Winter Sonata () is a 2002 South Korean television drama series, starring Bae Yong-joon and Choi Ji-woo. It is the second part of the season-themed tetralogy Endless Love drama series directed by Yoon Seok-ho. Filming primarily took place on the resort island of Namiseom and Seoul. It aired on KBS2 from January 14 to March 19, 2002, on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 (KST) for 20 episodes. It has also been adapted into an anime series and a stage musical.
Synopsis The story begins when Joon-sang (Bae Yong-joon), the son of an eminent musician, moves to Chuncheon, a rural city in South Korea. As an extraordinarily talented student, Joon-sang is welcomed by his fellow students as well as his teachers, but remains a quiet, introverted teenager. As a result of the belief that his biological father is dead, and serious disagreements with his mother, Joon-sang believes that no one truly loves him.
On his way to school one day, Joon-sang's classmate Yoo-jin (Choi Ji-woo), while sitting next to him on the bus, falls asleep on his shoulder. After a few weeks, the two forge a close friendship. One day, Joon-sang convinces Yoo-jin to escape school together. On the way, Joon-sang soon falls in love with Yoo-jin, who opens her innocent heart to him. One fateful day, when Joon-sang pays a visit to Yoo-jin's house, he comes across a photo in their photo album. Their love, however, is cut short after Joon-sang is badly injured in a car accident and, due to brain damage, sustains amnesia, unable to remember anything prior to his accident.
Joon-sang's mother, yearning for Joon-sang's love and respect, has Joon-sang brainwashed by a hypnotist hoping to erase Joon-sang's memories of his painful childhood as an illegitimate child. As a result, Joon-sang's memories prior to the accident are erased. Joon-sang's mother decides to move to the United States with Joon-sang, where he can start a new life under the identity of Lee Min-hyung. His friends and teachers are told that Joon-sang is dead.
Ten years later, Min-hyung is an award-winning architect in the United States. He does not remember anything about his life in Korea. He is completely different, now an open-minded person who cares about other people. He returns to Korea and Yoo-jin sees him on the street, prompting her to put off her engagement to her childhood friend Sang-hyuk (Park Yong-ha). Little does she know that Min-hyung is dating her friend and past rival Chae-rin (Park Sol-mi). The story's plot thickens when Yoo-jin's interior design firm is awarded a project by Min-hyung's architectural firm, and has to work with Min-hyung. Yoo-jin sometimes wonders if he is her supposedly dead first love Joon-sang.
After a few months, Min-hyung also falls in love with Yoo-jin, fueling the anger of Chae-rin. Chae-rin sees Yoo-jin as a third wheel and attempts to draw Min-hyung's attention back to herself by lying about Yoo-jin. However, her plan is exposed when Min-hyung accidentally overhears a conversation between Chae-rin and Jin-sook.
Cast Bae Yong-joon as Kang Joon-sang / Lee Min-hyung Choi Ji-woo as Jeong Yoo-jin Park Yong-ha as Kim Sang-hyuk Park Sol-mi as Oh Chae-rin Lee Hye-eun as Kong Jin-sook Ryu Seung-soo as Kwon Yong-gook Kwon Hae-hyo as Kim seonbae Song Ok-sook as Kang Mi-hee, Joon-sang's mother Jung Dong-hwan as Kim Jin-woo, Sang-hyuk's father Kim Hae-sook as Lee Yeong-hee, Yoo-jin's mother Ha Ji-hye as Jeong Hee-jin, Yoo-jin's younger sister Jung Won-joong as Park Jong-ho, "Gargamel" Jang Hang-sun as Supervisor Min Lee Hyo-chun as Park Ji-young, Sang-hyuk's mother Park Hyun-sook as Lee Jeong-ah, Yoo-jin's colleague at Polaris Son Jong-bum as Yoo-jin's colleague at Polaris Yoo Yul as Radio broadcaster Maeng Ho-rim as Dr. Ahn Ha Jae-young as Jeong Hyeon-soo, Yoo-jin's father
Reception Winter Sonata is credited with causing the second wave of the Korean Wave and extending it to Japan and the Philippines. It improved the image of South Korea among the Japanese and set fashion trends throughout East Asia. The series was a commercial success; 330,000 DVDs and 1,200,000 copies of Winter Sonata novelizations were sold. The series yielded more than when taking into account the profit it contributed to tourism. The number of visitors to the island of Namiseom (where the series was shot) grew from 250,000 to over 650,000 after the series was aired. A statue of the main characters can also be found on the island at the spot where they first kissed.
