(Click the picture above to view or download a much bigger copy.)From Wikipedia: “I Can Hear Your Voice” is a 2013 South Korean television series starring Lee Bo-young, Lee Jong-suk, Yoon Sang-hyun and Lee Da-hee. It aired on SBS from June 5 to August 1, 2013, for 18 episodes. Genre: legal drama, romance, and fantasy.
This drama had an average of 18.8% nationwide viewership, based on the AGB Nielsen Ratings. Episode 16 had the highest viewership at 24.1%.
“I Hear Your Voice” was nominated for Best Drama in the 6th Korea Drama Awards and in the 50th Baeksang Arts Awards. Its director Jo Soo-won won the Best Director award from the 6th Korea Drama Awards. Its lead actors and actresses won acting awards; for example, Lee Bo-young won the Grand Prize (Daesang) from the 6th Korea Drama Awards; Top Excellence Award, Actress from the APAN Star Awards; and Best Actress from the 50th Baeksang Arts Awards.
This drama was broadcast in Japan, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka. In the United Kingdom, the series is available to stream on Netflix.
How I wrote these episode summaries with no spoilers
1. I assumed that you will be reading these summaries and watching the videos chronologically.
2. I narrated some of the main actions in each episode, without revealing the plot’s twists and turns.
3. At the beginning of each summary starting with Episode 2, I placed in a table a recap of the major twists and turns of the previous episode. But because you have already watched the video of the previous episode, they aren’t spoilers anymore.
4. With Episode 18 (Finale), however, I included spoilers through the screen captures. Reason — people who have not seen the drama want to know whether it has a good/happy ending or a sad ending before they invest their time in watching it. And yes, this drama has a happy ending.
Episode 1: “I Hear Your Voice”
Park Soo Ha looks like an ordinary high school student, but ever since a car crash when he was a child, he has been able to read other people’s thoughts.
Jang Hye Sung is a lawyer who’s not interested in defending her clients to the best of her abilities; because of their tight finances, her mother pressures her to apply as a public defender. During the day of the interview, she meets a fellow applicant, a dorky guy named Cha Gwan Woo.
During the interview, Hye Sung recounts her childhood story of why she got kicked out of school. The interviewer says that if her story is good, she will be considered for the position of public defender.
Flashback ...
Hye Sung’s mother works as a house helper for Judge Seo. During a party, Seo Do Hyun (the judge’s daughter) gets injured in a fireworks incident. In the hospital, one of Do Hyun’s classmates accuses Hye Sung of causing the injury. Judge Seo kicks Hye Sung and her mother out of his house.
Later on, while Hye Sung confronts Do Hyun, they come upon a car crash; they see a man attacking the occupants of the car with a lead pipe. Hye Sung takes a picture of the man with her phone camera, but the man sees her and Do Hyun. They run, but the man corners them.
Episode 2: “Bad Girl, Good Girl”
| Ep. 1 recap:
Hye Sung and her mother reconcile after her mother uses the money that the judge gave to her to buy copies of the judge’s books and burns them. Despite her fears, Hye Sung testifies in court against Min Joon Gook, the man who killed Soo Ha’s father. After the trial, Soo Ha catches up with Hye Sung and promises her that he will protect her. |
Hye Sung is appointed as a public defender, but she tells her mother that she will just use her position to find a husband. Her first assignment is to defend Sung Bin who has been charged with attempted murder.
From the news article about Sung Bin, Soo Ha recognizes that the public defender handling Sung Bi’s case is Hye Sung, the girl who testified against his father’s killer. Later on, he secretly follows Hye Sung as she goes home.
Depressed that no one, including Hye Sung, believes that she’s innocent, Sung Bin decides to take her own life by throwing herself on the path of an oncoming subway train.
Episode 3: “I’ll Be There”
| Ep. 2 recap:
Min Joon Gook, the man who killed Soo Ha’s father, is released from prison. The prosecutor assigned to Sung Bin’s case is none other than Hye Sung’s childhood nemesis, Do Hyun. Soo Ha saves Sung Bin from killing herself. Soo Ha is disappointed that all his ideals of Hye Sung are the exact opposite of who she is a lawyer and public defender. Before the trial begins, he forcibly takes Hye Sung out of the court building and shows her that he can read her thoughts. |
Joon Gook (the killer of Soo Ha’s father) goes to the courthouse; he also continues to send text messages to Hye Jung.
