When the Camellia Blooms () is a 2019 South Korean television series starring Gong Hyo-jin and Kang Ha-neul. It aired on KBS2's Wednesdays and Thursdays at 22:00 (KST) from September 18 to November 21, 2019. Each episode was released on Netflix in South Korea and most Asia-Pacific and English speaking countries after their television broadcast.
When the Camellia Blooms became the highest rated mini-series drama airing in 2019 with a single episode rating of 23.8%. According to Nielsen Korea, the drama also became the second highest rated drama of 2019 with all episodes' average ratings of 14.83% behind SBS's The Fiery Priest. The series was met with praise by critics and audiences for its production and solid actors' performances. It also received favourable reviews for its realistic plot and unique genre combinations of romantic-comedy and thriller.
When the Camellia Blooms received 10 nominations at the 56th Baeksang Arts Awards, winning 4 – Grand Prize for Television, Best Screenplay, Best Actor for Kang Ha-neul and Best Supporting Actor for Oh Jung-se, and won multiple awards at 2019 KBS Drama Awards including Grand Prize for Gong Hyo-jin.
Synopsis When the Camellia Blooms is the story of Oh Dong-baek (Gong Hyo-jin), a single mother who moves to the fictional town of Ongsan and opens a bar named Camellia. Dong-baek faces many challenges and meets a variety of colourful characters as she attempts to settle down in the small town. Six years later, Dong-baek meets playful Yong-sik (Kang Ha-neul), a justice seeking police officer who declares his love for her. Meanwhile, a notorious killer sets out to claim Dong-baek as his next victim. Yong-sik balances his attempts to woo Dong-baek who does her best as a single working mother, while also discovering the killer's identity.
Cast Main Gong Hyo-jin as Oh Dong-baek A single mother who runs a bar called "Camellia" in Ongsan. She is the mother of Pil-gu and ex-girlfriend to Jong-ryul. Although initially she does not reciprocate Yong-sik's feelings, she eventually grows to like him the more he spends time with her and her son. Kang Ha-neul as Hwang Yong-sik A police officer with a strong instinct for finding and beating up criminals. He moves back to his hometown Ongsan after being demoted and there he meets and falls for Dong-baek. He vows to always be on her side and protect both her and her son, even at his mother's disapproval. He becomes focused on catching the serial killer known as "Joker" after Dong-baek becomes his next target. Kim Ji-seok as Kang Jong-ryul A famous baseball player and ex-boyfriend to Dong-baek. He is shown to be continuously self-centered and jealous of Yong-sik's relationship with Dong-baek and Pil-gu. Ji Yi-soo as Jessica / Park Sang-mi Wife to Jong-ryul she's insecure and mainly focuses on trying to be a social media icon. She is mostly neglectful of her daughter and takes advantage of her relationship with Jong-ryul for fame. Oh Jung-se as No Gyu-tae Dong-baek's landlord, who repeatedly hits on her. He is unhappily married to Ja-young. Yeom Hye-ran as Hong Ja-young A very intelligent lawyer and wife to Gyu-tae. She often talks down to her husband because of his incompetency. Son Dam-bi as Choi Hyang-mi / Choi Go-woon A part time employee at Camellia and Dong-baek's friend. She is a kleptomaniac. She often talks about moving to Copenhagen and is always looking for ways to gain enough money, leading her to blackmail others. She died before the first episode and the series goes through flashbacks. Kim Kang-hoon as Kang Pil-gu Dong-baek's 8-year-old son, who plays baseball and is very protective of his mother. Go Doo-shim as Kwak Deok-soon Yong-sik's widowed mother who runs a marinated crab restaurant in Ongsan. Jeon Bae-soo as Byun Bae-soo The chief police in Ongsan and Yong-sik's superior. Lee Jung-eun as Jo Jung-sook Dong-baek's mother who abandoned her as a child.
