Until the Azalea Blooms

{{short description|1998 South Korean television series}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2022}}

{{Infobox television

| image = Until the Azalea Blooms title card.png

| caption =

| alt_name = Red Azalea

| native_name = {{Infobox Chinese/Korean|child=yes|hide=no|header=none|hangul=진달래꽃 필 때까지|rr=Jindallaekkot Pil Ttaekkaji}}

| genre =

| creator =

| based_on = {{Based on|Until the Rhododendron Blooms|Shin Young-hee}}

| developer =

| writer = {{ubl|Yoon Hyuk-min|Park Young-sook|Jung Sung-san}}

| director = {{ubl|Yum Hyun-sub|Lee Won-ik|Hong Sung-duk|Kim Yoo-chul}}

| creative_director =

| starring = {{ubl|Yum Jung-ah|Yoo Tae-woong|Yoon Dong-hwan|Park Geun-hyung|Jung Dong-hwan|Heo Jin}}

| theme_music_composer =

| opentheme =

| endtheme =

| composer =

| country = South Korea

| language = Korean

| num_episodes = 8

| executive_producer = Eom Hyun-sup

| producer = Lee Won-ik

| location =

| cinematography =

| editor =

| camera =

| runtime = 70 minutes

| company =

| network = KBS2

| first_aired = {{start date|1998|1|5}}

| last_aired = {{end date|1998|1|27}}

}}

Until the Azalea Blooms ({{Korean|진달래꽃 필 때까지||Jindallaekkot Pil Ttaekkaji}}) is a South Korean miniseries starring Yum Jung-ah and Yoo Tae-woong. It aired on KBS2 from January 5{{Cite web|url=https://news.joins.com/article/3583181|title=[체널톱]KBS2 '진달래꽃 필때까지' 귀순무용수 일대기|date=1998-01-05|website=Jungan Ilbo|language=ko|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-08-22}} to January 27, 1998.{{Cite web|title=진달래꽃 필 때까지|url=http://suwon.kbs.co.kr/drama/ds_detail.html?seq_no=399|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110917192747/http://suwon.kbs.co.kr/drama/ds_detail.html?seq_no=399|archive-date=September 17, 2011|access-date=December 7, 2020|language=ko}}

Based on the 1996 essay by Mansudae ballerina Shin Young-hee Until the Rhododendron Blooms, which portrays North Korean society during Kim Il Sung's regime, the show dramatizes her life in the north of the peninsula, the public execution of Woo In-hee, a mistress of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, which she personally witnessed, and her defection to South Korea.{{Cite web|url=http://www.donga.com/news/article/all/19980112/7313889/1|title=드라마「진달래꽃 필때까지」，체제비판 뒷전 선정성 지나쳐|date=1998-01-12|website=www.donga.com|language=ko|access-date=2019-08-22}} One of its three writers, Jung Sung-san, was also a defector from North Korea, and the series was his first work in South Korea.{{Cite web|url=http://www.frontiertimes.co.kr/news/news/2009/08/15/40545.html |title="김정일 정권, 없어져야 할 악의 본질(本質)"|work=Frontier Times|date=2009-08-15|language=ko}}

The first two episodes achieved a viewership rating of 16–21%, but the series was criticized for being overly sensational, ridiculing North Korea and distorting the original work.{{Cite web|url=http://www.pdjournal.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=534|title=리뷰 KBS-2TV 「진달래꽃 필 때까지」|date=1998-01-23|website=PD저널|language=ko|access-date=2019-08-22}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.hankyung.com/life/article/1998011401341|title=[방송가] KBS '진달래꽃 필 때까지' 시대착오적 제작 '비난'|date=1998-01-14|website=hankyung.com|language=ko|access-date=2019-08-22}} The author herself, in early October 1997, tried to stop the show from airing, filing an injunction against KBS for copyright infringement and asking for a halt of the production of the drama.{{Cite web|url=http://www.mediatoday.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=5359|title=귀순무용수 신영희씨 KBS에 방송중지 소송|first=|date=1997-12-03|website=Media Today|language=ko|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-08-22}} On January 5, 1998, the same day the series began airing, the Seoul Central District Court rejected the injunction, saying "There is no reason".{{Cite web|url= https://n.news.naver.com/mnews/article/001/0004308218?sid=102|title= "'진달래꽃...'방영금지 이유없다"-서울지법|work=Yonhap News Agency|date=1998-01-05|language=ko}}

Until the Azalea Blooms, remembered nowadays as one of the first entertainment programs that portrays North Korea without propaganda purposes, was negatively received by North Korea, which threatened to kill the staff and bomb KBS headquarters if the channel aired it,{{Cite web|url=http://tvdaily.asiae.co.kr/read.php3?aid=1347932707388574004|title=KBS 홍성덕 제작위원 고백 "내 관리명은 '대둘'이었다"|last=|first=|date=2012-09-18|website=tvdaily.co.kr|language=ko|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-08-19}}{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/123900880|title=L'impero del mai: Corea del Nord, realtà, immaginazione e rappresentazioni|last1=De Nicola|first1=Giuseppina|last2=Del Corona|first2=Marco|publisher=O barra O|year=2006|isbn=9788887510331|location=Milano|pages=25–26|oclc=123900880}} as the drama deals with corruption in the North. Listeners in North Korea, however, sent letters to encourage the producers to expose "the atrocities of dictators".{{Cite web|url= https://n.news.naver.com/mnews/article/001/0004206078?sid=103|title= 북한주민이 KBS 앞으로 격려편지 보내와|work=Yonhap News Agency|date=1997-12-10|language=ko}} North Korea banned it as well, but it has nevertheless circulated and people have been punished and executed for watching it.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/authorities-punish-students-for-watching-south-korean-tv-drama-06042015152942.html|title=North Korean Authorities Punish Students for Watching South Korean TV Drama|website=Radio Free Asia|language=en|access-date=2019-08-19}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/567403d315.html|title=North Koreans floored by news of secret executions for illegal cell phone use|date=2015-11-18|website=Refworld|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-08-19}} The series was extremely sensitive in North Korea, as it revealed the very existence of Kippumjo (pleasure group).{{Cite web |last=Jang |first=Won-jae |date=July 2020 |title=북한요지경] 진화하는 북한의 韓流 열풍 |url=http://m.monthly.chosun.com/client/news/viw.asp?ctcd=H&nNewsNumb=202007100049 |access-date=February 10, 2024 |language=ko}}