USFK recommends troops watch ‘Mr. Sunshine’

Gen. Robert Abrams, commander of the United States Forces Korea in South Korea, “strongly recommended” that American service members here watch “Mr. Sunshine,” a 2018 South Korean hit television series available on Netflix.

The general was retweeting an earlier post by Major Gen. Patrick J. Donahoe, the second in command at the USFK 8th Army, who joked on Twitter that visitors to Korea were “legally required” to watch the series.

“Fair warning. If you are coming to Korea you are legally required to watch Mr. Sunshine before you arrive. It’s on NetFlix. That is all,” Donahoe tweeted Sunday. Retweeting the post the following day, Abrams said, “Not quite legally required. More like ‘strongly encouraged.’ You will be glad you did.”

US Ambassador to Korea Harry Harris also praised the series in October, calling it “awesome,” when the series won the Best Creative award at the Busan International Film Festival.

Acclaimed for its cinematography and storytelling, “Mr. Sunshine” centers on the struggle of a Korean slave-turned-officer who is commissioned by the US and falls in love with an aristocrat’s daughter during a US expedition to Korea in 1871, when foreign forces came rushing in to colonize the country.

By Choi Si-young (siyoungchoi@heraldcorp.com)