Supporting Ongsan Crab Alley Kim Sun-young as Park Chan-sook Kim Dong-hyeon as Song Jin-bae Kim Mi-hwa as Kim Jae-yeong Lee Seon-hee as Jeong Gwi-ryeon Han Ye-joo as Jo Ae-jeong Lee Sang-yi as Yang Seung-yeop Kim Mo-ah as Yang Seung-hee Baek Hyun-joo as Oh Ji-hyeon Lee Joong-yeol as Han Tae-hee Jin Yong-wook as Choi Jong-rok Lee Kyu-sung as Park Heung-sik Carson Allen as Helena
Ongsan Police Lee Jae-woo as Kwon Oh-joon Park Yeon-woo as Park Seong-min
Others Hwang Young-hee as Lee Hwa-ja Baek Eun-hye as Sung-hee Lee Jin-hee as Geum-ok Yoo Yeon as Lee Ji-ho Jeon Guk-hyang as Hong Eun-sil Kim Geon as Song Joon-gi Yoon Seong-woo as Soo-bong Seo Jang-hyeon as Dae-seong Kim Dae-gon as Shaman performing funeral Jang Ye-rim as restaurant employee Jeong Eun-jeong as waitress Park Bo-eun as staff Kyeong Gi-hyeon as staff Kim Han-na as Hye-in Kang Tae-woong as Number 7 Kwon Eun-seong as Hye-hoon Jeon Eun-mi as co-op member Hong Seo-joon as Jeong Chan-geol Kim Gi-cheon as Park Man-seop
Special appearances Choi Dae-chul as Hwang Kyu-sik, Yong-sik's eldest brother (Ep. 26) In Gyo-jin as Hwang Doo-sik, Yong-sik's second brother (Ep. 26) Jung Ga-ram as adult Pil-gu (Ep. 36, 40)
Original soundtrack
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Special OST
Pop OST
Chart performance Title Year Peakpositions RemarksRef. KOR"Like A Heroine In The Movie" 2019 55 Part 6
Viewership
+ Average TV viewership ratingsOriginal broadcast dateTitleAverage audience shareAGB Nielsen TNmSNationwideSeoulNationwide 1 September 18, 2019 The Woman with the Germanium Bracelet 7.4% 2 7.4% 7.6% 8.7% 3 September 19, 2019 The Good, the Bad, and the Cheap 6.7% 7.0% 4 8.3% 8.7% 7.9% 5 September 25, 2019 The Mutt's Strategy 8.6% 9.4% 7.5% 6 10.0% 11.0% 8.7% 7 September 26, 2019 The Country Boy 7.7% 7.4% 7.5% 8 10.0% 10.0% 9.2% 9 October 2, 2019 A Wish, an Affair, and Turmoil 9.3% 10.1% 8.4% 10 11.5% 12.4% 9.3% 11 October 3, 2019 1986.08.29. Born to Be a Hippo 10.2% 10.6% rowspan=2 12 12.9% 13.7% 13 October 9, 2019 The Ongsan Fairy 11.0% 12.5% 9.4% 14 13.1% 14.9% 11.0% 15 October 10, 2019 The Lynx of This Area 11.0% 11.6% 10.7%16 14.5% 15.2% 12.9% 17 October 16, 2019 I Will Welcome Everyone 11.0% 11.8% 10.2% 18 13.4% 14.7% 11.5% 19 October 17, 2019 Nice People Can't Get Lucky 12.1% 13.3% 10.0% 20 14.9% 16.1% 12.8% 21 October 23, 2019 The Hero Appears at the Last Minute 12.9% 13.3% 10.3% 22 16.9% 17.5% 14.0% 23 October 24, 2019 Don't Forget Me 13.3% 13.3% 12.7% 24 16.2% 16.1% 15.1% 25 October 30, 2019 The End Of All The Flirting 14.3% 15.3% 12.8% 26 16.9% 17.9% 14.9% 27 October 31, 2019 My Mom's Age Lines"And That Is How My Mom Aged" 15.0% 15.5% 14.3% 28 18.4% 18.8% 16.9% 29 November 6, 2019 Mother 15.2% 15.5% 14.1% 30 18.2% 18.7% 16.0% 31 November 7, 2019 Switching Offense and Defense(Feat. One Who Steps On the Accelerator) 15.7% 16.5% 14.1% 32 18.8% 19.7% 17.0% 33 November 13, 2019 The Ongsan Avengers 17.9% 18.8% 14.5% 34 20.7% 22.1% 16.3% 35 November 14, 2019 Life of an 8-year-old 14.0% 14.6% 13.4% 36 18.1% 19.3% 16.7% 37 November 20, 2019 7 Years and 3 Months of Motherhood 18.1% 18.6% 16.1% 38 20.4% 21.2% 19.1% 39 November 21, 2019 Do Miracles Happen? 19.7% 20.8% 16.6% 40 Average Special Episodes 1 November 27, 2019 The Camellia Has Bloomed 8.8% 8.8% 9.1% 2 9.1% 9.4% 9.0% 3 November 28, 2019 6.6% 7.0% 7.5% 4 7.6% 8.1% 8.2% In this table, represent the lowest ratingsand represent the highest ratings. N/A denotes that the rating is not known. Each night's broadcast is divided into two 35-minute episodes with a commercial break in between.
