“Welcome to Samdal-ri” (웰컴투 삼달리)

By Jae-Ha Kim
Substack
January  30, 2024

☆☆☆☆
Jo Yong-pil  (played by Ji Chang-wook)
Cho Sam-dal (played by Shin Hye-sun)
↑Note: Korean names denote the surname followed by the given name.

Set in Jeju-do/제주도, “Welcome to Samdal-ri” explores the relationship between childhood best friends Yong-pil (Chang-wook) and Sam-dal (Shin Hye-sun). From the time she was a child, Sam-dal wanted to escape her small town and make a name for herself as a photographer in Seoul. The two dated for a while, with Yong-pil happy to follow her to the big city and support her dreams.

After a sudden breakup, she moves on, but he is unable to do the same. She is his 첫사랑 (first love).

Is this show good? Yes. In fact, so much so that I picked it as one of my picks for the best K-dramas of 2024 for my annual Teen Vogue list:

This K-drama explores the romance between childhood friends Yong-pil (Ji Chang-wook) and Sam-dal (Shin Hye-sun), but it’s their ongoing friendship that ties this series together. Their relationship is complicated by the death of one of their mothers and a bitter father who blames the survivor (and her innocent child). Secrets are kept to the detriment of everyone involved. As an adult, Yong-pil is a weather forecaster in his hometown. Though he has opportunities to work in a higher profile position in Seoul instead, he chooses to stay home. As for Sam-dal, she left for Seoul after high school and is now a prominent fashion photographer. But after a jealous former assistant accuses Sam-dal of abuse, her career is destroyed. Welcome to Samdal-ri moves at a pleasantly languid pace, showcasing the beauty of Jeju-do. But even more importantly, it depicts the emotional growth of these characters, whose friendship is unconditional. Welcome to Samdal-ri aired from December 2023 to the end of January 2024. (Netflix)

After moving back home to the town she had wanted to escape, Sam-dal reunites with Yong-pil and, of course, the two end up together. That was never in question. But how they get to that stage was truly heartwarming to watch.

For those who haven’t seen this series yet, I’ll include a few plot points in my Spoiler Alert below.

Airdates: Sixteen 70-minute episodes aired on JTBC from December 2, 2023 through January 21, 2024. (I watched this on Netflix.)

Spoiler Alert: Sam-dal and Yong-pil’s mothers met as young married women who worked as haenyeo/해녀 — women who dive around 10 meters (without any scuba diving gear) to catch shellfish. They bonded over their shared given name of Mi-ja, having babies the same age and their love of real-life Korean pop singer Cho Yong-pil. During inclement weather, Sam-dal’s mother insists on doing a few more dives. Wary of leaving the inexperienced haenyeo alone, Yong-pil’s mother stays with her and tragically dies.

Distraught and unable to move on from his wife’s death, Yong-pil’s father blames the surviving Mi-ja and forbids his son from dating Sam-dal. When his son won’t listen, he secretly orders Sam-dal to break it off with his son … which she does. Of course, this doesn’t give Yong-pil any closure as to why Sam-dal cut off communication with him.

Cancel culture is also explored in this K-drama, showcasing how quickly someone’s career can be ended when there’s even a hint of a scandal. For Sam-dal, the beginning of the end starts when her boyfriend cheats on her with her assistant, Eun-ju (Jo Yun-seo). Eun-ju wants to be a star photographer, just like Sam-dal. But she has little interest in putting in the time or effort to better her skills.

Instead, Eun-ju sets her boss up, saying that Sam-dal was abusive to her at work. Knowing that no one else would corroborate her lies, Eun-ju gets the public on her side by pretend-attempting suicide. Did she ever really endanger herself? No. It wasn’t her life she wanted to end, but Sam-dal’s. And it works. The media release inflammatory, one-sided reports on Sam-dal. And even her clients, who had fawned over her keen eye, cite the morality clause in their contracts to extract themselves from working with her.

The ending offers promise for Sam-dal and Yong-pil’s future together. But the element I loved the best was that Sam-dal is able to re-evaluate why she became a photographer in the first place. It wasn’t for the glitz or the money. It was for the pure love of creating art.

© 2024 JAE-HA KIM | All Rights Reserved