'Yalkae, a Joker in High School' (1976) is directed by Seok Rae-Myeong and produced by Yun Bang Films. (image: Korea Post)

Among the many films made in the 1970s about high school life, "Yalkae, a Joker in High School" (1976), called "Go-gyo-yal-gae" in Korean, was particularly popular, with sequels stretching well into the 1980s.

The protagonist, Na Du-su, slacks off on his schoolwork and only thinks about tormenting his teachers and fellow students with pranks, therefore earning the nickname Yalgae. While being tutored at the boarding house of his Korean language teacher, Baek Sang-do, Du-su develops feelings for the host's daughter, In-suk.

Caught in such unfortunate circumstances, Du-su narrowly escapes expulsion, with Mr. Baek's help in defense. However, In-suk still gives him the cold shoulder.

Du-su retaliates by grabbing the glasses of Ho-chul, a model student, and painting the lenses red. The glasses end up getting broken, and Du-su refuses to compensate Ho-chul for that, too.

Suspicious of Ho-chul's subsequent absence from school, Du-su finds Ho-chul's home. Ho-chul leads a hard life with only his sister, and the loss of his glasses caused him to fall off a small ledge and suffer a leg injury while delivering milk.

Feeling remorse, Du-su secretly takes over the milk deliveries to earn money to replace the broken glasses. He also learns the joy of studying, as he tries to take notes in class for Ho-chul.

The school, friends and family find out about Du-su's unexpected acts of kindness when he hurts his arm while collecting the milk money.

Unlike expectations of a strict school life, this film unravels the daily lives of the students in a fun, comedic way.

Stars Lee Seung-Hyeon, Kim Jeong-Hun and Kang Ju-Hee play characters close to their real life ages at the time of filming, gaining a large popularity among kids that age.

Issued in 2009, the third series of Korean film stamps by Korea Post includes 'The Road to Sampo,' 'Never Ever Forget Me,' 'Yalkae' and 'Chilsu and Mansu.' (image: Korea Post)

To watch a short video introducing the stamp series, please click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVlQlKH1dm4

To view the film in Korean with no subtitles, please click here: http://youtu.be/WxEoMutSUQ4

By Paik Hyun
Korea.net Staff Writer
cathy@korea.kr