The series shot actor Bae Yong-joon into stardom in Asia, and he became especially popular among middle-aged Japanese women. When he first visited Japan in 2004, more than 3,000 women guarded by 350 policemen gathered at the airport to welcome him. Junichiro Koizumi, the Japanese prime minister at the time, was quoted saying that Bae was more popular in Japan than himself.
The series was also aired in the Philippines in 2003, via GMA Network's primetime block under the title Endless Love II: Winter Sonata and one of the highest rated shows at that time. As a result, it also brought the Korean Wave to the Philippines. Just like in Japan, Bae Yong-joon became popular among middle-aged women.
The series was a success in Asia and the America as well.
In March 2026, It was made public that the drama will be re-released in Japan by compiling the 1400‑minute Television series into a 2 hour 4K remastered film.
Ratings In this table, represent the lowest ratings and represent the highest ratings.
Original broadcast date Average audience share AGB Nielsen Nationwide 1 January 14, 2002 2 January 15, 2002 16.6% 3 January 21, 2002 19.2% 4 January 22, 2002 21.5% 5 January 28, 2002 21.2% 6 January 29, 2002 24.1% 7 February 4, 2002 27.2% 8 February 5, 2002 26.3% 9 February 11, 2002 17.8% 10 February 12, 2002 16.7% 11 February 18, 2002 26.4% 12 February 19, 2002 27.0% 13 February 25, 2002 27.6% 14 February 26, 2002 15 March 4, 2002 26.4% 16 March 5, 2002 26.4% 17 March 11, 2002 23.3% 18 March 12, 2002 22.4% 19 March 18, 2002 23.7% 20 March 19, 2002 24.5% Average
Original soundtrack
# Title Artist Notes 1 처음부터 지금까지 (From the Beginning Until Now) Ryu 2 "My Memory" Ryu 3 처음 (First Time) 4 그대만이 (Only You) Ryu 5 처음부터 지금까지 (From the Beginning Until Now) Instrumental version 6 "My Memory" Piano and violin version 7 보낼 수 없는 사랑 (The Love I Cannot Send) Kim Wan-sun 8 시작 (The Beginning) 9 그대만이 (Only You) Piano and violin version 10 "My Memory" Piano version 11 잊지마 (Don't Forget) Ryu 12 기억속으로 (Inside the Memories) 13 연인 (Lover) Ryu 14 제비꽃 (Violet) Ryu 15 그대만이 (Only You) Piano version 16 처음 (First Time) Piano version 17 제비꽃 (Violet) Instrumental version 18 "Love Hurts" Yiruma Ep. 1 19 "When The Love Falls" Yiruma Ep. 2
In addition, "Moment" performed by Ryu and available on his album Ryu 2 is included on some bootleg versions of the Winter Sonata soundtrack.
International broadcast The drama first aired in Japan on NHK in 2004; it was dubbed in Japanese and edited into 60-minute episodes. The final episode (which aired on August 23, 2004) recorded ratings of 20.6% in Kanto, 22.5% in Nagoya, and 23.8% in the Kansai regions. The series as a whole had an average viewership in the 14% to 15% range. Due to overwhelming demand from viewers to watch the series in its original format, it was re-aired on NHK's satellite channel BS2 unedited (in its original Korean audio, with Japanese subtitles), beginning December 20, 2004.
It was the first Korean drama that ushered in the Korean Wave in Malaysia, when it aired in 2002 on TV3 dubbed in Mandarin with Malay subtitles. PMP Entertainment later released the drama in VCD and DVD format under the Bahasa title, Kisah Cinta Musim Salju (meaning "Winter Love Story"). A Malay cover version of the theme song was released with the title "Sonata Musim Salju" (meaning "Winter's Sonata").
