High Kick! (literal translation: "High Kick without Hesitation", "Unstoppable High Kick") was a popular South Korean situation comedy revolving around the life of the Lee family, taking place in Seoul at the same time as the broadcast (Winter, 2006 - Summer, 2007). The title of the show "High Kick!" has several implications, one of which is the oft-depicted high kicks of Yoon-ho, one of the main characters. It was aired in South Korea from Monday to Friday. Due to its popularity, the show filmed more episodes than was initially planned. Many of the characters had starred in commercials and advertisements in Korea.
Main characters
Most characters use the actor's real name (with the exception of surnames).
Lee Soon-jae (Lee Soon-jae)
The head of the Lee family, he works alongside his daughter-in-law at his Korean medicine hospital. Being the oldest in the family, he can be harsh and strict toward his family members, and thinks only about himself. He always kicks or hits other members of the family; typical scenes are those in which he hits them in the head with a spoon during meals or kicks his oldest son Joon-ha's bottom when he farts. In several episodes, he chases other family members and even tries to hit them with a baseball bat. Due to this aggressive behavior, Soon-jae is often seen as the dictator of the Lee household and no one opposes what he says. In some episodes, other members complain in front of him, but always without success.
He falls in love with another woman but she moves to the US. He sends a letter to her, but misidentifies the address so it is sent to an African-American who apparently lived next door. He is obsessed with porn videos, and becomes nicknamed as "Porn Soon-jae". In episode 20, his family catches him watching porn, after which he runs away from home and wanders for a week. At the end of the show, he resigns his hospital and leaves everything to be handled by Hae-mi (Episode 164). According to the last episode (Episode 167), after his resignation, he visits Africa, and then after his return home he sleeps successively for 2 weeks, up to the last act in the show.
Nah Moon-hee (Nah Moon-hee)
Soon-jae's wife, she is incredibly strong and has an enormous appetite, which she passes on to Joon-ha. Despite her age, she does all of the cooking and cleaning, and looks after Joon (Min-yong's baby). Since Soon-jae and Hae-Mi often berate and insult her, she often has daydreams of them suffering. Like Min-Yong, she is annoyed by Hae-mi, and would do anything to embarrass her. She is a bit greedy and even merciless at times. Moon-hee is best friends with Gae-Sung Dek, and visits her often in prison.
Lee Joon-ha (Jeong Jun-ha)
Son of Soon-jae and Mun-hee. A huge strong man with an enormous appetite, nicknamed as the "Lord of Gluttony". Laid off from the company he was working, he spends his time at home as an unsuccessful investor and depends on the earnings of his wife, who is the good doctor at his father's hospital. Some episodes show him with a new job, but most of the time he ends up losing it because of his incompetence or bad luck. At home, he is often shown snoring loudly while sleeping, eating, or watching TV, and due to his idle days, he is often scolded by his father. He has a big appetite and great strength, which are inherited from his mother. Due to their enormous appetites, Joon-ha and Moon-hee enjoy eating big meals together.
Soon-jae berates Moon-hee and Joon-ha by referring to them as "The Fat Mother and Son". He also has a habit of frequently farting. If in deep trouble, Joon-ha runs away from Soon-jae . Though he does not have much authority among the family, he deeply loves his wife and often becomes the only one to understand his son Yoon-ho's feelings. Later, when he works at a consulting firm, he becomes a success and is able to earn a fortune. Yet, he still remains the lazy father at home. In some episodes, drunk Joon-ha behaves like an unstoppable beast, yelling for food, and in general no one but Hae-mi can control him in such state. Soon-jae gives Joon-ha several nicknames: Hulk, King Kong, animal, pig, boar, bear, gorilla and monster . These nicknames are based on Joon-ha's traits, such as laziness, stupidity, great strength and appetite.
