Image of the drama’s promotional poster was taken from IMDb and reproduced under Fair Dealing for educational purposes.

MBC’s 2012 action romance K-drama The King 2 Hearts takes place in an alternate present-day divided Korean peninsula where South Korea has become a constitutional monarchy. The current king deeply cherishes the dream of reunification, so, to deepen friendly relations with North Korea, he sends his brother and heir, Crown Prince Lee Jae-ha, to participate in a global military officer competition as part of a unified Korean team. Leading the North Korean delegates is Captain Kim Hang-ah, an officer and military instructor who has no time for Jae-ha’s childish attitude. At first, they antagonize each other, but later, they develop feelings for each other, and their romance becomes the drama’s main storyline. In the last post, we talked about external and internal conflict, using an example of a drama where the lovers had to overcome internal conflict in order to be together. If we look at The King 2 Hearts, we can see that both types of conflict are present, and that the two characters mainly face different types. Though Jae-ha and Hang-ah’s ultimate goal is the same, and they often have to team up to fight the same enemies, Jae-ha has to overcome more internal conflict, while Hang-ah has to overcome more external conflict.

The king (played by Lee Sungmin, centre), hopes that a marriage between his brother Lee Jae-ha (played by Lee Seung-gi, left) and Kim Hang-ah (played by Ha Ji-won, right) will pave the way for reunification on the Korean peninsula. Photo from the drama’s official website (MBC), reproduced under Fair Dealing for educational purposes.

Jae-ha is intelligent but immature at the beginning of the story. He has no goals or motivation, and he enjoys the privilege of his royal status without any of the responsibility. His character’s story arc is about finding his purpose, accepting the burdens of adulthood and his position as a public figure and leader, and discovering what he is capable of when he really tries. He does have to defeat a villain who has a personal vendetta against him, which is clearly an example of external conflict, but even that storyline is tied in with Jae-ha’s internal conflict about whether he wants to or is able to assume the responsibility of his position as a member of the royal family.

Even after he assumes the responsibilities of his position, Jae-ha sometimes worries that he is not skilled enough to succeed. Photo from the drama’s official website (MBC), reproduced under Fair Dealing for educational purposes

On the other hand, Hang-ah is presented from the very beginning of the drama as an exceptionally competent character who is confident in her abilities and who knows what she wants in life. Although it may seem at odds with her position as a no-nonsense military instructor, the thing Hang-ah wants most is to get married and have a family. Jae-ha senses that this is her weakness, and he uses it to humiliate her during the officer training. However, as the story progresses, we see that is not her weakness, but her strength. Hang-ah has a strong sense of family, which stems from her relationship with her own parents, and which is the reason why, after her engagement with Jae-ha is announced, she builds personal relationships with her future in-laws beyond what is required to live in the same palace with minimal friction. Because she worked hard to prepare for this marriage with Jae-ha and looked forward to building family with him so much, it feels like an even bigger loss when the external conflict of the drama’s action plot threatens to dash her hopes.

Hang-ah builds a good relationship with her future mother-in-law, played by Youn Yuh-jung. Photo from the drama’s official website (MBC), reproduced under Fair Dealing for educational purposes

A less skilled woman would give up or fail under the weight of all that the plot throws at her, but Kim Hang-ah manages to pull off one victory after another, to the point that sometimes it feels like the story is making her demonstrate everything that she can do in order to earn her happy ending. Everything that she accomplishes in the story–which includes saving Jae-ha’s life multiple times and helping his mother escape the villain’s lair–is because she doesn’t give up on her dream. Even when a devastating war seems imminent on the peninsula and Hang-ah is faced with the decision of staying in South Korea with Jae-ha or returning to North Korea with her father, she acts completely in character, choosing the option that does not foreclose the future she has dreamed of, where she can marry Jae-ha but also remain close to her father and continue seeing him often. If Hang-ah faces any internal conflict, it is about whether she can count on Jae-ha, but even this is resolved fairly quickly, and for the rest of the story, she fearlessly pursues her dream, crushing every external obstacle in her way.

From the beginning of the drama to the end, Hang-ah pursues her goal in a clear-eyed and confident fashion. Photo from the drama’s official website (MBC), reproduced under Fair Dealing for educational purposes

The fact that Jae-ha and Hang-ah face different types of conflict on their way to happiness together makes them even more interesting as a couple. It’s worth watching The King 2 Hearts to see their full story!