In 2003, soap opera fans in Korea were all into the same drama every Wednesday and Thursday evening.

The 24-episode “All In” aired on SBS and swept home theaters across the nation off their feet, hitting ratings of about 22 percent for its first two episodes and then peaking at viewership figures of 47.7 percent.

The show was inspired by the life of a professional go player with a rank of 5-dan (단) who was also a poker player: Cha Min-su. Cha emigrated to the U.S. in 1976 and indulged himself in all kinds of gambling, such as poker and blackjack, and became a godfather of the casinos.

The screenplay weaves the tale of the man, named Kim In-ha in the show, who bets all that he’s got, not on a single game, but on his true love. The male lead, an orphan, is taken in by his gambler uncle and travels to casinos both legal and illegal across the nation to learn how to gamble. One day, he meets a woman on Jeju Island, Min Su-yeon, and immediately falls for her.

When he gets embroiled in the murder of a gang leader, the hero has to move to the U.S. to avoid jail time. He works as a bodyguard for a mafia boss there. After a few years have passed, he bumps into Su-yeon by pure chance, whom he has always had on his mind ever since they parted. They fall in love, of course, and decide to get married.

On their wedding day, In-ha suffers a life-threatening gunshot as he gets caught in a gunfight. Unaware that he is alive, Su-yeon, in grief, returns to Korea. Removing himself from his mafia connections, In-ha turns his life of misery around and becomes a professional gambler, winning the world’s poker championship. As he returns to Jeju Island, he opens a casino. There, In-ha is reunited with Su-yeon and wins back her heart.



“This soap opera narrates a ‘play of life,’ shedding light on the gambling world,” lead actor Lee Byung-hun said. The star spent months studying where gamblers’ eyes were fixed and how their nimble hands moved before he starred in the show. “It’s not important to know how to gamble. What’s important is to understand how their life is like. This show isn't just a story about gambling or gamblers. It talks about the love, friendship and ambition that gamblers have."

The explosive popularity of the series sparked a so-called “All In Syndrome” across the nation. Music boxes that the two main characters exchanged flew off the shelves, while the theme song “Like the First Time” swept the music charts.



The show's wave of popularity reached beyond Korea, too, to many parts of the world, as it was broadcast not only in Asian markets, like Japan and Taiwan, but also in Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Romania. Lee Byung-hun, who played the male lead, rose to global fame with the success, to a point where he was nicknamed “Byung-sama” in Japan. Sama is an honorific title in Japanese applied to one's name. In 2006, the star became the first Korean actor to host a fan meeting at the Tokyo Dome.

Behind the success of the show was the casting of two of the best stars at that time in the two lead roles: Lee Byung-hun, a good-looking, charismatic macho actor, and Song Hye-kyo, one of the most-sought-after actresses who already enjoyed a large fan base at home and across Asia. News about the co-appearance of the pair became the talk of the town, even before the show aired. Some of the major scenes filmed overseas, like the car race along the Grand Canyon and gambling in Las Vegas, captured some of the biggest audiences for the small screen.

Jeju Island in “All In” - Seopjikoji (섭지코지) “All In” captures the rawness of the magnificent landscape of Jeju Island. It was filmed mainly along Seopjikoji, located at the end of the eastern end of the island, in Sinyang-ri, Seongsan-eup, Seogwipo-si. The show has since turned the small village into one of the most crowded tourist spots on the island, attracting millions of domestic and overseas fans. There was the “All In House,” an open-air set with a nunnery where the female lead lived, and a Roman Catholic church. Sadly, the filming site was demolished by the powerful Maemi Typhoon that hit the island in 2013. Currently, the site has been turned into the “Cozy House” that sells souvenirs and chocolates. A 1.05-kilometer “All In Trail” walking path was set up along the shore, as well. A replica of a Roman Catholic church sits on Seopjikoji, off the eastern coast of Jeju Island. This is where the female lead in ‘All In’ lived. The so-called ‘All In House,’ including the church, was set up for the filming, but is no longer there. The word Seopjikoji is a compound word made up of seopji, referring to a smaller piece of land in the Jeju dialect, and koji, the tip of the nose. Combined, it means a "sudden bump off the land, which seems like the end of a nose." This site is also known as a filming spot for movies like “Gingko Bed 2” (2000) and “The Uprising” (1999). This location and its surroundings boast some jaw-dropping scenery, combined with a stone column that juts out from the sea, known as the Seondol (선돌). There's also a vast plain of yellow canola flowers that blooms into its full glory each spring. Even more than 10 years after the show aired, this site remains bustling with endless visitors. ※ How to get to Seopjikoji: Take bus No. 38 from Jeju International Airport and get off at Sinchonri. Transfer to bus No. 701 and get off at the entrance to Sinyangri. Walk toward the Sinyang Seopjikoji Beach for about 20 minutes. It could take more than three hours by bus, as it’s 46 kilometers from the airport. We recommend you take a taxi or drive yourself. - Jeju Jungmun Resort (중문관광단지) Many scenes from ‘All In’ were filmed at the Lotte Hotel Jeju, part of the Jeju Jungmun Resort. The two leads talked on the balcony at the hotel, and strolled through its grounds. Some of the gambling scenes were filmed here, too. Pictured is a night view of the hotel's attractions, nestled atop the Jeju shore. Traces of “All In” can still be found at the Jeju Jungmun Resort, a multi-facility tourism stop on the southern shores of Jeju. The main characters were filmed gambling here, and were eventually reunited at the Lotte Hotel Jeju here. They talked on one of the hotel's balconies and the female lead jogged along the resort's jogging trails. When the male lead practiced his putting, it was filmed at the nearby Jungmun Beach Golf Club, and he was shot looking out at the crystal-clear, deep blue sea in the distance. The resort is also home to the modern buildings of the International Convention Center Jeju that overlooks the ocean, and the male lead worked in an office here when he returned from the U.S. ※ How to get there: Take airport bus No. 600 from the Jeju International Airport and get off at the Yeomiji Botanical Garden.

By Sohn JiAe
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: SBS, Yonhap News, Lotte Hotel Jeju
jiae5853@korea.kr