East of Eden

Plot

A period epic that spans the years 1960 to 2000s, East of Eden tells a saga of the bitter rivalry between two men who are eternally bound by fate. Historic events are referenced, such as the rapid industrialization of the 1970s and 1980s, Taebaek coal miners' strikes and student-led democracy movements.

Shin Tae-hwan (Jo Min-ki) is the managing director of a coal mine in Taebaek. The true embodiment of ruthless ambition, he strives to inherit the coal mining company Taesung Group. In the process, he kills Lee Ki-chul (Lee Jong-won), a miner crusading for workers' rights who has been blocking his path to success. He also seduces Yoo Mi-ae (Shin Eun-jung), a nurse at Taebaek Hospital, only to coldly brush her away after he is tired of her.

At the same moment that Yang Chun-hee (Lee Mi-sook), wife of the deceased Ki-chul, is giving birth to their second son at Taebaek Hospital, Shin Tae-hwan's wife also gives birth to a baby boy. Filled with rage at Shin Tae-hwan's betrayal, the nurse Mi-ae comes up with a scheme to fulfill her own revenge. She switches the two babies. By doing so, she viciously transforms the fates of not just two lives, but those around them.

Years later, Chun-hee's sons Lee Dong-chul (Song Seung-heon) and Lee Dong-wook (Yeon Jung-hoon) have taken different paths in life. To alleviate their poverty, Dong-chul becomes a gangster, while the younger Dong-wook dreams of becoming a prosecutor to avenge his family by using the law against Shin Tae-hwan. Two women enter Dong-chul's life: the smart and sensible Min Hye-rin (Lee Da-hae), and Gook Young-ran (Lee Yeon-hee), the willful daughter of his gang boss (Yoo Dong-geun). Meanwhile, Shin Myung-hoon (Park Hae-jin), who's been molded in his father Tae-hwan's spiteful, selfish image, sets his eye on Kim Ji-hyun (Han Ji-hye), Dong-wook's sweetheart.

Although Dong-chul is on the other side of the law, he remains protective of Dong-wook, but a revelation shakes him to his core: that his nemesis Shin Myung-hoon is actually his biological brother while the beloved brother that had been beside him all these years is actually the biological son of his enemy.

Cast

Main characters

Song Seung-heon as Lee Dong-chul

Shin Dong-woo as Dong-chul (5 years old)

Kim Bum as Dong-chul (15 years old)

Yeon Jung-hoon as Lee Dong-wook

Park Gun-woo as Dong-wook (10 years old)

Lee Da-hae as Min Hye-rin

Han Ji-hye as Kim Ji-hyun

Nam Ji-hyun as Ji-hyun (10 years old)

Park Hae-jin as Shin Myung-hoon

Won Deok-hyun as Myung-hoon (10 years old)

Lee Yeon-hee as Gook Young-ran / Grace

Jo Min-ki as Shin Tae-hwan (Myung-hoon's father)

Lee Mi-sook as Yang Chun-hee (Dong-chul and Dong-wook's mother)

Yoo Dong-geun as Gook Dae-hwa (Young-ran's father)

Supporting characters

Dennis Oh as Mike Packard (Young-ran's fiancé)

Lee Jong-won as Lee Ki-chul (Dong-chul and Dong-wook's father)

Jeon Mi-seon as Jung-ja (Ki-soon's mother)

Park Hyun-sook as Yang Ok-hee (Chun-hee's sister)

Jeon So-min as Lee Ki-soon

Jin Ji-hee as Ki-soon (9 years old)

Kim Sung-kyum as resident Oh

Na Hyeon-hui as Oh Yoon-hee

Lee Won-jae as Kyung-tae

Shim Hye-jin as Young-ran's mother

Yoon Dong-hwan as lawyer Kim Tae-seon

Jung Hye-young as Janice / Jae-hee

Shin Eun-jung as Yoo Mi-ae / Rebecca

Hwang Jung-eum as Kim So-jung

Kang Eun-tak as Han Soo-jae

Jeon Sung-hwan as stationmaster Kim Gab-soo (Ji-hyun's grandfather)

Lee Seok-joon as Father Han

Kim Hyung-min as Wang-geon

Go Yoon-hoo as Dok-sa

Park Chan-hwan as Uncle Chang

Kim Hak-chul as Kang Gi-man