Dong Hee testifies that Sung Bin pushed her off the ledge. Disappointed at the turn of events, Hye Sung tells Soo Ha to stay away from her. Later, she and Gwan Woo decide to go undercover to find evidence to support Sung Bin’s defense.
The trial resumes, but before Hye Sung could begin the cross-examination, Do Hyun warns Dong Hee that if she changes her testimony, she will be charged with perjury. Meanwhile, Soo Ha finds out that Joon Gook, his father’s killer, has already been released from prison.
Episode 4: “Him in My Vague Memory”
| Ep. 3 recap:
In order to protect her budding career as an actress, Dong Hee lied about what happened; when she was about to be caught smoking, she hung on the ledge but lost her grip and fell. After successfully defending Sung Bin, Hye Sung confronts Do Hyun, saying that she hasn’t changed one bit from what she was ten years ago. Hye Sung tells Soo Ha that because of their age difference, he should forget any romantic notions he has towards her. Soo Ha realizes that it was Joon Gook, his father’s killer, who has been sending text messages to Hye Sung. As he rushes to get to Hye Sung’s house, he gets into a fight with the young thugs who previously tried to harass Hye Sung. |
Using a different name, Soo Ha volunteers at the church-run soup kitchen where Joon Gook works. Meanwhile, Hye Sung and Gwan Woo are assigned to handle the case of twin brothers who have been charged with robbing a store and stabbing its owner. Each twin has confessed as being the one who stabbed the store clerk.
Joon Gook finds out that Soo Ha was the little boy he failed to kill and who could read other people’s thoughts. He calls up Soo Ha and sets up a meeting between them.
Episode 5: “Words That Can’t Be Trusted”
| Ep. 4 recap:
Hye Sung gets drunk in a get together with her boss and her office mates; Soo Ha piggybacks her to her house.
Hye Sung finds out from her boss that Joon Gook has been released from prison. Soo Ha is arrested after beating up Joon Gook. Hye Sung goes to the police station, and through the CCTV, she finds out that Soo Ha was the little boy who promised to protect her gun years ago. |
Gwan Woo begins showing his affections for Hye Sung; when Soo Ha fails to show up after office hours, he offers to escort her home.
Joon Gook tells the police officers that he’s leaving for another place because he cannot bear the guilt over having killed Soo Ha’s father.
In the courthouse, Do Hyun meets Hye Sung; she gloats that the judge handling the twins’ case is tough on crime. The twins have changed their stories, with each one now blaming the other for murdering the store owner.
Episode 6: “Me, Abandoned All Alone at the Edge of the World”
| Ep. 5 recap:
Joon Gook applies as a deliveryman in the chicken restaurant of Hye Sung’s mother. Hye Sung humiliates Do Hyun by succeeding in getting separate trials for the twins. But she’s stunned when Soo Ha tells her later on that both twins murdered the store owner. |
Gwan Woo refuses to talk to Hye Sung about the case since they’re representing different clients. Before the next hearing, Hye Sung offers her client two options: plead guilty and go free, or plead innocent and go down for murder.
Hye Sung’s boss reprimands her, saying that she’s a public defender, not a prosecutor. Meanwhile, after he gets a taunting text from Joon Gook, Soo Ha contacts the police officers who patrol Hye Sung’s neighborhood. When the officers say that they don’t know where Joon Gook moved to, he vows to find and kill him.
Later on, one of the police officers frantically calls up Hye Sung; he says that Soo Ha stole his gun.
Episode 7: “Is a Sad Premonition Never Wrong?”
| Ep. 6 recap:
Hye Sung and Do Hyun secretly cooperate to make the twin brothers turn against each other and admit in court that they both killed the store owner. To her shock later on, however, Hye Sung finds out that the twins killed the store owner after he raped the girlfriend of one of the twins. Hye Sung saves Soo Ha from being questioned by the police officers about the missing gun. |
Hye Sung is assigned to handle the case of an ornery grandfather who stole a stack of newspapers. The case is later on transferred to Gwan Soo, but Hye Sung wants to help him out. Taking Soo Ha with her, she visits the victim-owner of the newspaper stand.
Hye Sung’s mother looks forward to getting her first paycheck as a public defender. When Hye Sung tells her that she will bring the money to her during the weekend, Joon Gook realizes that it’s the opportunity that he has been waiting for.
