I have absolutely loved Korean actress Nam Gyu Ri since I was wowed by her performance as Ji Hyun in 49 Days (2011) a true masterpiece in Korean drama history. When she made this drama, My Military Valentine (2024), she was thirty-nine years old but still looked like she was in her twenties! Amazing! Plus since she plays a military commander in this drama her athletic prowess was simply breathtaking! In addition she has a beautiful singing voice. Is there anything this exquisite actress can't do on screen? I doubt it! She's exceptional in both comedy roles and dramatic roles.

Her sweet co-star in this drama was charmer Kim Min Seok best known for dramas Descendants Of The Sun and Because This Is My First Life. Both Nam Gyu Ri's and Kim Min Seok's characters undergo a tremendous amount of emotional growth, which was a lot of fun to watch, and their onscreen chemistry was excellent.

Second male lead was handsome and intense Song Jae Rim, who gained quite a following appearing in dramas like Our Gap Soon, Goodbye Mr. Black, and The Moon Embracing The Sun. Excellent performance again here from him as he plays a combination villain-heartthrob with great depth and pizzazz.

The drama was written by Kwon Hee Kyung and Park Hyun Jin and directed by Park Kwang Chun. There's a rapid pace to the story, with only twelve episodes of about 30 minutes each, so you could probably finish it in a day or two if you like to marathon completed K-dramas.

The story backdrop is a unique fantasy type, which imagines what a Korean city would be like if selected South and North Korean citizens lived together in freedom, striving to commit to peace instead of war. Not too many K-dramas combine South and North Korean characters interacting with one another. Probably the most famous K-drama with that theme is Crash Landing On You, and while My Military Valentine isn't as flashy as that one it still possesses its own charms. As of this writing you can watch My Military Valentine on Viki.com.

The Story:

After seven decades of bitter separation, through an armistice brokered by the United States, both South and North Korea have agreed to create a "test city" that will hopefully lead to unification of both countries in future. Both air travel, water travel, and train travel have been allowed to open up freely to bring newcomers to this city, called Pyeonghwa Metropolitan, near the DMZ line. People from both countries begin to set up homes, businesses, schools, etc. The new female mayor of this city, named Won Tae Sook (Park Hyun Sook, Winter Sonata, East Of Eden), has her work cut out for her trying to build friendship bridges between the two rather antagonistic male vice commissioners she works with, from both the South, Vice Commissioner Lee (Lee Joon Hyuk), and from the North, Vice Commissioner Dongpil (Jung Jin Woo).

The lady mayor has the brilliant idea to arrange a concert in the new city with a wildly popular K-pop boy idol band, called FITA ... with the result that young fan girls of the group are ecstatic and thousands of them plan to attend the concert! Most of these girl fans idolize one particular boy member, a singer-dancer given the English name Lloyd (Kim Min Seok).

 

As this idol group prepares for their concert, soldiers from both the North and the South are called up to provide security. Most of these young soldiers seem to get along pretty well but there is evidence of bad feelings being harbored by a few. They go on training exercises together frequently, and one of the main commanders in this "unified" army is a female soldier named Baek Young Ok (Nam Gyu Ri) who was originally from the North but who moved to the new Pyeonghwa City partly to find medical care for a young sister who has a bad heart condition. When she arrives to the city for the first time coincidentally a video plays on a wall behind her showcasing Lloyd's talents. Little does Young Ok know how fortuitous that moment will mean to her life. 

On the night of the concert a secretive espionage group headed up by a North Korean native named Sung Jae Hoon (Song Jae Rim) plans to target lead singer Lloyd in the hopes of killing him. If that murder could take place the international conflict that would result would doom the success of the new Pyeonghwa City. But the secret group isn't successful: female commander Baek Young Ok saves Lloyd's life.

However, right before she saves his life Lloyd is caught by the press in a compromising situation with a fan girl who had managed to buy a hard to find gun for him at his request. Lloyd had told her bluntly that he wasn't interested in her sexually, but when they are confronted in a compromising position she lies about the situation to the press.

The scandal that results is so big that Lloyd is pressured to join the military for two years, to allow time for the scandal to die down. He really has no other choice, since it is part of Korean law that every healthy Korean male serve in the military. Off Lloyd goes to do his time in service to his country -- and his lead commander turns out to be none other than Baek Young Ok herself!

Of course over time their constant interactions increase their attraction to one another, until it becomes obvious to everyone in their unit that they have fallen in love. Lloyd even helps to raise the money and find the heart doctors to save Young Ok's younger sister's life. So now she is even more grateful to him. Over time both begin to grow out of their earlier immaturity and become compassionate and sacrificial adults committed to one another romantically. This process is delightful to watch for the audience.

However, there is still a nefarious secret group out there who wants to kill Lloyd, to create conflict that would ruin the freedom city's success; there seems to be an unknown real leader of this secret group, one who is nicknamed Shadow. Turns out it is not North Korean agent Sung Jae Hoon, but a far more devious person, whose identity is not revealed until the very last episode. Quite the surprise!

The journey of individual Koreans coming from two different worlds, North (Communist) and South (Republic), trying to achieve peace and freedom and love together, always piques the interest of a worldwide audience. I truly enjoyed this unique drama. Plus, through watching Lloyd (South Korean) and Young Ok (North Korean) fall in love we get to enjoy a growing relationship that is not just about political differences and possible war but about a miraculous, restorative True Love which heals both their troubled souls.

Watch My Military Valentine and see if you enjoy it as much as I did. And if you love actress Nam Gyu Ri in this drama don't miss the very best drama she ever made, 49 Days. Out of over 1000 Korean dramas I have watched over two decades it's still in my Top Five Favorites List. An enduring honor!

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