5th Republic (2005)

Synopsis

5th Republic is a controversial political drama about the Fifth Republic of South Korea, one of the most turbulent times in modern Korean history. The 41-episode television series covered the key aspects of the period from President Park Chung-hee's assassination to general Chun Doo-hwan's military coup and his bloody rise to power, as well as the ensuing conflicts between the pro-democratic movement and Chun's military regime and the behind-the-scenes power struggles that ultimately led to Roh Tae-woo's presidential succession in 1987. Given the sensitive nature of the subject matter, 5th Republic tread a fine line between fact and fiction, and faced many challenges even before the start of the production - one of which was pressures from actual political figures who threatened to sue the network for defamation if the script was not modified. Moreover, there was concern over the possible glorification of the drama's lead character Chun Doo-hwan played by Lee Deok-hwa whose strong charisma helped draw in big audience during the drama's initial broadcast on MBC in 2005.

Series Information

Created By

林泰佑

First Aired

2005

Last Aired

2005

Seasons

1

Episodes

41

Episode Length

50 min

Genre

Drama

Network

MBC

Status

Ended

Rating

9.5 / 10 (6 votes)

Top Cast

Lee Duck-hwa

Chun Doo-hwan

Seo In-seok

Roh Tae-woo

Lee Jae-yong

Lee Hak-bong

Lee Jeong-kil

Kim Jong-pil

Kim Yong-geon

Kim Young-sam

Song Ok-suk

Kim Ok-sook

Kim Yeong-ran

Rhee Soon-ja

Kim Byeong-gi

No Shin-young

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