Episode 8: “For Whom Are You Living?”
| Ep. 7 recap:
After getting the owner of the newspaper stand to agree to drop the case against the ornery grandfather, Hye Jung rushes to the courtroom and submits the document to the judge. Through the phone tracker, Soo Han finds out where Joon Gook is. But Joon Gook has already taken Hye Sung’s mother as a hostage to force her to come to the chicken restaurant. |
The judge refuses the plea of Hye Sung’s colleagues not to assign them to defend Joon Gook, and Gwan Soo is assigned as the defense counsel. Do Hyun, on the other hand, has been assigned to prosecute the case.
To Hye Sung’s surprise during the arraignment, Gwan Woo tells the court that Joon Gook pleads not guilty.
When Soo Ha tells her that the judge is thinking of acquitting Joon Gook because the evidence against him is circumstantial, Hye Sung visits Do Hyun at her house. She falls on her knees and begs Do Hyun to falsify the evidence against Joon Gook.
Episode 9: “If Even You Leave in Difficult Days”
| Ep. 8 recap:
Through a suicide attempt, Joon Gook convinces Gwan Soo that he’s innocent. With her father’s help, Do Hyun convinces Joon Gook’s former cellmate, Hwang Dal Joong, to testify that Joon Gook wanted to exact revenge on Hye Sung. But under intense cross examination by Gwan Woo, the cellmate’s testimony unravels. Soo Ha reads Joon Gook’s thoughts that his next revenge will be against him and Hye Sung. In the aquarium, after saying goodbye, Soo Ha kisses Hye Jung. |
Hye Sung becomes frantic when Soo Ha doesn’t answer her calls. But she remembers the phone tracker, and she rushes to the warehouse where Soo Ha arranged to meet Joon Gook.
In the darkness, Joon Gook attacks Soo Ha with a lead pipe again and again. Soo Ha manages to turn on the lights and fights back. He’s about to stab Joon Gook when Hye Sung arrives.
Hye Sung gets stabbed, and with the knife, Joon Gook attacks Soo Ha and stabs him on the back.
Episode 10: “Why Am I Lost Searching for Painful Memories?”
| Ep. 9 recap:
As Joon Gook escapes, he comes face to face with Gwan Woo. In the hospital, Soo Ha says goodbye to Hye Sung. One year later ... Gwan Woo has resigned from the public defender’s office. Meanwhile, Hye Sung has returned to her old disinterested way of representing her clients. A cut off hand has been identified to be that of Joon Gook, and beside it is a knife with Soo Ha’s DNA. The police begin hunting down Soo Ha as the suspect in Joon Gook’s murder. The police finally locate Soo Ha in a remote farm. But he’s using a different name, and he can’t remember anything or anyone. |
Gwan Woo also offers to be Hye Sung’s co-counsel.
Do Hyun tells Hye Sung that if Soo Ha pleads guilty, he will only have to serve a sentence of ten years, as opposed to a possible life sentence. But Hye Sung says that Soo Ha isn’t guilty.
Through his former classmate who reads for him the entries of his journal, Soo Ha begins to remember some things about Hye Sung. During the trial, Soo Ha has flashes of memories of himself confronting Joon Gook near a river.
When things go badly during the trial, Hye Sung becomes unsure of herself and thinks of changing Soo Ha’s plea to guilty.
Episode 11: “I’m Sorry, I Hate You”
| Ep. 10 recap:
Hye Sung stuns everyone in the courtroom by claiming that Joon Gook is alive and framed Soo Ha. |
Gwan Woo reapplies to become a public defender again; he also decides to pursue his feelings for Hye Sung.
Intrigued by what Gwan Woo said, Do Hyun questions the woman at the fruit stand who reported Soo Ha’s whereabouts to the police. Unknown to her, Joon Gook is watching her from a distance.
Episode 12: “Etude of Memories”
| Ep. 11 recap:
The jury finds Soo Ha not guilty because of reasonable doubt. But Do Hyun rebukes Hye Sung for using her mother’s case as a way of swaying the jury. Joon Gook used the woman at the fruit stand to report Soo Ha’s whereabouts. He now has a prosthetic hand. Hye Sung rejects Gwan Woo’s proposal that they start dating again. Unable to contain her emotions, Hye Sung rushes back to the coffee shop under the pouring rain to see Soo Ha. |
After questioning again the woman at the fruit stand, Do Hyun decides to launch a manhunt for Joon Gook.
Over dinner with the chief of the public defenders’ office and a judge, both Hye Sung and Do Hyun get drunk. As they blame each other for what happened in Joon Gook’s trial ten years ago, they also express their regrets over their actions and the consequences.
The woman at the fruit stand dies in a hit and run incident.
