Unstoppable High Kick 1 (Korean Drama Sitcom)

Unstoppable High Kick 1 is a 2006 popular South Korean comedy-drama sitcom with 167 episodes revolving around the lives of the seven members of the Lee family namely: Lee Soon Jae/Frank (head of the Lee family), Nah Mun-hee/Elisa (Lee Soon-jae's wife), Lee Joon-ha/Eddie (eldest son of Soon-jae and Mun-hee), Lee Min-yong/Anton (youngest son of Soon-jae and Mun-hee), Park Hae-mi/Remy (Joon-ha's wife), Lee Min-ho/Rico (eldest son of Joon-ha and Hae-mi), Lee Yoon-ho/Simoun (youngest of Joon-ha and Hae-mi and their circle of friends in the neighborhood, Shin-ji/Shin Bong Hee (ex-wife of Min-yong and mother of Jun), Seo Min-jeong/Miss Myra Soo (Yoon-ho and Min-ho's homeroom teacher), Kim Bum/Dominic (Lee Min-ho's bestfriend), Kang Yoo-mi/Tina (Lee Min-ho's girlfriend) and other characters introduced as the sitcom progress.

It was one of the most hilarious Korean sitcom ever produced by MBC aired in South Korea from Monday to Friday. Due to its popularity, the show filmed more episodes than was initially planned. A second installment of the series titled "High Kick Through The Roof" recently broadcast in the autumn of 2009-2010.

Image from MBC Official Website

Original Title: Geochimeopsi Haikik

International Title: "Unstoppable High Kick", or "Smooth High Kick

Country: South Korea

Genre: Situation comedy

Screenwriter: Song Jae-jeong, Lee Yung-chul, Lee So-jeong, Choi Jeong-hyeon, Bang Bong-won

Director: Kim-Byeong-uk

Episodes: 167

Broadcast Network: MBC

Broadcast period: November 6, 2006 - July 13, 2007

Lee Yoon-ho/Simoun (Jeong Il-woo), a motorcycle mania who engages in many fights at school and is known for his high kick.

While his older brother Lee Min-ho/Rico (Kim Hye-seong) who enjoys spending time on scale models and web blogs, are brothers born a year apart but attending the same class at school.

These two portray completely opposite Korean teenage characters in a comical way.

And of course, there's the rest of the family. Their father(Jeong Joon-ha), a full-time stock investor since being laid-off from work, nevertheless optimistic and reckless; their mother(Park Hae-mi), an oriental medicine doctor and always overly confident; their grandfather(Lee Soon-jae), who loves money more than anything in the world; their grandmother(Nah Mun-hee), who is always defeated by her daughter-in-law in ongoing status quarrels, are some of them. Their uncle Lee Min-yong(Choi Min-yong) is a 27-year-old single dad.

After going through a premature marriage and early divorce, he enjoys his life back in the dating scene with his half-single and half-married status, while continuing to encounter emotionally-involved moments with his ex-wife Shin Ji(Shin Ji) at times.

Unstoppable High Kick! is a situation comedy, which portrays the everyday lives of the main characters colliding with each other in a comical way. However, at a certain point, the surprising mysteries of their seemingly-normal surrounding characters begin to unravel one by one.

Lee Soon-jae aka Soon-jae/Frank played by Lee Soon-jae

(age 70, owner of an Oriental Medicine Clinic)

He is the head of the Lee family as he works along his daughter-in-law at his Korean medicine hospital. Being the oldest in the family, he can be harsh and strict toward his family members, and thinks only about himself. He always kicks or hits other members of the family. Due to this aggressive behavior, Soon-jae acts as the dictator of the Lee household and no one opposes what he says. Due to his shallow character, he is easy to upset, but also easy to console with the simplest compliments. Money is so important to him that it is the sole measuring stick of all values. He has absolute belief in worldly standards. (For instance, such belief as Seoul National University is the best no matter what.) He is always yelling at his two sons as both of them do not live up to his standards, and he has a hot temper with his kick preceding his words when enraged. Although he seems to be holding full authority of the household, he is inevitably weak to his daughter-in-law as she was the one to re-establish business of his failing oriental medicine clinic. His favoritism towards his grandson Min-ho with the good grades is too obvious. He has a friend who bullies him and even tries to take money from him that he's waiting for the right time to strike back while polishing his nunchaku skills.

Nah Mun-hee aka Moon-hee/Elisa played by Nah Moon-hee

(age 68, Housewife)

She used to be a maid at Soon-jae's house before marrying him. Just as she thought her life would finally become easier after marrying off her two sons, her first daughter-in-law came to live with her asking her for help raising the kids, and her second daughter-in-law left her a baby grandson upon divorce. Although she is usually chatty and complaining, she is totally overpowered by her first daughter-in-law. Every once in a while she becomes overly cranky that the whole family is surprised. Just like her older son Joon-ha, she is physically very strong and has an enormous appetite. She gets along well the most with him. She enjoys spending time talking behind her daughter-in-law's back with Mrs. Kaesung-daek, an old lady who lives nearby. However, one day, as Mrs. Kaesung-daek suddenly disappears, the never-ending mystery begins.

Lee Joon-ha aka Joon-ha /Eddie played by Choi Min-yong

(age 43, Full-time stock investor)

He is the eldest son of Soon-jae and Mun-hee. A huge strong man with an enormous appetite, nicknamed as the "Lord of Gluttony". Laid off from the company he was working, he spends his time at home as an unsuccessful investor and depends on the earnings of his wife, who is the main doctor at his father's hospital.