The drama aired in Nepal on Kantipur Television Network in the mid-2000s dubbed in Nepali. The drama triggered the Korean Wave in the country and its lead star Bae Yong-joon became very popular amongst women in the country.
In Indonesia, Winter Sonata was broadcast on SCTV in August 2002.
In Vietnam, Winter Sonata was broadcast on HTV7 and HanoiTV in 2003. It was also broadcast on VTV2 in November 2013.
In 2006, pan-Asian American network AZN Television bought the rights to air Winter Sonata in a 24-hour marathon with other Korean dramas.
In Asia, the drama is available to stream via Iflix with English, Indonesian, Malay, Simplified Mandarin, Sinhalese, Vietnamese and Burmese subtitles.
Anime An anime adaptation of Winter Sonata premiered on Japan's SKY PerfecTV! on October 17, 2009, consisting of 26 episodes subtitled in Japanese and English. Directed by Ahn Jae-hoon and written by Kim Hyeong-wan, the program featured 23 members of the original Korean cast voicing the characters, including Bae and Choi who reprised their roles. The role of "Sang-hyuk", originally played by Park Yong-ha, was voiced by singer Kang Yo-hwan and "Chae-rin" was dubbed by newcomer Lee Se-na in place of Park Sol-mi. During October 2011, Animax Asia aired the anime in Korean audio and English subtitles across South and Southeast Asia.
Voice cast Korean version Bae Yong-joon as Kang Joon-sang / Lee Min-hyung Choi Ji-woo as Jeong Yoo-jin Park Yong Ha as Kim Sang-hyuk Park Sol Mi as Oh Chae-rin Ryu Seung-soo as Kwon Yong-gook Seon Jeon-hui as Kong Jin-sook, Catalina and Marianne Bae Han-seon as Kim Jin-woo (Sang-hyuk's father) So Hye-jyeon as Kang Mi-hee (Joon-sang's mother) and Anne Yoon So-ra as Kim Yeong-hee (Yoo-jin's mother) and Mother superior Lee Young-yoo as Jeong Hee-jin (Yoo-jin's younger sister) Lee Jang-won as Park Jong-ho (teacher) Choi Seon-woo as Park Ji-young (Sang-hyuk's mother) Min-ji as Lee Jeong-ah Park Yeong-jae as Hang Seung-ryong and DJ (Sang-hyuk's colleague) Kim Chang as Kim Hyo-sook (Min-hyung's seonbae) and Jeong Hyeon-soo (Yoo-jin's father) Kim Gyu-sik as Dr. Ahn Seo-yeong as Jane Cho Gyun-joon as Manager Kim (Mi-hee's manager) Im Chae-hong as Claude Nam Do-hyeong as Louis Hong Seong-min as Chang Kim In-jeong as Manufacturing manager
Japanese version Masato Hagiwara as Kang Joon-sang / Lee Min-hyung Misato Tanaka as Jeong Yoo-jin Kazuma Horie as Kim Sang-hyuk Sayaka Kinoshita as Oh Chae-rin Fuminori Komatsu as Kwon Yong-gook Makoto Tsumura as Kong Jin-sook Mitsuru Takakuwa as Kim Jin-woo, Sang-hyuk's father Chika Mizuno as Kang Mi-hee, Joon-sang's mother Kaoru Katakai as Kim Yeong-hee, Yoo-jin's mother Michiko Komatsu as Jeong Hee-jin, Yoo-jin's younger sister Binbin Takaoka as Park Jong-ho, teacher Kikue Umimoto as Park Ji-young, Sang-hyuk's mother Tatsuya Kamijo as Radio DJ Aki Yasunaga as Lee Jeong-ah Seiro Ogino as Kim Hyo-sook, Min-hyung's seonbae Yasuhiro Mamiya as Dr. Ahn Kumi Tanaka as Jane Katsunori Kobayashi as Manager Kim, Mi-hee's manager Kenji Sugimura as Claude Ryo Agawa as Anne Yūto Suzuki as Louis Masanori Machida as Chang Koki Yamada as Manufacturing manager Kanako Hirano as Catalina Sayuri Sadaoka as Mother superior Rinko Hayashi as Marianne Keiichi Nakagawa as Jeong Hyeon-soo, Yoo-jin's father
Episode list