# When the Camellia Blooms

When the Camellia Blooms (Korean: 동백꽃 필 무렵) is a 2019 South Korean television series starring Gong Hyo-jin, Kang Ha-neul, and Kim Ji-seok. It aired on KBS2's Wednesdays and Thursdays at 22:00 (KST) from September 18 to November 21, 2019. Each episode was released on Netflix in South Korea and most Asia-Pacific and English speaking countries after their television broadcast.
When the Camellia Blooms became the highest rated mini-series drama airing in 2019 with a single episode rating of 23.8%. According to Nielsen Korea, the drama also became the second highest rated drama of 2019 with all episodes' average ratings of 14.83% behind SBS's The Fiery Priest. The series was met with praise by critics and audiences for its production and solid actors' performances. It also received favourable reviews for its realistic plot and unique genre combinations of romantic-comedy and thriller.
When the Camellia Blooms received 10 nominations at the 56th Baeksang Arts Awards, winning 4 – Grand Prize for Television, Best Screenplay, Best Actor for Kang Ha-neul and Best Supporting Actor for Oh Jung-se, and won multiple awards at 2019 KBS Drama Awards including Grand Prize for Gong Hyo-jin.

## Synopsis

When the Camellia Blooms is the story of Oh Dong-baek (Gong Hyo-jin), a single mother who moves to the fictional town of Ongsan and opens a bar named Camellia. Dong-baek faces many challenges and meets a variety of colourful characters as she attempts to settle down in the small town. Six years later, Dong-baek meets playful Yong-sik (Kang Ha-neul), a justice seeking police officer who declares his love for her. Meanwhile, a notorious killer sets out to claim Dong-baek as his next victim. Yong-sik balances his attempts to woo Dong-baek who does her best as a single working mother, while also discovering the killer’s identity.

## Cast
### Main

* Gong Hyo-jin as Oh Dong-baek
    A single mother who runs a bar called "Camellia" in Ongsan. She is the mother of Pil-gu and ex-girlfriend to Jong-ryul. Although initially she does not reciprocate Yong-sik's feelings, she eventually grows to like him the more he spends time with her and her son.
* Kang Ha-neul as Hwang Yong-sik
    A police officer with a strong instinct for finding and beating up criminals. He moves back to his hometown Ongsan after being demoted and there he meets and falls for Dong-baek. He vows to always be on her side and protect both her and her son, even at his mother's disapproval. He becomes focused on catching the serial killer known as "Joker" after Dong-baek becomes his next target.
* Kim Ji-seok as Kang Jong-ryul
    A famous baseball player and ex-boyfriend to Dong-baek. He is shown to be continuously self-centered and jealous of Yong-sik's relationship with Dong-baek and Pil-gu.
* Ji Yi-soo as Jessica / Park Sang-mi
    Wife to Jong-ryul she's insecure and mainly focuses on trying to be a social media icon. She is mostly neglectful of her daughter and takes advantage of her relationship with Jong-ryul for fame.
* Oh Jung-se as No Gyu-tae
    Dong-baek's landlord, who repeatedly hits on her. He is unhappily married to Ja-young.
* Yeom Hye-ran as Hong Ja-young
    A very intelligent lawyer and wife to Gyu-tae. She often talks down to her husband because of his incompetency.
* Son Dam-bi as Choi Hyang-mi / Choi Go-woon
    A part time employee at Camellia and Dong-baek's friend. She is a kleptomaniac. She often talks about moving to Copenhagen and is always looking for ways to gain enough money, leading her to blackmail others. She died before the first episode and the series goes through flashbacks.
* Kim Kang-hoon as Kang Pil-gu
    Dong-baek's 8-year-old son, who plays baseball and is very protective of his mother.
* Go Doo-shim as Kwak Deok-soon
    Yong-sik's widowed mother who runs a marinated crab restaurant in Ongsan.
* Jeon Bae-soo as Byun Bae-soo
    The chief police in Ongsan and Yong-sik's superior.
* Lee Jung-eun as Jo Jung-sook
    Dong-baek's mother who abandoned her as a child.

