# Lim Sang-choon

Lim Sang-choon (Korean: 임상춘) is a screenwriter from South Korea. She is best known for her work on the television drama Fight for My Way (2017) and When the Camellia Blooms (2019) for which she won the Best Screenplay Award at the 56th Baeksang Arts Awards, the 15th Seoul International Drama Awards, the 2019 KBS Drama Awards, and 47th Korea Broadcasting Awards.

## Career

The name 'Lim Sang-choon' is a pen name derived from the Chinese characters "想賰," which means "plentiful imagination". Lim chose androgynous pen name and does not appear in public in order to escape prejudice about her gender and age. She aims to tell stories through the characters in her work rather than being illuminated as an artist. However, in 2017, during the press conference for Fight for My Way, she was inevitably revealed to be a woman in her early 30s. However, she stated that she wanted to remain anonymous and would not reveal any more personal information. If her identity are to be revealed, she plans to write under a different pen name. Consequently, she was absent from all awards ceremonies she was invited to.
Prior of becoming a writer, in her late 20s Lim was working at a company. Lim says she dreamed of becoming a writer after seeing people being happy watching dramas.
   "I saw people smiling while watching dramas on their cell phones on the bus going home with their tired bodies. I thought I should write a drama that makes people happy."
She never attended any writer's education center, so she obtained scripts and studied them on her own. In 2013, Lim submitted her work to The 5th Drama Script Contest — Finding a Shooting Star in the Desert, and two of her scripts made it through to the final screening. She revealed that she didn't even know how to write a script at the time of the contest. Instead, it seems that her freedom, which was not confined to a frame, was expressed as her unique style. Lim won the 'SBS Plus Award' at the contest. At that time, the producer who read her scripts suggested a Chuseok special drama. In 2014, Lim made her debut with the MBC Chuseok special drama "Lump in My Life." The drama tells the story of the love-hate and reconciliation between a grandfather and granddaughter who were like a lump to each other, and featured actors Byun Hee-bong, Kang Hye-jung, Song Ok-sook, and child actor Kal So-won. The drama also broadcast for the second time at 2014 Short Drama Festival, which marks its 4th anniversary that year. It was a festival where one can watch short dramas broadcast through KCA's production support at a movie theater. Lim's The Lump in My Life was screened as closing drama of the festival.
   "The strength of writer Lim Sang-choon is that she writes realistic stories that are not absurd. She will be one of the few writers who can do both minis and weekend dramas."
Lim's other script was also turned into a drama. The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning's '2014 One-act Play Festival' was hosted by the Korea Communications Agency (KCA) at CGV in Yeouido, Seoul from the 23rd to the 25th. The opening ceremony included a production presentation of the SBS Plus drama 'Dodohara', a mini-drama supported by the KCA and written by Lim Sang-choon, directed by Yoon Ryun-hae that was premiered on the 29th. 'Dodohara' is a romantic comedy drama featuring Girl's Day's Yura, Shin So-yul, and Yoo Min-gyu, where a man and two women come together to create a fashion shopping mall.
Lim drew attention with KBS2 short drama Becky's Back in 2016. This four-episode Korean drama, was airing on KBS2 from June 6, 2016, starring Kang Ye-won, Jin Ji-hee, Kim Sung-oh, Choi Dae-chul, In Gyo-jin and Choi Phillip. The show follows the return of Scarlet O'Hara Yang Baek-hee to the quiet island of Seomwol-do after 18 years of identity laundering. It was well-received during its initial broadcast, and as a result, requests for reruns continued. Due to viewers' favorable reviews and requests for reruns, on March 15 and 16, 2017, a week before the first broadcast of the drama Lim's new drama Fight for My Way, KBS2 rebroadcast the director's cut of drama Becky's Back as a two-part series.
Fight for My Way was Lim's debut as a feature-length drama writer. Starring Park Seo-joon and Kim Ji-won, it was aired on KBS2 from May 22 to July 11, 2017, and tells the story of two childhood friends struggling to succeed in their careers. The show was well-received for its realistic plot and performances, and it topped the TV popularity index for three consecutive weeks. It was later adapted into a manhwa.
   "All of Lim Sang-chun's works depict wrong prejudice against the weak and overcoming them. This time, she conveyed deep comfort by interpreting the community called Ongsan through the code of family."
Two years later Lim was back with When the Camellia Blooms, mini-series that stars Gong Hyo-jin, Kang Ha-neul, Kim Ji-seok, Son Dam-bi, and Kim Kang-hoon. Director Cha Young-hoon worked with writer Lim again after three years after KBS2's Becky's Back.
It was aired on KBS2's Wednesdays and Thursdays at 22:00 (KST) time slot from September 18 to November 21, 2019. The show became the highest-rated mini-series drama of 2019, with a single episode rating of 23.8%. It also received high average ratings of 14.83% for all episodes, second only to SBS's The Fiery Priest. The show was praised for its production and solid performances by the actors. It received 10 nominations at the 56th Baeksang Arts Awards, winning four, including the Grand Prize for Television and Best Screenplay Award. It also won multiple awards at the 2019 KBS Drama Awards, including the Grand Prize for Gong Hyo-jin and Best Scriptwriting for Lim. The show's unique genre combination of romantic-comedy and thriller was well received by audiences, and episodes were released on Netflix in South Korea and most Asia-Pacific and English speaking countries after their television broadcast.
The message that penetrates Lim's works is comfort. It depicts the process of people who have forgotten their value in a harsh world and regain their selves through the support and encouragement of the people around them.
   "I want to write something to cheer people on, like putting air in their bikes until the day I die."
Currently, Lim is a member of Korea Television and Radio Writers Association (KTRWA). Her name and her copyrighted works as television screenwriter can be found in the KTRWA online database.

