the title of the sbs drama lovers in paris (파리의 연인, 2004) lets us know that there will be two things: paris and love. expectations are set, and episode one does not disappoint; it hooks you right into the 20-episode series.
we first meet kang tae-young, a hopeless romantic who loves artsy, bohemian lifestyle of paris. perhaps tae-young is not the most beautiful or the smartest woman in the world, but she’s forever an optimist. “a-ja (아자)!” is the motto she lives by, and though life has dealt her some tough cards, she looks at the world “through rose-colored glasses.” kim jung-eun (김정은) plays tae-young as the most earnest, honest, hard-working, wide-eyed girl you will never know, and we too become seduced by her charms. there are two reasons why tae-young is in paris: she wants to study film (her deceased father was an independent filmmaker) and she hopes to fall in love. and just like that, fate sends her two perfect men to choose from.
han ki-joo, the president of a korean car company, is in paris on a 2-year leave to land important european accounts (i think?). yes, he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, 
and yes, at first glance he is an exceedingly direct, meticulous, no-nonsense business man, but slowly, our opinion of him changes. there is a term in korean that means any one of the following english counterparts: cool, aloof, stylish, handsome, good-looking. methinks the phrase ”멋있다” was invented to describe park shin-yang (박신양), who made countless korean women fall in love with him at series’ end. there were many paula abdul, drug-induced clapping sessions (accompanied by girlish squeals) as i, too, became entranced by han ki-joo’s, well, manliness.
but hold on there, hoss, look who we have here; han ki-joo’s nephew suddenly walks into tae-young’s life. played by the singer / model / actor lee dong-gun (이동건), yoon soo-hyuk is the opposite of his uncle in many ways: he is tall, lanky, sensitive and wildly romantic. soo-hyuk falls in love with tae-young at first sight and confesses his feelings to her (in the most awesomely mushy scene in the whole universe): he takes her hand, places it on his chest, his beating heart, and says, “이 안에…너 있다 (you are in here).” round two of crazy clapping and squeals followed (as i imagine the millions of korean women reacting the same way when they watched that scene for the first time). my neighbors probably think i’m a 12-year-old schoolgirl.
i watched the entirety of lovers in paris in a week and thought to myself—this is a perfect drama—even more perfect than the perfect my name is kim samsoon. and the love triangle is an actual love triangle (unlike in beethoven virus). any woman in kang tae-young’s shoes would seriously have to lock herself up in a closet and weigh the positives and negatives 
of the situation. should i go with the powerful, fearless ki-joo or the slightly younger, passionate, good-natured soo-hyuk? it’s the dilemma of all dilemmas.
however, there’s more to the drama series than just the love triangle. i’ve left off the villainous congressman’s daughter who has her sight set on marrying the rich uncle. i’ve left off the deep, dark secret of the han family that’s itching to be exposed. i’ve left off the competing car company that tries to sabotage han ki-joo’s reputation. and many other plotlines and minor characters. much like my attitude toward the way we were (that barbra streisand weepie), i’d like to remember this drama solely for the love. not for the bullshit, but only for the love between the main characters.
i mentioned that as i was watching, i thought it was the most perfect drama. it is certainly close to perfection, but there are definite flaws. there is an enormous amount of joy in the first two-thirds of the show, but it gradually deflates, leaving the last third heavy and melodramatic (with no comic relief). true, the setting is changed from paris to seoul, but that doesn’t mean the levity of the first episodes should be abandoned, right? and let’s not even talk about the last ten minutes of the final episode, which left me confused and bitter (i will pretend it never happened).
but!
there is more positive than negative. there’s a reason lovers in paris is one of the best-renowned korean dramas (it is in the all-time top 15; at one point, almost 60% of households were tuning in). the show catapulted the three leading actors to superstardom and swept all the major awards that year. not only that, but numerous scenes became iconic for their ability to make viewers swoon. the best best best scene is definitely this one:
아!!!!!!!!!!!!! 멋있다!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[note: my name is kim samsoon still ranks 1st in my book.]