### Supporting
#### Ongsan Crab Alley

* Kim Sun-young as Park Chan-sook
* Kim Dong-hyeon as Song Jin-bae
* Kim Mi-hwa as Kim Jae-yeong
* Lee Seon-hee as Jeong Gwi-ryeon
* Han Ye-joo as Jo Ae-jeong
* Lee Sang-yi as Yang Seung-yeop
* Kim Mo-ah as Yang Seung-hee
* Baek Hyun-joo as Oh Ji-hyeon
* Lee Joong-yeol as Han Tae-hee
* Jin Yong-wook as Choi Jong-rok
* Lee Kyu-sung as Park Heung-sik
* Carson Allen as Helena

#### Ongsan Police

* Lee Jae-woo as Kwon Oh-joon
* Park Yeon-woo as Park Seong-min

#### Others

* Hwang Young-hee as Lee Hwa-ja
* Baek Eun-hye as Sung-hee
* Lee Jin-hee as Geum-ok
* Yoo Yeon as Lee Ji-ho
* Jeon Guk-hyang as Hong Eun-sil
* Kim Geon as Song Joon-gi
* Yoon Seong-woo as Soo-bong
* Seo Jang-hyeon as Dae-seong
* Kim Dae-gon as Shaman performing funeral
* Jang Ye-rim as restaurant employee
* Jeong Eun-jeong as waitress
* Park Bo-eun as staff
* Kyeong Gi-hyeon as staff
* Kim Han-na as Hye-in
* Kang Tae-woong as Number 7
* Kwon Eun-seong as Hye-hoon
* Jeon Eun-mi as co-op member
* Hong Seo-joon as Jeong Chan-geol
* Kim Gi-cheon as Park Man-seop

### Special appearances

* Choi Dae-chul as Hwang Kyu-sik, Yong-sik's eldest brother (Ep. 26)
* In Gyo-jin as Hwang Doo-sik, Yong-sik's second brother (Ep. 26)
* Jung Ga-ram as adult Pil-gu (Ep. 36, 40)

## Original soundtrack
### Chart performance

| Title | Year | Peak positions | Remarks | Ref. |
| Title | Year | KOR | Remarks | Ref. |
| "Like A Heroine In The Movie" (영화 속에 나오는 주인공처럼) (Punch) | 2019 | 55 | Part 6 | |