## Filmographies

   "The strength of writer Lim's script is its gripping power and tight character placement."
Filmographies :
| Year | Title | Title | Network | Credited as | Credited as | Note |
| Year | English | Korean | Network | Creator | Writer | Note |
| 2014 | 2014 Drama Festival – Lump of My Life | 2014 드라마 페스티벌 – 내 인생의 혹 | MBC | No | Yes | |
| 2014 | Dodohara | 도도하라 | SBS Plus | No | Yes | |
| 2016 | Becky's Back | 백희가 돌아왔다 | KBS2 | No | Yes | |
| 2017 | Fight for My Way | 쌈 마이웨이 | KBS2 | No | Yes | |
| 2019 | When the Camellia Blooms | 동백꽃 필 무렵 | KBS2 | No | Yes | |
| 2025 | When Life Gives You Tangerines | 폭싹 속았수다 | Netflix | No | Yes | |

## Recurring cast

Recurring casts :
| ActorWork | Baek Ji-won | Choi Dae-chul | In Gyo-jin | Jeon Bae-soo | Jin Ji-hee | Kim Sung-oh | Lee Jung-eun | Oh Jung-se | Yeom Hye-ran |
| Lump of My Life | | | | | | | | | |
| Dodohara | | | | | | | | | |
| Becky's Back | | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | | | |
| Fight for My Way | Y | | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | | |
| When the Camellia Blooms | | Y | Y | Y | | | Y | Y | Y |
| When Life Gives You Tangerines | Y | | | | | | | Y | Y |

## Awards and nominations

Awards and nominations :
| Year | Ceremony | category | Nominated Work | Result |
| 2013 | The 5th Drama Script Contest 'Finding the Shooting Star in the Desert' | SBS Plus Award | Puberty | Won |
| 2018 | 54th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Screenplay – Television | Fight for My Way | Nominated |
| 2018 | 13th Seoul International Drama Awards | Best Screenwriter | Fight for My Way | Nominated |
| 2019 | KBS Drama Awards | Best Screenwriter | When the Camellia Blooms | Won |
| 2020 | 56th Baeksang Arts Award | Best Screenplay – Television | When the Camellia Blooms | Won |
| 2020 | 47th Korea Broadcasting Awards | Best Screenwriter | When the Camellia Blooms | Won |
| 2020 | 15th Seoul International Drama Awards | Best Screenwriter | When the Camellia Blooms | Won |

### State honors

Name of country, year given, and name of honor :
| Country | Award Ceremony | Year | Honor | Ref. |
| South Korea | 11th Korean Popular Culture and Arts Awards | 2020 | Commendation from the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism | |