I am so glad this hangout appeared because I wanted to chat about this drama with other beanies.

I have been pleasantly surprised by the fast paced storytelling. It has been interesting to go back and forth on the timeline to see how each of the characters were shaped by their early circumstances.

Uncle Samshik is like a Grandmaster chess player; he has the game played out in his head and just waits patiently for it to come to fruition. He has all areas covered from the plan to funding streams, and people in key positions from politicians, to the heavies. I do wonder whether Samshik is opportunistic; the plan seems too intricate to be his own and the sidekick ‘professor’ may well be the actual brains behind the whole operation as they seem a mismatched pair.

Samshik trusts no one and his loyalties shift with the power so I am keen to see how despite his approach to life the balance of power shifted. The drama began with the end of the story and we are slowly being shown how everything came to be. Looking forward to how the last 5 episodes bring it all together.

I wish I could see this one!

My only hope for this.......
1. Please be good till the end as this drama has one of the best cast members and writer/director.

So far, it is one of the top 10 dramas in Disney+

I watched 2 episodes last night, so I don't know how it will play out, but so far I think it excellent. I'm embarrassed to say that even though I taught this period for decades I know it only from the U.S. perspective, and just the basics of the three events that the show has touched on so far --Rhee's corrupt reelection, the student/worker protests that led to Rhee's overthrow, and the military coup that overthrew the replacement government.

But what makes this show good so far is that it is presenting the issues not as a dry history lesson, the way, a boring history teacher like me would present it, but personalizing them with Uncle Samsik as a morally grey figure who is pro-South Korea, and sympathetic to the people, but also of course mainly out for himself, and then Kim San, who I'm sure will eventually be "corrupted" in his attempt to push Korean development.

To go back to my boring history teacher mode, while I find it sad that in the end, the goal of economic development became so dominant that it for a long time actually worked against a democratic government, South Korea's situation was so complex in this era because of the tension between the need for economic development, the desire among liberals for democracy, the desire among most for reunification of North and South, the strong anti-communism and wartime hostilities among most that would work against reunification, the continued tensions with Japan, and the outsized role played by the U.S., who treated S. Korea pretty much as an afterthought to the development of Japan and then later to the Vietnam war.

While as a regular viewer, I'm looking forward to seeing the story of Uncle Samsik and Kim San, as a former history teacher I'll be interested in the shows perspective on the issue of economic development and democracy, which is of course still a big issue everywhere around the world!

I'm not a fan of movies centered around this era in Korean history. Youth of May helped me to know that, Oasis gave a gentle nod. Nonetheless, I believe the fact that this isn't billed as a romance helped me to watch it so I'm not expecting one tragic love story anywhere.

I'm not a fan of any of the characters here. But I'm intrigued by what they all have to offer.

Kim San is definitely not the kind of politician you want to get into power because it is very easy for him to become corrupted. Why? He's fighting too hard. When someone like him changes ideals, I see them beyond saving.
I'd have preferred if he had Samsik's approach to matters. Be for both the people and don't forget to look out for yourself, judiciously.
I do enjoy this history class. And I look forward to Uncle Samsik defending himself this week.

I also don't understand the clout around Choo Intae. Yes he might be the sort of ideals the people need: peace. But peace isn't just the absence of war. It is the keeping calm of both yourself and those around you in times of chaos. So far so good, he's only after the "peace" of his skin whenever chaos arises. I thought the scruffle that arise during his speech necessitated his being moved to safety. But to look your daughter and mentee in the eye and drive off... it only dipped my doubts about him down more depths.

Politics is better off without people like San and Choo Intae. I look forward to how San turns out, especially how he opposed Minister Kang.

I wished they told this story in a chronologic order. The back and forth between the present and the narration and the flashbacks make it more complicated without a real bonus. It would have help to know and understand better the characters and their desires.

I don’t generally like period drama but have to check out Uncle Samsik because this is Song Kang-ho’s first ever drama. There must be merits for his taking it on, not only because of his previous collaborations with the writer-director.

The first five episodes certainly do not disappoint and prompt me to look into the history surrounding 1959 - 1960 - ie, the two parallel timelines as shown to us. Clearly, the drama is inspired by the short-lived Second Republic. It was relatively a short period to drive a complicated story but I like how additional scenes are injected about the childhood of Samsik and Seong-min to extend that time horizon as to what Korea went through in the decades before the main story and also why those characters became who they are in the current timeline. The social and economic contexts lend weight to why each character behaves the way he / she is. The stake is high for almost everyone. What I found interesting is all the main male characters have terrible fathers (and this is really a male-centric piece).