As he begins to dress up, Soo Ha sees the scar on his back which reminds him of Hye Sung’s scar on her stomach. The memories come flooding back — the fight with Joon Gook, stabbing Hye Sung accidentally, meeting Joon Gook near the river, and Joon Gook saying that his father is to blame for everything that has happened.
Episode 13: “The One Word in My Heart That I Can’t Keep Inside”
| Ep. 12 recap:
Hye Sung remembers that her phone only had a blurred, unidentifiable image of someone trying to kill the young Soo Ha. On the other hand, Do Hyun regrets not having testified against Joon Gook. She used her father’s disappointment to drive her to go to law school and become a prosecutor. Joon Gook kills the woman at the fruit stand. When Hye Sung finds out that Joon Gook is alive, she excitedly tells Soo Ha that his acquittal will become final. But Soo Ha, who has regained all his memories and his ability to read people’s thoughts, fears that Joon Gook will target her next. He also agonizes over what Joon Gook said about his his father killing Joon Gook’s wife. |
Joon Gook’s former cellmate, Hwang Dal Joong, stabs someone right after he was released from prison. Do Hyun is assigned to the case, but her father intervenes and gets the case transferred to another prosecutor.
Hye Sung’s boss pleads with her to defend his friend Hwang Dal Joong. As she thinks about it, Soo Ha arrives and tells her that Joon Gook has been spotted checking up on her house.
Hye Sung and her boss go to an adoption agency to check up on the whereabouts of Hwang Dal Joong’s daughter. But the case files are closed.
The police officers in Hye Sung’s neighborhood decide to patrol near Do Hyun and Judge Seo’s just to make sure. Unknown to them, Joon Gook has been waiting in the dark to attack his next target.
Episode 14: “Things That I Have to Be Silent in My Memory”
| Ep. 13 recap:
Soo Ha tells Hye Sung that Judge Seo connived with Hwang Dal Joong’s wife 26 years ago and that Do Hyun is the biological daughter of Hwang Dal Joong. Joon Gook attacks Gwan Woo. |
When Soo Ha visits Gwan Woo, he finds out that Joon Gook told him about how his father killed Joon Gook’s wife. Gwan Woo advises him not to tell Hye Sung about what really happened and that he shouldn’t feel guilty.
Do Hyun pressures her boss to reassign her to the Hwang Dal Joong case. After talking with Gwan Woo and consulting her boss, Hye Sung decides to confront Judge Seo about the case 26 years ago and about Do Hyun’s true identity.
Episode 15: “I Don’t Ruin Anything”
| Ep. 14 recap:
Hye Sung decides to be honest with her feelings for Soo Ha and open to others about their relationship. Judge Seo is unmoved even after Hye Sung tells him that she knows about how he connived 26 years ago with Hwang Dal Joong’s wife. Hye Sung reveals to Do Hyun that her real father is Hwang Dal Joong. |
Joon Gook begins sending to Hye Sung and Gwan Soo letters containing newspaper articles written by Soo Ha’s father. But Soo Ha intercepts the letters and keeps them away from Hye Sung. Later on, after confirming from the police that the letters came from Joon Gook, Soo Ha and Gwan Soo track down the hospital and the doctor mentioned in the letters.
Hye Sung confronts Judge Seo again, but he still insists that he did nothing wrong. And Do Hyun defiantly continues as prosecutor in Hwang Dal Joong’s case.
Episode 16: “The Thieving Magpie Overture”
| Ep. 15 recap:
The DNA test confirms that Do Hyun is Hwang Dal Joong’s daughter. But Do Hyun has made Hye Sung promise not to ruin Judge Seo’s reputation. Soo Ha and Gwan Soo find out that the doctor mentioned in the articles died in a car accident eleven years ago. Hwang Dal Joong has found out that Do Hyun is his daughter, and Do Hyun breaks down after cross examining him. |
After telling her mother the truth about how Judge Seo connived with the wife of Hwang Dal Joong, Do Hyun and her mother leave Judge Seo to think things over.
Hye Sung finds out about the letters that Joon Gook has been sending to her.
Soo Ha sees Hye Sung admiring a necklace in a mall store; he buys it and goes to her office to give it to her. But along the way, a pickpocket riding a motorcycle snatches his bag that contains the necklace and his cellphone. His detective-escort manages to get the bag back; the necklace is still there, but his cellphone is missing.