## Viewership

| Episodes | Episodes | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number |
| Episodes | Episodes | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| | 1–10 | 1.019 | 1.271 | 1.112 | 1.377 | 1.453 | 1.662 | 1.228 | 1.629 | 1.597 | 2.033 |
| | 11–20 | 1.782 | 2.290 | 2.054 | 2.415 | 1.900 | 2.561 | 1.943 | 2.378 | 2.198 | 2.713 |
| | 21–30 | 2.360 | 3.156 | 2.386 | 2.960 | 2.651 | 3.179 | 2.722 | 3.376 | 2.774 | 3.383 |
| | 31–40 | 2.852 | 3.511 | 3.410 | 3.940 | 2.564 | 3.305 | 3.445 | 3.944 | 3.670 | 4.491 |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
| 2019 | 13th Korean Media Awards | Best TV Show on Digital Terrestrial Television | When the Camellia Blooms | Won |
| 2019 | 2019 KBS Drama Awards | Grand Prize (Daesang) | Gong Hyo-jin | Won |
| 2019 | 2019 KBS Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actor | Kang Ha-neul | Won |
| 2019 | 2019 KBS Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actress | Go Doo-shim | Nominated |
| 2019 | 2019 KBS Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actress | Gong Hyo-jin | Nominated |
| 2019 | 2019 KBS Drama Awards | Excellence Award, Actor in a Mid-length Drama | Kang Ha-neul | Nominated |
| 2019 | 2019 KBS Drama Awards | Excellence Award, Actor in a Mid-length Drama | Kim Ji-suk | Won |
| 2019 | 2019 KBS Drama Awards | Excellence Award, Actress in a Mid-length Drama | Go Doo-shim | Nominated |
| 2019 | 2019 KBS Drama Awards | Excellence Award, Actress in a Mid-length Drama | Gong Hyo-jin | Nominated |
| 2019 | 2019 KBS Drama Awards | Excellence Award, Actress in a Mid-length Drama | Lee Jung-eun | Won |
| 2019 | 2019 KBS Drama Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Jeon Bae-soo | Nominated |
| 2019 | 2019 KBS Drama Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Oh Jung-se | Won |
| 2019 | 2019 KBS Drama Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Kim Sun-young | Nominated |
| 2019 | 2019 KBS Drama Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Yeom Hye-ran | Won |
| 2019 | 2019 KBS Drama Awards | Best Child Actor | Kim Kang-hoon | Won |
| 2019 | 2019 KBS Drama Awards | Best Child Actress | Kim Dan-woo | Nominated |
| 2019 | 2019 KBS Drama Awards | Best Child Actress | Seo Yi-soo | Nominated |
| 2019 | 2019 KBS Drama Awards | Best New Actress | Son Dam-bi | Won |
| 2019 | 2019 KBS Drama Awards | Netizen Award, Actor | Kang Ha-neul | Won |
| 2019 | 2019 KBS Drama Awards | Netizen Award, Actor | Kim Ji-seok | Nominated |
| 2019 | 2019 KBS Drama Awards | Netizen Award, Actor | Oh Jung-se | Nominated |
| 2019 | 2019 KBS Drama Awards | Netizen Award, Actress | Gong Hyo-jin | Nominated |
| 2019 | 2019 KBS Drama Awards | Netizen Award, Actress | Lee Jung-eun | Nominated |
| 2019 | 2019 KBS Drama Awards | Netizen Award, Actress | Son Dam-bi | Nominated |
| 2019 | 2019 KBS Drama Awards | Best Couple Award | Gong Hyo-jin and Kang Ha-neul | Won |
| 2019 | 2019 KBS Drama Awards | Best Couple Award | Oh Jung-se and Yeom Hye-ran | Won |
| 2019 | 2019 KBS Drama Awards | Best Couple Award | Kim Ji-seok and Kim Kang-hoon | Nominated |
| 2019 | 2019 KBS Drama Awards | Best Writer | Lim Sang-choon | Won |
| 2020 | 32nd Korea Producer Awards | Best Drama | When the Camellia Blooms | Won |
| 2020 | 56th Baeksang Arts Awards | Grand Prize (Daesang) | When the Camellia Blooms | Won |
| 2020 | 56th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Drama | When the Camellia Blooms | Nominated |
| 2020 | 56th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Director | Cha Yeong-hoon | Nominated |
| 2020 | 56th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Screenplay | Lim Sang-choon | Won |
| 2020 | 56th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Actor | Kang Ha-neul | Won |
| 2020 | 56th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Actress | Gong Hyo-jin | Nominated |
| 2020 | 56th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Oh Jung-se | Won |
| 2020 | 56th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Son Dam-bi | Nominated |
| 2020 | 56th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Yeom Hye-ran | Nominated |
| 2020 | 56th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best New Actor | Kim Kang-hoon | Nominated |
| 2020 | 47th Korea Broadcasting Awards | Best TV Drama | When the Camellia Blooms | Won |
| 2020 | 47th Korea Broadcasting Awards | Best Screenwriter | Lim Sang-choon | Won |
| 2020 | 47th Korea Broadcasting Awards | Best Actor | Kang Ha-neul | Won |
| 2020 | 15th Seoul International Drama Awards | Best Mini-Series | When the Camellia Blooms | Nominated |
| 2020 | 15th Seoul International Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award for Korean Drama | When the Camellia Blooms | Won |
| 2020 | 15th Seoul International Drama Awards | Best Screenwriter | Lim Sang-choon | Won |
| 2020 | 15th Seoul International Drama Awards | Best Actor | Kang Ha-neul | Nominated |
| 2020 | 15th Seoul International Drama Awards | Outstanding Korean Actor | Kang Ha-neul | Won |
| 2020 | 15th Seoul International Drama Awards | Best Actress | Gong Hyo-jin | Won |
| 2020 | 15th Seoul International Drama Awards | Outstanding Korean Drama OST | Punch (Like a Heroine in the Movie) | Won |
| 2020 | 2nd Asia Contents Awards | Best Asian Drama | When The Camellia Blooms | Won |
| 2020 | 2nd Asia Contents Awards | Best Actor | Kang Ha-neul | Nominated |
| 2021 | 7th APAN Star Awards | Grand Prize (Daesang) | Gong Hyo-jin | Nominated |
| 2021 | 7th APAN Star Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actor in Miniseries | Kang Ha-neul | Won |
| 2021 | 7th APAN Star Awards | Drama of the Year | When The Camellia Blooms | Nominated |
| 2021 | 7th APAN Star Awards | Best Director | Cha Young-hoon | Won |
| 2021 | 7th APAN Star Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Lee Jung-eun | Nominated |
| 2021 | 7th APAN Star Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Yeom Hye-ran | Nominated |
| 2021 | 7th APAN Star Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Son Dam-bi | Nominated |
| 2021 | 7th APAN Star Awards | Popular Star Award, Actor | Kang Ha-neul | Nominated |
| 2021 | 7th APAN Star Awards | Popular Star Award, Actress | Gong Hyo-jin | Nominated |