“A Good Supper” & Other K-dramas about Orphans

If you haven’t already noticed, orphans and adoptees are a big part of many K-dramas. An adoptee’s death in the first episode of “The Penthouse” was a huge plot point in the first season of the makjang smash hit. And in the new series “A Good Supper,” Young Shin, is also an orphan (played as a child by Kim Si Ha and as a young woman by Jung Woo Yeon) and is the focus of the series.

Young Shin is a spunky little girl, who lived with her grandmother until she died. Then a kindly grandpa-like old man cared for her, before eventually dropping her off at his son’s small café. Gyung Soo (Jae Hee) is unmarried and had no desire to be a parent at that time. But he warms up to her and enjoys her curious nature, especially when it comes to cooking.

She is surprised when a well-dressed girl about her age befriends her. “Kids in Seoul don’t want to play with kids who don’t have parents,” she tells her new friend. Their moms wouldn’t let them. The fact that Young Shin just accepts her role as an outcast is heartbreaking. She learned at a young age how cruel the world could be to parentless children.

Because Korea has a long and complicated history with the purity of bloodlines and a general disdain for adoptees, I had always found it strange that so many Korean dramas dealt with issues that the mainstream media was reticent to cover. But in some ways, K-dramas can be very progressive in covering touchy topics. Hopefully, seeing orphans and adoptees depicted simply as children who deserve to be loved and cared for — like any child — is helping to lessen the stigma of kids whose biological parents are no longer in their lives.

Here are a few other K-dramas where the aftermath of child abandonment is an integral part of the plot. 

“Kill Me, Heal Me”

Ri-Jin (played by Hwang Jung Eum as an adult and Kim Amy as a child) grew up knowing that she was adopted. She has clear memories of what her life was like before and after her adoption. Her story unfolds over the course of 20 episodes and will most certainly break your heart as you learn how just about every adult in her life failed to protect her.  

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“Doctors“

Ji Hong (portrayed by Kim Rae Won as an adult and Gil Jung Woo as a child) became orphaned as a youngster when his parents died in an automobile accident. His parents had left some money for him, but his no-good uncle robs him of his inheritance and then dumps him off at an orphanage. He is beaten up at school regularly, because he is an easy target: the smartest student and a child with no parents to advocate for him. His life is turned around when he is adopted (at an older age) by a wealthy doctor, who wants to leave his medical practice to him. But his enemies fight this choice, saying Ji Hong doesn’t have that right since he isn’t his real son — that is, he’s not related by blood.

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“Pinocchio“

After Dal-po survives a murder-suicide attempt, he is rescued (and then adopted) by a kindly old man, who believes the boy is his own son — who had died decades earlier. Played by Nam Da Reum as a child (and Lee Jong Suk as an adult), Dal-po is a smart boy who knows how to survive. He takes on the role his new father wants — not just so he can have a family, but because he wants to make the old man happy. Regarded as somewhat of a weirdo at school, his life isn’t easy. But Dal-po is smart, industrious, and makes the most out of what he was given.

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Now it’s your turn. What are your feelings about how K-dramas handle sensitive topics like adoption and child abandonment? Let us know in the comments below!