Episode 17: “Without Your Eyes, I Can’t Even See in Front of Myself”
| Ep. 16 recap:
Because of Hye Sung’s impassioned defense, the jury acquits Hwang Dal Joong; when the judge refuses to accept the jury verdict, Do Hyun moves for the dismissal of the case. Do Hyun asks Hye Sung for forgiveness over the fireworks incident ten years ago; later, she visits Hwang Dal Joong in the hospital. Joon Gook kidnaps Hye Sung. |
Present times ... Soo Ha takes his classmate’s cellphone and rushes off to the warehouse. But his detective-escort finds out from his classmate what he did.
With a bloody wrench by his side, Joon Gook meets Soo Ha on the rooftop of the warehouse.
Episode 18, Finale (with spoilers): “Through the Light in the Darkness, You Remain with Me”
| Ep. 17 recap:
Before going to the warehouse, Soo Ha calls up Gwan Woo, who rushes to the warehouse with the SWAT team. Because of the articles written by Soo Ha’s father, the heart that was supposed to be transplanted to Joon Gook’s wife was transplanted to Soo Ha’s mother. Remembering Hye Sung’s words, Soo Ha refuses to be coerced by Joon Gook into becoming a murderer. Gwan Woo and the SWAT team rescue Hye Sung and Soo Ha. |
Do Hyun prosecutes the case against Joon Gook. But she also investigates the incident when Hye Sung was stabbed. She issues a summons for Soo Ha, and Hye Sung becomes afraid that this could adversely impact Soo Ha’s application to become a police officer.
Hye Sung finds her journal that she lost more than ten years ago and on which Soo Ha has been writing his thoughts about her.
Historical backgrounders and other information
1. In Ep. 15, Hye Sung uses the name “Shimchung” (“Simcheong”) for the daughter of accused Hwang Dal Joong because she couldn’t use Do Hyun’s name. Hye Sung purposely uses this name to prick Do Hyun’s conscience about prosecuting her biological father.
In Korea, “The Tale of Shim Chong” (“Sim Cheong-jeon”) is a “story about Sim Cheong who throws herself into the sea as a sacrifice so that her blind father can regain his eyesight. Her filial piety helps her to be resurrected and become an empress, and her father's blindness is cured.”
2. In Ep. 16, Hye Sung learns that Gwan Soo is listening to the opera titled “La Gazza Ladra” (aka “The Thieving Magpie”). During the trial, she uses the opera’s story to caution the jury about wrongful prosecution and hasty decisions of conviction.
“La Gazza Ladra” (aka “The Thieving Magpie”) was composed by Gioachino Rossini, with a libretto by Giovanni Gherardini. Its overture was used in Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 film “The Clockwork Orange.”
3. Overview of the Korean legal system (arrest, Miranda rights, prosecution, double jeopardy, jury trial, etc.)
(a) “Criminal justice: Jury trials in Korea” (The Korea Herald):
Before July 2012, all criminal trials in Korea were bench trials, in which the judge decides what is true. This contrasts with a jury trial system where the judge acts like a referee, making sure the two sides follow the law, and the jury of ordinary people decides who to believe.
To qualify for a jury trial, the crime a defendant is charged with must carry a possible sentence of more than one year of imprisonment. Lesser crimes do not carry a right to a jury trial.
(b) Double jeopardy
In two episodes, this drama depicts the accused as being acquitted, with the prosecution filing an appeal against the acquittal. For those of you who are citizens of countries with legal systems similar to that of the USA, you might be confused about why the prosecution is filing an appeal against acquittal.
Under Korean law, if the prosecutor asks for the dismissal of the case because there aren’t sufficient evidence to convict the accused or there were procedural violations, the case can still be pursued later on.
Article 329 in Criminal Procedure Act states: “When a ruling dismissing public prosecution as a result of its being withdrawn becomes final, a new public prosecution can be instituted for the same offense only if it is based upon newly discovered material evidence.”
Lessons in photography from “I Hear Your Voice”
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| Symmetry and balance |
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| Rim lighting |
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| Lines of direction, conveying depth through foreground and background blur |
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| Background blur |
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| High angle shot |
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| Backlighting |
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| Sidelighting |
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| Low angle shot |
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| Natural frames, triangular composition |
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| Low key lighting |
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| Symmetry and balance |
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| Out of focus highlights |
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| Background blur, compressed perspective |
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| Symmetry and balance |
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| Warm color (yellow) |
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| Warm color (red) |
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| Cool colors |
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| Reflections |
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| Low angle shot |
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| Symmetry and balance, Rule of Odds |
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| Background blur, lines of direction |
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| Sidelighting |
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| Low angle shot |
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| Partial (natural) frame, background blur |
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