Park Hae-mi aka Hae-mi/Remy played by Park Hae-mee

(age 45, Oriental Medicine Doctor )

The wife of Lee Joon-ha. A doctor that works with Lee Soon-jae. Hae-mi was in love with another man before her marriage. Accepting Joon-ha's proposal was to rival the lover who had dumped her, which Joon-ha finds out in one of the episodes. She gave financial support to Soon-jae's hospital when it was near the brink of closing down, and much more popular than Soon-jae as a doctor.

She is always self-centered(even when given instructions by her parents-in-law, she goes on accepting it after giving herself an "OK" as a final say) and always tries to lecture those around her(even when complying to others' demands, she tells them "that's not what I think, so try reconsidering later.") She is very expressive and her speech and behavior is exaggerated like you would see in a play.

She is slightly manic-depressive and displays the behaviors listed above when her mood is cheerful. However, when she's down, she is overwhelmed by her emotions and sometimes cries alone while performing acupuncture on herself. As for her stand on her incompetent husband Joon-ha(He's younger and she married him as she fell in love first), she is unable to admit that her marriage is not perfect mostly due to her self-pride, but actually, her marriage is quite happy as she doesn't mind Joon-ha's strong sexual appetite. She has a habit of singing chorus whenever someone else sings at a karaoke.

Lee Min-ho aka Lee Min-ho/Rico played by Kim Hye-sung

(age 17, High-school freshman )

The eldest son of Lee Joon-ha and Park Hae-mi. Being very bright, but physically small and soft, he is often portrayed as a "mama's boy," and always quarreling with his younger brother Yoon-ho, who is in the same class at the pungpago. An easy target to bully due to his weak appearance, while Yoon-ho would simply fight back no matter the odds. The contrast between the two brothers is one of the main themes of the show. At school he sits in the very front of the classroom along with Kim Bum, who has been best friends with him for a long time, and they embrace each other in a sign of friendship.

Lee Yoon-ho aka Yoon-ho/Simoun played by Jung Il Woo

(age 16, High-school freshman )

The youngest son of Lee Joon-ha and Park Hae-mi. He is a tall, strong, and handsome boy known for his high kick. He also narrates the story of the show. He is also a motorcycle maniac. He is very popular among the girls in pungpago, though his grade is low and he sometimes demonstrates his utter ignorance. As one episode disclosed, Yoon-ho was as bright as Min-ho in his childhood, but after riding on the back of motorcycle of a friend of Joon-ha's, he became completely absorbed in fighting and motorcycles; Joon-ha is blamed by Hae-mi for Yoon-ho's bad grades and delinquent behavior. Yoon-ho is often misunderstood and sometimes blamed for things he did not do.

Lee Min-yong aka Min-yong/Anton played by Choi Min-yong

(age 27, High-school PE teacher )

A late-born son of Soon-jae and Mun-hee, he works as a P. E. teacher at a pungpago where his nephews attend. Min-yong is the opposite of Joon-ha in many terms. Min-yong is a slim man with straight hair, less lazy, more handsome, and employed, but has the nasty attitude toward Soon-jae, while Joon-ha is more like Mun-hee; a plump man with curly hair, very lazy, dumb looking, overweight, and unemployed, but more sympathetic than Min-yong. Returning to his parents house after a short-lived marriage with Shin Ji, he lives in an expanded storeroom upstairs, which is connected with the main house with a firemen's pole.

Shin Ji aka Shin Bong Hee/Cindy played by Shin Ji

(age 26, TV commercial song singer )

The ex-wife of Lee Min-yong and the mother of Jun. Loves music, and is trying to get a job at a music industry, singing CF songs and taking auditions for musicals. She asked for a divorce from Min-yong, wishing to study abroad in Moscow, but came back to Korea in short time. Min-yong and her take turns in taking care of Jun, though Jun seems to be in the Lee household most of the time presumable due to Shin Ji's busy schedule.

Seo Min-jeong aka Min-jeong/Miss Myra Soo played by Seo Min-jeong

(age 27, Yoon-ho and Min-ho's homeroom teacher )

An English teacher at the pungpagothat Lee Min-yong teaches at, and the homeroom teacher of Min-ho, Yoon-ho, Bum, Chan Seong and Seung Hyun. She rented the apartment that Min-yong and Shin JI used to live in, and lives there with Shin Ji after her return from the short and unsuccessful attempt to study in Moscow.

Kim Bum aka Kim Beom/Dominic played by Kim Bum

(age 16, Friend of Min-ho and Yoon-ho )

Lee Min-ho's best friend, desiring to become the proper member of the family. The two boys are very close and care for each other. He has been entering Soon-jae's house as it were his own since he was little. He bursts in heading straight to the refrigerator for snacks (Actually, he has a habit of bringing plain loaves of bread and grabbing stuff to eat it with from the refrigerator.) and often sleeps anywhere in the house. He's close with both Yoon-ho and Min-ho. He's an unpredictable and strange character as he would do things such as crying during a meal because he bites on his own tongue, counting the number of his teeth with his tongue, or eating hamburgers with soy-sauce on it.

Kang Yoo-mi aka Yoo-mi/Tina played by Park Min-young

(age 17, Girl living next-door )

Lee Min-ho's girlfriend. Very pretty but extremely poor at studies, always getting lowest scores at school. She is also secretly three years older than her schoolmates, but only Kim Bum and Lee Min-yong, her homeroom teacher who doesn't care about that so much, know it.

Information Courtesy of MBC Global Media and Wikipedia

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