Lee Min-yong (Choi Min-yong)
A late-born son of Soon-jae and Moon-hee, he works as a P. E. teacher at a high-school where his nephews attend. Min-yong is the opposite of Joon-ha in many terms. Min-yong is a slim man with straight hair, less lazy, more handsome, and employed, but has the nasty attitude toward Soon-jae, while Joon-ha is more like Moon-hee; a plump man with curly hair, very lazy, dumb looking, overweight, and unemployed, but more sympathetic than Min-yong. Returning to his parents house after a short-lived marriage with Shin Ji, he lives in a storeroom upstairs, which is connected with the main house with a firemen's pole. Though Min-yong can be sympathetic, at school he is unpopular with students for his strict attitude; normally shown with him giving physical punishment like Soon-jae and carrying a club with him all the time.
Min-yong gets in many silly quarrels with Hae-mi and would do anything to embarrass her in public. Though divorced, he cannot completely break up with Shin Ji because of their baby and the lingering feelings for each other. Min-yong dates Seo Min-jeong, a fellow school teacher, but his close relationship with the ex-wife hurts her. Later Shin Ji tries to accept that Min-yong loves Min-jeong when the two engage to get married. He becomes the first one to find dead body of Kang Yoo-mi's father outside her house (Episode 131). Later on, he and Min-Jeong breaks off because of Shinji's lingering love for Min-yong and Min-Jeong's opposing family. At the end of the show, Min-yong and Shinji seem to have gotten closer.
Park Hae-mi (Park Hae-mi)
The wife of Lee Joon-ha. A doctor that works with Lee Soon-jae. Hae-mi was in love with another man before her marriage. Accepting Joon-ha's proposal was to rival the lover who had dumped her, which Joon-ha finds out in one of the episodes. She gave financial support to Soon-jae's hospital when it was near the brink of closing down, and much more popular than Soon-jae as a doctor. She loves opera and singing and known for her catch phrase, "Okay!", but Min-yong and Moon-hee are very annoyed by them. She also does not approve of Shin Ji, and her battle against these three is one of the typical topics of the show. Affectionate mother but often seems to favor Min-ho over her younger son Yoon-ho.
Yet sometimes her affection toward her younger son is shown as well, such as in the episode of the Mother's day (Episode 123) or the last episode, in which she becomes the only one supporting his idea of taking a year off from the high-school for traveling the country. She is also good friends with Kang Yoo-mi's mother. A few episodes of Hae-mi being drunk are shown; in one of them Min-yong attempts to take pictures of her being drunk and release them to the public (Episode 98), and in another, Min-ho catches her dancing and singing with a stranger who has a witch-like voice and gets scared (Episode 148).
Lee Min-ho (Kim Hye-seong)
The eldest son of Lee Joon-ha and Park Hae-mi. Being very bright, but physically small and soft, he is often portrayed as a "mama's boy," and always quarreling with his younger brother Yoon-ho, who is in the same class at the school. An easy target to bully due to his weak appearance, while Yoon-ho would simply fight back no matter the odds. The contrast between the two brothers is one of the main themes of the show. At school he sits in the very front of the classroom along with Kim Bum, who has been best friends with him for a long time, and they embrace each other in a sign of friendship, which makes Yoon-ho think they are in gay love.
The brothers can be in a collaborative relationship, however, such as when they manipulate Soon-jae's weak knowledge of electronics to get him to buy a new computer (Episode 25). He also becomes the boyfriend of Kang Yoo-mi, but has to suffer many separations due to her mysterious disappearances, she killed the murderer of her parents (Episode 152). He also figures out Yoo-mi is 21 before she leaves, but says he doesn't care if she's 21 or not the brightest in her class. In the last episode, Min-ho spends the summer vacation at Jeju-do with his parents and Bum, and glimpses Yoo-mi there. This also becomes the last time he sees Bum before his departure to the US.
Lee Yoon-ho (Jeong Il-woo)
The youngest son of Lee Joon-ha and Park Hae-mi. He is a tall, strong, and handsome boy known for his high kick. He also narrates the story of the show. He is also a motorcycle maniac. He is very popular among the girls in his school, though his grade is low and he sometimes demonstrates his utter ignorance. In one episode disclosed, Yoon-ho was as bright as Min-ho in his childhood, but after riding on the back of motorcycle of a friend of Joon-ha's, he became completely absorbed in fighting and motorcycles; Joon-ha is blamed by Hae-mi for Yoon-ho's bad grades and delinquent behavior. As the odd one out in the family, Yoon-ho is often misunderstood and sometimes blamed for things he did not do.
