It’s show time!

By Oh Young-jin

Assistant managing editor

You may call me a biased judge or sentimental boob, claim that I am wasting precious space in our editorial pages or accuse me of working on a not-so-hidden agenda.

I would be willing to accept those accusations in exchange for a chance to share my enthusiasm about one television mini-series with my readers in a sincere hope of luring even one more person to watch it.

The drama “Light and Shadow” airs on MBC for one hour per episode, on Monday and Tuesday nights.

It is third in popularity behind dramas on two rival channels on the same time slot ― SBS’s just-ended “Promise of 1,000 Days,” a love story about a young woman suffering from Alzheimer’s, and KBS’s “Brain,” a medical drama that embraces the quirky elements of the American series, “House.”

Before starting my unpaid pitch for “Light and Shadow,” I want to clarify the purpose of today’s column: it is so intriguing that I feel regret will consume me, if I didn’t try as a zealot missionary in an uncivilized world.

Also, this is intended to be my tribute as a new convert to the power of “hallyu,” or Korean wave, a cultural invasion that is taking over Japan, sweeping Asia and lapping on the shores of Europe and even extending to North and South America.

Certainly to a degree, hallyu is going a long way to tackling a severe case of the inferiority complex I feel as a man of a nation that is sandwiched among bigger powers and divided into two with millions of soldiers on either side aiming their guns at the other.

A diversion that I hope will be my last in this column is that even now, at a time that may be later remembered as a golden opportunity to hasten the day of unification, we appear to be pulled in all directions not knowing what we should do.

Perhaps, it has been so long since we decided upon our fate that, when the chance is thrust upon us, we feel flat-footed and frozen, not knowing what to do.

So, I wish “Light and Shadow” would make Japan engrossed in its intricacies and enslave their emotions as was the case with “Winter Sonata.” “Light and Shadow” possesses a similar viral element. I believe, that it could subjugate Japan, send China into a stupor as well as entangle Western civilizations (I admit I can get a bit carried away but you may blame it on a midlife imbalance of hormones).

Let’s start with the plot.

It is a modern periodic drama set in the early 1970s, while Park Chung-hee, the Army general-turned dictator, wielded an iron-fist rule. The late Park is the father of Park Geun-hye, a leading conservative candidate in next year’s presidential election.

As with any exciting drama, it has a play within the play, resulting in multiple scenarios unfolding at the same time.

First, it is about Gang Gi-tae’s personal story. Gang, played by first-generation hallyu star An Jae-uk, is the son of a self-made man who fled from North Korea during the 1950-1953 Korean War.

Our main character lives a life typical of a rich kid ― drinking and womanizing ― before his father gives him a chance to prove himself. One day he invites an iterant vaudeville troupe, minus animals and magicians to give a performance in his theater in the imaginary provincial city of Sunyang. The Korean style vaudeville performance was a very popular genre that dominated Korea’s entertainment scene until the early days of television.

The performance by the Shining Stars attracts a full house but Gi-tae doesn’t know it will bring about his downfall.

Here comes a political drama that is as low in morality as Tony Blaire’s cover-up attempt on Britain’s Iraq invasion and as intriguing as “First Among Equals,” BBC’s adaptation of the eponymous novel.

Jang Cheol-hwan, a lawmaker from Gi-tae’s constituency, asks him for a favor that he says is crucial for his re-election. As the request is denied, Jang starts to hatch a scheme to get even.

Su-hyeok, played by Lee Pil-mo, Gi-tae’s best friend and son of his housemaid, is brought into the scheme to bring down the Gang family. The corrupt politician has the senior Gang taken to the interrogation room of the K-CIA on trumped-up charges of being a sympathizer of the communist North Korea. He dies while being tortured.

Jang takes over the Gang estate and leaves them impoverished. Gi-tae still doesn’t know who is responsible for his father’s death and how he has been betrayed by his best friend.

Spicing it up is a double love triangle involving Gi-tae. One is Gi-tae with two beauties ― a show girl named Jeong-hyae, played by Nam Sang-mi, and top draw singer Chae-yong, played by real-life heartthrob Son Dam-bi, while the second pits Gi-tae against Su-hyeok for Jeong-hyae’s love.

The latest Monday episode has Gi-tae walking a new path toward redemption, following the Shining Stars’ performance in Yeosu, the site of the upcoming Expo, when it was a remote fishing village.

As any serious drama watcher would know, it is not so much the denouement but the process of conflict resolution that matters. So I won’t let you in on where I think the light will shine and where the shadow will imperil.

I bet that because of the sophistication of “Light and Shadow’s” plot and its exquisite execution, it won’t be long before the latest ascent of Kim Jung-un, the 29-year-old inexperienced grandson of Kim Il-sung, the founder of the North’s puppet regime, is dramatized. How should it end ― the young heir’s slip from the throne or an Elizabethan consolidation of power? I prefer the first scenario just for a greater dramatic effect.