More Dramatic Than a Drama: 'The Goryeo-Khitan War'

KBS, the public broadcaster of South Korea, has long produced TV series based on historical facts. Often called 'daha drama' (대하드라마), these series were influenced by Japan's NHK broadcasting company. They feature voice-over narration midway through and subtitles that display the names and social status of the characters. This format was a blend of typical TV series and documentaries.

Until the 2000s, these 'daha drama' series were very popular among men aged 50 and above in South Korea. However, 'daha drama' gradually became a series that no one watched. 'KBS1', the channel that aired these series, has traditionally been a non-advertising TV channel. As a result, while KBS 'daha drama' received a large budget, there was no advertising revenue to expect. KBS gradually reduced the budget for these series. Due to the lack of budget, producers tended to stick to the traditions of the 1990s TV series, rather than trying anything new.**

In the 2020s, questions about the necessity of public broadcasting in South Korean society arose strongly. With the development of various cable TV channels and SVOD services, traditional media like KBS were being ignored. In this situation, public opinion emerged that there was no need to maintain the broadcasting company using taxpayers' money. KBS was pushed into a situation where it had to prove its value to the Korean people. To this end, KBS decided to focus on 'KBS 'daha drama', which has a strong historical education aspect. They also signed a distribution contract with Netflix to generate revenue.**

'Korea-Khitan War' (고려거란전쟁), a 'daha drama' series that began airing on KBS in 2023, is the most expensive 'daha drama' ever produced. It is based on the early 11th-century 'Korea-Khitan War', a subject that had not been previously covered by South Korean TV series. Goryeo (고려) was a medieval Korean kingdom that existed from the 10th to the 14th centuries, and the origin of the name 'Korea'. The Khitan (거란) were a nomadic group that existed in Asia from ancient to medieval times. Around the 10th century, they established a powerful nomadic empire and exerted strong pressure on China and Korea.

This TV series has received positive feedback for faithfully recreating historical facts in Korea. Many historical dramas produced in Korea in the past were completely unrelated to actual historical facts. There were also cases where people believed the fictional settings created for entertainment in the TV series were real Korean history.** (For example, the fictional character Misil (미실) created in 'Queen Seondeok' (선덕여왕) (2008) was mistakenly believed to be a real historical figure.) Especially as the number of viewers of K-dramas increases outside of Korea, there is a greater possibility of misunderstandings about Korean history and culture.

This series remained faithful to the situations and conversations recorded in the historical records of medieval Korea. The conversation between the Khitan Emperor Yelü Longxu (played by Kim Hyuk) and the Goryeo commander Gang Jo (played by Lee Won-jong) in Episode 8 was a direct recreation of the content of the 'Goryeosa' (고려사), a historical record written in the 15th century. The production design also aimed to recreate 11th-century Korean clothing, armor, and weapons as much as possible.** Korean historical TV series have often featured production designs that contradict reality, which is why this series has garnered attention.

This series features forgotten war heroes of Korea. Yang Gyu (played by Ji Seung-hyun), a Korean commander who was active during the Second Goryeo-Khitan War, defended a fortress called 'Hunghwajin' (흥화진) with 3,000 soldiers against an attack by 400,000 Khitan soldiers. He later chased the Khitan army with 1,000 soldiers and rescued 30,000 prisoners. The action sequences centered around Yang Gyu are mostly in the 'HBO style', brutal yet realistic and emotional.** Yang Gyu's exploits are also one of the most acclaimed aspects of this series.

Despite not significantly altering historical facts, the series has successfully captured the audience's interest, which is a major strength. Even though it is set 1000 years ago, the script is written in a way that allows viewers to easily understand the situation, and the actors' performances, which faithfully bring the characters from history books to life, have been praised.

The series also drew attention due to the appearance of South Korean actor Choi Soo-jong. He frequently appeared in KBS 'daha drama' in the 2000s, and most of his works were commercially successful. There's even a joke that he has played the role of king in every kingdom that ever existed in Korea. He plays the character of Gang Gam-chan, a commander of the Goryeo kingdom in the final battle of the Korea-Khitan War.**

The series, consisting of 32 episodes, has currently released 16 episodes. It is available as a Netflix series in Asian countries and is streaming on Kocowa in the Americas.