Descendants of the Sun

## Details

* **Title:** 태양의 후예 / Taeyangui Huye
* **Genre:** Romance, melodrama, comedy
* **Episodes:** 16 + 3 Special Episodes
* **Broadcast network:** KBS2
* **Broadcast period:** 2016-Feb-24 to 2016-Apr-22
* **Air time:** Wednesday & Thursday 22:00
* **Viewership ratings:** Peak rating
	+ Nielsen Korea : Nationwide=38.8%, Seoul=41.6%
		- Seoul Peak Rating=46.6%
	+ TNmS: Nationwide=35.3%, Seoul=40.5%
* **Original Soundtrack:** Descendants of the Sun OST

## Synopsis

This story tells of doctors stationed in the fictional war zone of Urk (Uruk), and follows the love story that develops between a surgeon (Kang Mo-yeon) and a special forces officer (Yoo Shi-jin), both elite in their respective fields. The story will track both their personal and professional struggles while exploring issues about the value of life.

--*Dramabeans*

## Cast

Main Cast
* Song Joong Ki as Captain Yoo Shi Jin of the Alpha Team (aka Big Boss)
* Song Hye Kyo as Professor Kang Mo Yun (aka Beauty)
* Jin Goo as Chief Master Sergeant Seo Dae Young (aka Wolf)
* Kim Ji Won as Lieutenant Yoon Myung Joo (Orthopedic Surgeon)
* Kang Shin Il as Lieutenant General Yoon (Myung Joo's father) (aka Yellow Tiger)

Alpha Team
* Kim Byung Chul as Colonel Park Byung Soo
* Park Hoon as Sergeant Choi Woo Geun (aka Snoopy)
* Choi Woong as Staff Sergeant Gong Chul Ho (aka Harry Potter)
* Ahn Bo Hyun as Sergeant Im Kwang Nam (aka Piccolo)
* Kim Min Suk as Private Kim Ki Bum

Haesung Hospital Medical Services Team
* Lee Seung Joon as Song Sang Hyun (General Surgeon)
* Seo Jung Yeon as Ha Ja Ae (ER Nursing Team)
* Onew as Lee Chi Hoon (1st year Resident of Thoracic Surgery)
* Park Hwan Hee as Choi Min Ji (ER Nurse)

People at Haesung Hospital
* Hyun Jyu Ni as Pyo Ji Soo (Pathology Specialist)
* Tae In Ho as Han Suk Won (Chairman of Haesung Hospital)
* Park Ah In as Kim Eun Ji (Thoracic Surgery Specialist)
* Jo Woo Ri as Jang Hee Eun (1st Year Resident of Anesthesiology)

People in Urk (Uruk)
* Jasper Cho as Daniel Spencer (Peacemaker Emergency Doctor Team)
* Jun Soo Jin as Ri Ye Hwa (Peacemaker Emergency Nurse Team)
* David McInnis as David Argus (Black Market Boss)
* Dean Dawson as The Chief of Police
* Zyon Barreto (자이온 바레토) as Fatima

Others
* Kwak In Joon as Lee Han Soo
* Jo Jae Yoon as Jin Young Soo
* Lee Yi Kyung as Kang Min Jae
* Jun In Taek as Yoo Young Geun (Yoo Shi Jin's father)
* Nam Moon Chul as Manager Go
* Matthew Douma as US Army Delta Force Captain Jordan
* Joey Albright as US Army Delta Force member
* Ji Seung Hyun as Ahn Jung Joon
* Lee Jae Yong as Choi Ji Ho
* Ahn Doo Ho as Kim Bum Rae
* Sung Gi Yoon (성기윤) as the President
* Kim Kyul as Chairman Han's assistant
* Kim Hyo Myung as gangster
* Jung Dong Kyu

Cameos
* Lee Kwang Soo as shooting arcade operator (ep 1)
* Lee Jong Hyuk as Captain Kim Jin Suk (ep 2, 5, 10, 15)
* Jung Ji Won (정지원) as TV announcer (ep 2)
* Park Tae Won (박태원) as TV announcer (ep 2)
* Ryu Hwa Young as Seo Dae Young's ex-girlfriend (ep 3)
* Park Joon Geum as Chi Hoon's mother (ep 7, ep 11)
* Yoo Ah In as banker (ep 13)
* Nam Ki Ae as Mo Yun's mother (ep 13)
* Red Velvet as themselves (ep 16)
* Han Yeo Wool
* Park Pal Young
* Seo Woo Jin
* Lee Chang

