ho and Soo-ah)
* Kim Hee-jung as young Joo-hee
* Kim Young-chan as Jae-min
* Lee Jae-yong as Dok-sa
* Jung Sung-hwan as Young-tak
* Kim Ha-kyun as Deputy section chief Oh
* Im Dong-jin as Byun Hak-soo
* Yang Geum-seok as Kim In-soon
* Hwang In-young as Woo Min-kyung
* Song Jae-ho as Dr. Woo
* Baek Seung-hyeon as Kyung-ho's friend
* Im Dae-ho as bakery employee
* Jo Sang-ki as bakery employee
* Shin Seung-hwan as Suk-chol, gangster, Kyung-ho's enemy
* Lee Bo-hee as Lee Eun-shim
* Hong Yeo-jin as Mok-po's Neighbor of Han Eok-kwan
* Kim Ji-young as sister-in-law of Shin Hye-rim
* Jo Hyung-ki [ko] as brother-in-law of Shin Hye-rim
* Kim Young-mi [ko] as Jang Eun-ji

## Rating

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Piano was the second most successful drama of 2001, only being surpassed by Ladies of the Palace. The highest rating that the show reached was 40.2%.

## Awards

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2001 SBS Drama Awards

* Top Excellence Award, Actor: Cho Jae-hyun
* Excellence Award, Actress: Kim Ha-neul
* New Star Award: Go Soo
* New Star Award: Zo In-sung
* Popularity Award: Go Soo
* Top 10 Stars: Cho Jae-hyun

## References

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1. ^ "Piano". KoreanWiz. Archived from the original on March 25, 2004. Retrieved 2013-08-24.
2. ^ 탤런트 고수, SBS 드라마 '피아노'에 출연. JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). 29 January 2002. Retrieved 2013-08-24.
3. ^ Chung, Ah-young (24 January 2007). "Charismatic Actor to Star in Award-Winning Play". The Korea Times via Hancinema. Retrieved 2013-08-24.
4. ^ Wee, Geun-woo (4 November 2010). "INTERVIEW: Actor Ko Soo - Part 2". 10Asia. Retrieved 2013-08-24.
5. ^ Chung, Ah-young (25 April 2007). "Top Movie Star Jo In-seong Dropped From University". The Korea Times via Hancinema. Retrieved 2013-08-24.

## External links

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* Piano official SBS website (in Korean)
* Piano official SBS videos website (in Korean)
* Piano at HanCinema

*[No.]: Number