Awards and nominations + Year Award Category Recipient ResultRef2019 13th Korean Media Awards Best TV Show on Digital Terrestrial Television When the Camellia Blooms 2019 KBS Drama Awards Grand Prize (Daesang) Gong Hyo-jin Top Excellence Award, Actor Kang Ha-neul Top Excellence Award, Actress Go Doo-shim Gong Hyo-jin Excellence Award, Actor in a Mid-length Drama Kang Ha-neul Kim Ji-suk Excellence Award, Actress in a Mid-length Drama Go Doo-shim Gong Hyo-jin Lee Jung-eun Best Supporting Actor Jeon Bae-soo Oh Jung-se Best Supporting Actress Kim Sun-young Yeom Hye-ran Best Child Actor Kim Kang-hoon Best Child Actress Kim Dan-woo Seo Yi-soo Best New Actress Son Dam-bi Netizen Award, Actor Kang Ha-neul Kim Ji-seok Oh Jung-se Netizen Award, Actress Gong Hyo-jin Lee Jung-eun Son Dam-bi Best Couple Award Gong Hyo-jin and Kang Ha-neul Oh Jung-se and Yeom Hye-ran Kim Ji-seok and Kim Kang-hoon Best Writer Lim Sang-choon 2020 32nd Korea Producer Awards Best Drama When the Camellia Blooms 56th Baeksang Arts Awards Grand Prize (Daesang) Best Drama Best Director Cha Yeong-hoon Best Screenplay Lim Sang-choon Best Actor Kang Ha-neul Best Actress Gong Hyo-jin Best Supporting Actor Oh Jung-se Best Supporting Actress Son Dam-bi Yeom Hye-ran Best New Actor Kim Kang-hoon 47th Korea Broadcasting Awards Best TV Drama When the Camellia Blooms Best Screenwriter Lim Sang-choon Best Actor Kang Ha-neul 15th Seoul International Drama Awards Best Mini-SeriesWhen the Camellia Blooms Top Excellence Award for Korean Drama Best Screenwriter Lim Sang-choon Best ActorKang Ha-neul Outstanding Korean Actor Best Actress Gong Hyo-jin Outstanding Korean Drama OST Punch (Like a Heroine in the Movie) 2nd Asia Contents Awards Best Asian Drama When The Camellia BloomsBest ActorKang Ha-neul20217th APAN Star AwardsGrand Prize (Daesang)Gong Hyo-jinTop Excellence Award, Actor in MiniseriesKang Ha-neulDrama of the YearWhen The Camellia BloomsBest DirectorCha Young-hoonBest Supporting ActressLee Jung-eunYeom Hye-ranSon Dam-biPopular Star Award, ActorKang Ha-neulPopular Star Award, ActressGong Hyo-jin
Listicles +Name of publisher, year listed, name of listicle, recipient and placementPublisherYearListicleRecipientPlacementGallup Korea2024Best Television Couple of the Past 10 YearsGong Hyo-jin and Kang Ha-neul
Notes
References
External links