The main and side characters are written well and acted well, from Samsik down to small time gangsters. Each stands out impressively which in itself is quite a feat. Of course, Samsik is the enigma that pulls all the strings whose real goal is yet to be revealed (although it’s vaguely there). He represents different things to different people but only he knows the whole chessboard, as @reply1988 observed. Kim San may in many ways be a new Choo In-tae, starting with dreams and hopes but ending with just ruthless ambition. This story will fascinate as to how these characters will make their choice, change their fate which in turn change their country.

I really like the drama’s execution - clean, concise and disciplined with each episode edited to 45 min which added to the ‘film-like’ viewing experience on top of the quality and high production values.

This was a good peek at this period of S.Korean history. I am not as familiar with the politics of the period so it was interesting for me.
It also has such a great cast of talented actors that helps you be sucked in the era.
The synopsis did say that this will be the story of Uncle Samsik and Kim San. I am looking forward how they will shape the world they are in. I am quite disappointed with Kim San for still siding with Choo Intae even if he has already seen how much a coward he is at that scuffle. I do not trust him but no one in the show is likeable. San seems to be more deceptive since he keeps his thoughts to himself. I see why YeoJin says he is a hypocrite.
While Samsik is more upfront about the kind of person he is so you know what to expect of him. He is dangerous since his loyalties change in a blink of an eye. But you know not to trust him.

This drama shows that those craving power have forgotten the people they are supposed to serve and are currently competing hard in terms of the levels of moral depravity they are all prepared to sink to in order to gain success. They all use someone else to do their dirty work and when they renege on their promises they seem genuinely surprised by the consequences of a former ally going rogue.

Uncle Samsik and Mr Park seem to be the only two who have a consistent trusting relationship but I don’t remember seeing Mr Park in the army interrogation so could it be he too was playing the long game. Uncle Samsik has women in all the key places because they can be hidden in plain sight unless they are ‘unexpectedly’ good like the Jazz singer. I am wondering about the role of the Korean American woman in the eventual plan gone wrong.

My comedy moment this week was Uncle Samsik chatting to his tail and providing him with refreshments and tips on where to go next.

My only complaint with the show is the in your face smoking, I know it’s something they did at that time but I think it would have worked to only see it in passing and for the necessary unsuspecting meet ups between characters.

This week I was mostly wondering why the Korean American woman is talking mainly in English when she is fluent in Korean, there are no US people in the conversation and they are discussing important confidential matters. Is the hope that less people will be able to overhear them?

These episodes showed just how committed San is to Uncle Samsik’s plan despite so many alternatives literally landing in his lap.

Today I bingwatched this show with little expectation and before I knew it, in 5 hours I had watched till 8 eps.

Uncle Samshik and Kim San, two characters performed by two fine actors that drive this drama about the political ambitions in South Korea after the war in 1950s. Their political bromance started with their passions in🍕.. yup, pizza. Their patriotic simple talk and their similar minds about feeding their hungry countrymen after the war is very powerful.

We can see that from the beginning, Samshik never failed to feed his people and make sure they won't sleep with empty stomach. While Kim San talked about his experience studying in US where food like pizza are abundant and the citizens don't have to worry about food.

Song Kang Ho has been known for his brilliant acting in films and as Uncle Samshik, can exude a mysterious but strong aura. While Kim Byun han as Kim San, his acting when giving a speech in front of the council members allows us to see how good of an actor he is.

Watching this show requires your full attention because of the flashbacks, narrations, interrogations and the present time will get really confusing. But this is going to be a fav to those who enjoys history and political topics

Uncle Samsik did not factor in Yeojin being so tenacious. If her dad had not died by accident she would have been occupied by the elections but now she is going to be the one to uncover everything especially because she already said if her dad was effected in anyway she would not stand still.

Kim San has become quite brave in his confrontations with Samsik over time I am wondering if he doesn’t realise that he is disposable.

So watching episode 11 I am so confused, I don’t know what to believe because they showed us the same scene from so many angles 🧐

I recently watched “Uncle Samsik” and was impressed by the stellar performances of lead actors Song Kang-ho, Byun Yo-han, Lee Kyu-hyung and also the whole cast. The interspersed flashbacks effectively reveal the story’s background. I empathize with TaeMin’s situation and wish he could have escaped to Japan. I strongly recommend “Uncle Samsik” but advise viewing it without distractions for full grasp of the plot.

This was very well done drama, superb acting and intriguing story. It was sad to see the real life footage and wonder whether the people on there survived that time period and if they did were they able to avoid becoming the moaning ajusshi’s of today.

I just finished Uncle Samsik and I'm very impressed by the writer's and the actors' accomplishment here - they brought a time in South Korean history to life I knew next to nothing about (and spiked up my interest), and not a second of screentime was wasted. You really have to be wide awake to watch this to even catch all the things not said.
I just wish there would have been a better ending for some of our characters here, but it wasn't the time.
I caught myself thinking "I'd like to read the book of this story" just to spend more time with it, so I guess I'll have to look out for some piece of Korean literature that is set in the 1950s - 1960s.