Jungle Fish

*Jungle Fish*
Jungle Fish
	Promotional poster
Hangul	정글피쉬
Revised Romanization	Jeonggeulpiswi
Genre	Teen drama
Written by	Seo Jae-won; Kim Kyung-min; Im Chae-joon;
Directed by	Choi Sung-bum
Starring	Kim Soo-hyun; Park Bo-young;
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	1
Production
Executive producer	Kim Gwang-pil
Producer	Kim Jeong-hwan
Production locations	Seoul, South Korea
Running time	60 minutes
Original release
Network	KBS2
Release	May 5, 2008

Jungle Fish (Korean: 정글피쉬) is a 2008 South Korean youth television special starring Kim Soo-hyun and Park Bo-young. Based on a true story, the drama depicts the pressures placed on students to achieve and gain admission to prestigious colleges and universities. Also, it showcased new interactive blogging. The series marked Kim's first official lead role. It aired on KBS2 on 5 May 2008 at 19:20 (KST), and is available for worldwide streaming through KBS World's official YouTube channel.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

The special recorded a viewership rating of 3.3%. It received critical acclaim for filming and editing, and acting by a cast of young performers winning numerous awards, including the Peabody Award. It became the KBS show with the most international awards in history.^[5]

It was given a theatrical screening on 23 September 2010 at the Lotte Cinema at Konkuk University. A television series, Jungle Fish 2, was created featuring a different cast, and aired in 2010 on KBS.^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9]

Summary

The drama Jungle Fish, which means a fish that lived on the coast of Africa and fell into the jungle by a whirlwind, portrays the current youth (fish) who are struggling for the better future (beach) while suffering from the reality (jungle) of the entrance exam.

The story is about high school students around Han Jae-ta (Kim Soo-hyun) who share their concerns and problems through the blog. One day, an examination paper leak incident occurs at his school through special tutoring. The class leader leads Jae-ta and digs into the problem to confirm "Who is the protagonist of the incident?", and the incident is gradually amplified through Jae-ta's blog. Through this incident, Jae-ta and his friends are increasingly in conflict and skepticism about "the value of friendship and success."

Cast

Main

Kim Soo-hyun as Han Jae-ta

A high-school student, who has good photography skills and runs a blog about his daily life.

Park Bo-young as Lee Eun-soo

Her mother wants her to enroll in a prestigious college. She unburdens her daily life problems through the blog.

Supporting

Hwang Chan-sung as Park Young-sam

Jae-ta's friend who leads him to find out who stole the exam question papers.

Jang Ki-bum as Han Dong-hee

Jae-ta's friend who comes in skepticism about the friendship with him after the incident.

Cha Min-ji as Kang-sol

Eun-soo's good friend who refuses to talk with her after learning the truth.

Seo Hye-jin as Na Mi-rae

Eun-soo's classmate who takes special classes with her and Dong-hee.

Ryu Hyo-young as Jung Yoo-mi
Kim C as Jae-ta's uncle
Kim Dong-beom as speaker

Awards

Ceremony	Year	Award	Result	Ref.
Japan East Asia PD Forum	2008	Excellence Award	Won	^[10] ^[11]
Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union Awards		Grand Prize - TV Youth	Won
Seoul Drama Festival Awards		Best Juvenile Series	Won
Peabody Award	2009	Award Winner	Won

References

^ <김포외고 사건 소재 청소년 드라마 등장> [A youth drama appeared in the case of Gimpo Foreign Language High School>]. Yonhap (in Korean). Naver. April 17, 2008. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
^ Kim, Kook-hwa (April 17, 2008). ‘정글피쉬’ 김수현, 제작발표회에서 눈물 펑펑 ['Jungle Fish' Kim Soo-hyun, tears popping at the production presentation]. OSEN (in Korean). Naver. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
^ Kim, Min-jung (May 4, 2008). 청소년 드라마 ‘정글피쉬’, 어린이 날 방영 확정 [Youth drama 'Jungle Fish' confirmed to air on Children's Day]. OSEN (in Korean). Naver. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
^ "Jungle Fish". The Peabody Awards. Archived from the original on June 18, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
^ "정글피쉬2 시리즈 제작 가능할까". 시티저널 (in Korean). 2010-12-27. Archived from the original on 2022-10-04. Retrieved 2022-10-04.
^ Han, Sang-hee (September 26, 2010). "Realism essential for local teen dramas". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on June 8, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
^ Kim, Min-jung (May 6, 2008). ‘정글피쉬’, 3.3% 시청률보다 더 빛난 이유 [Why 'Jungle Fish' shined more than 3.3% viewership]. OSEN (in Korean). Naver. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
^ Choi, Na-young (April 24, 2009). '정글피쉬’, 피바디상 수상 기념 재방송 ['Jungle Fish' re-broadcast to commemorate the Peabody Award]. OSEN (in Korean). Naver. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
^ 박보영ㆍ김수현 주연 '정글피쉬' 특별개봉 [Special release of 'Jungle Fish' starring Park Bo-young and Kim Soo-hyun]. Yonhap (in Korean). Naver. September 16, 2010. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
^ Kim, Su-jin (October 1, 2008). '정글피쉬', 日 동아시아 PD포럼 우수상 수상 ['Jungle Fish' won the Excellence Award at the East Asia PD Forum]. Star News (in Korean). Naver. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
^ KBS '정글피쉬', 피버디상 수상 [KBS 'Jungle Fish' won the Peabody Award]. Yonhap (in Korean). Naver. April 2, 2009. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved October 7, 2020.