Is a can-do attitude enough for a woman who aspires to become a high-fashion designer to find acceptance from the elitist upper-crust society? Han Se Kyung (Moon Geun Young), ever the optimist, has always believed that hard work can take her anywhere she wants to go. The working-class aspiring designer wants more than anything to fit into the ritzy, snobbish world of the Cheongdam-dong, a very rich, high-end neighborhood in Seoul’s posh Gangnam district. Through her own sheer determination and hard work, Se Kyung lands her dream job with a major clothing design company, only to discover that her job is just a glorified gopher for the president’s wife, who just happens to be an old rival from school. The president’s wife now delights in making Se Kyung’s life a living hell.
Se Kyung decides that the best way to save herself and have the life she truly wants, she needs to become a “Cheongdam-dong daughter-in-law” – that is, marry a rich man. In her quest, she Se Kyung meets Cha Seung Jo (Park Shi Hoo), the CEO of a multinational distribution company. Could this man change Se Kyung’s life forever?
“Cheongdamdong Alice” is a 2012 South Korean drama series directed by Jo Soo Won. The series is loosely based on the novel Cheongdam-Dong Audrey by Lee Hye Kyung. The title is an allusion to the famous 1865 novel Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, where the main character feels like a fish out of water in the strange new world she finds when she falls down a rabbit hole.
