Dear Heaven

Ji Young Sun gave away her daughter, Lee Ja Kyung, when she was very young. Years later she remarries and tries to raise a fresh household, but after her new husband's death she's left caring for his children, among them stepson Gu Wang Mo and daughter Gu Seul Ah. Ja Kyung grows up with foster parents, losing them too and sinking into loneliness and a life starved for affection. When Ji Young Sun locates her birth daughter, she makes a desperate move to keep Ja Kyung close, arranging a match with her stepson Gu Wang Mo. The show traces the emotional fallout, shifting loyalties and moral tension that follow. Tensions simmer as agendas clash with the desire for family unity.

Created and written by Im Sung-han, Dear Heaven premiered in 2005 and pairs veteran and younger performers, including Lee Tae-gon, Lim Chae-mu, Ban Hyo-jung, Yoon Jung-hee and Han Hye-suk in a long family melodrama format and uses classic melodramatic beats.

On broadcast it fed viewers' appetite for intense family melodrama, sparking discussions about maternal responsibility and arranged relationships, and it reinforced storytelling patterns that dominated Korean daytime and weekend serials in the mid 2000s. The show's dilemmas about blood ties versus chosen bonds have remained part of conversations and debate.

The series centers on secrets, maternal guilt, social standing and the ethics of manipulating love to hold a family together. It emphasizes heightened emotion, moral ambiguity and character-driven conflict, asking how far someone will go to erase past mistakes and secure belonging. Lead performances highlight strained affection and simmering resentment.

Public records don't show major international awards tied to Dear Heaven. Information about domestic prize recognition is limited in readily available sources, so its awards profile appears modest or undocumented. Minor local mentions may occasionally exist but are rarely archived.