## Production Credits

* **Chief Producer:** Bae Kyung Soo
* **Producer:** Ham Young Hoon, Yoo Jong Sun, Park Woo Ram
* **Director:** Lee Eung Bok, Baek Sang Hoon
* **Assistant Director:** Kim Hyung Joon (김형준), Yoo Young Eun
* **Screenwriters:** Kim Eun Sook and Kim Won Suk

## Recognitions

**2016 KBS Drama Awards:**

* Grand Award (Song Joong Ki), (Song Hye Kyo)
* Excellence Award for Mini-series (Female) (Kim Ji Won)
* Best Couple Award (Song Joong Ki) & (Song Hye Kyo), (Jin Goo) & (Kim Ji Won)
* Best New Actress Award (Kim Ji Won)
* Best Scriptwriter Award (Kim Eun Sook) & (Kim Won Suk)
* Best Asia Couple Award (Song Joong Ki) & (Song Hye Kyo)

**2016 52nd Baeksang Arts Awards:**

* Grand Prize (Daesang)
* Popularity Award - Actor (Song Joong Ki)
* Popularity Award - Actress (Song Hye Kyo)
* iQiyi Global Star Award (Song Joong Ki)
* iQiyi Global Star Award (Song Hye Kyo)

**2016 Scene Stealer Festival:**

* Scene Stealer Award (Male) (Lee Seung Joon)
* Newcomer Scene Stealer Award (Male) (Onew)

**2016 1st Indonesian Television Awards:**

* Special Award (Jin Goo)

**2016 43rd Korean Broadcasting Grand Prize:**

* Best Drama

**2016 11th Seoul International Drama Awards:**

* Excellent Korean Drama
* Outstanding Korean Actor (Song Joong Ki)
* Outstanding Korean Drama OST - Gummy (You're My Everything) (Gummy)
* Grand Prize (Daesang) (Song Joong Ki)
* Drama of the Year
* Best Supporting - Actor (Jin Goo)
* Best Supporting - Actress (Kim Ji Won)
* Best APAN Star Award (Song Joong Ki)
* Best Couple Award (Song Joong Ki & Song Hye Kyo)

**2016 9th Korea Drama Awards:**

* Best Drama
* Excellence Award - Actor (Jo Jae Yoon)

## Episode Ratings

*See Descendants of the Sun/Episode Ratings*

## Notes

* First drama series for KBS where filming will be completed prior to airing the drama series.
* First script reading took place on May 28, 2015 at KBS Annex Broadcasting Station in Yeouido, South Korea.
* Filming started June 12, 2015, with Song Joong Ki joining in July, and finished in the early morning of December 30, 2015.
* Filming took place in Greece for about a month from September 28, 2015.
* **Descendants of the Sun** was the first drama of Song Joong Ki after being discharged from the army.
* The show’s filming schedule was heavily delayed for several reasons, a couple of it being the 2015 MERS-CoV outbreak in South Korea and Song Joong Ki who in the middle of filming a scene, suffered from multiple injuries (his injuries were a fractured wrist and a damaged ligament).
* The drama has been exported to 32 countries, achieving success in Latin America, Europe and the rest of Asia.

## Trivia

* The drama is responsible of inspiring a great number of young men in wanting to join the South Korean Special Forces Unit for their mandatory military service.
* Thanks in part of the success of this drama it has been spread into the popular consciousness a Korean speaking only used in the military known as "soldier talk."
* **Descendants of the Sun** was not originally written as a love story between a soldier and a doctor, it was initially planned to be based on an award-winning and popular short story by Kim Won Seok called "Medecins Sans Frontieres" (Doctors Without Borders). The story was going to be centered around a male emergency responder who ended up dedicating his life to humanitarian work. Kim Eun Sook was brought on to the project and she rewrote the whole story changing the lead characters and adding more romance to engage audiences with the drama.
* Song Hye Kyo was coached by real-life doctors to aid her in giving an accurate authenticity to her performance as a doctor.
* SBS was originally going to air the drama, It didn't end up happening for a few reasons, no agreement was reached while the production was being discussed, SBS was also worried about the themes of war and disaster, and there was some concern of wardrobe sponsorship.

## External Links

* Official site
* English Wikipedia
* Korean Wikipedia