In school, Yoon-ho sits in the very back corner, dozing off or reading comic books. He is even seen skipping class, often hanging out in the rooftop, sleeping or listening to music. But he has a secret crush on his teacher, Min-jeong, who is always trying to get him out of trouble, and often displays his kindness to her, which is usually masked by his unfriendliness. When he learns Min-jeong and Min-yong are engaged, he pleads with her not to get married. In the last episode (Episode 167), he appears taking a year off from school and traveling around the country on his motorcycle. At the end of the show, he miraculously meets his teacher Min-jeong, who resigned the school and disappeared from Seoul without any greetings the year before.
Shin Ji a. k. a. Shin Bong Hee (Shin Ji)
The ex-wife of Lee Min-yong and the mother of Joon. Loves music, and is trying to get a job at a music industry, singing CF songs and taking auditions for musicals. She asked for a divorce from Min-yong, wishing to study abroad in Moscow, but came back to Korea in short time. Min-yong and Shin Ji take turns in taking care of Joon, though Joon seems to be in the Lee household most of the time presumable due to Shin Ji's busy schedule. She still has feelings for her ex-husband and same as him, she hates Hae-mi as they both competed against each other since before her marriage. Roommate of Seo Min-jeong. It is revealed that Shin Ji was friends with Min-jeong since high school though things were different then.
Shin Ji had her two front teeth sticking out from her mouth like a rabbit. Shin Ji later went through an operation to rid of the horrid teeth. Her well-known phrase is "Sang you!" though it is supposed to be "thank you." Near the end of the show, she can not face the engagement of Min-yong and Min-jeong and decides to move to Russia again, but the miserable state brings her to a traffic accident. Min-yong separates with Min-jeong for bringing Shin Ji back. In the final episode, it is disclosed that Min-yong and Shin Ji is keeping a good relationship and he even proposed her again, but she refused saying she wants to wait till he truly loves her again.
Seo Min-jeong (Seo Min-jeong)
An English teacher at the high-school that Lee Min-yong teaches at, and the homeroom teacher of Min-ho, Yoon-ho, Bum, Chan Seong and Seung Hyun. She rented the apartment that Min-yong and Shin Ji used to live in, and lives there with Shin Ji after her return from the short and unsuccessful trip to study in Moscow. She always seems to end up with accidents mostly due to her clumsiness. She usually, trips, falls, or sometimes in one episode ran into a stopped car because she was offered a ride. She is very shy and if embarrassed she becomes very aggressive. She has no control over her students due to her natural friendliness and a lack of discipline. She has a deep crush on Min-yong and the two become a couple, although Min-jeong is often hurt by Min-yong's lack of romance and his close, friendly relationship with his ex-wife.
On episode 117, she described Min-yong as combination by the appearance of Brad Pitt and the clothing style of Leonardo DiCaprio. Later Min-yong's love towards Min-jeong grows and they get engaged. Shin Ji asks Min-yong what he would do if Min-jeong's parents do not accept this wedding and he replies then they will marry on their own. Her parents object at first then accept. However, in the near end of the show, she and Min-yong decide to break up for the sake of Shin Ji, who still has clinging feelings for Min-yong. Following the break up, Min-jeong resigns the school much to Yoon-ho's sorrow and moves to the country to work in an all-girls middle school.
Kim Bum (Kim Bum)
Lee Min-ho's best friend and appears staying at Lee's house all the time, even wishing to become the proper member of the family. The two boys are very close and care for each other. They are often embracing each other or riding a bike together like lovers. Usually, Yoon-ho doesn't like them hanging out together and think they are acting like a married couple. Bum once has a huge crush on Yoo-mi, Min-ho's girlfriend, but later comes to despise her after finding out she was just making use of him. Bum does anything he wishes in the Lee household from eating breakfast, lunch and dinner with them, sleeping in anyone's room and even taking showers and bubble baths occasionally. He even goes as far as sleeping for a few nights.
In one episode, it is disclosed that he has brought loads of his own stuff to the Lee's house, from videos to even his own clothes. Bum's house is rarely portrayed in the show, but according to Bum's mother, who also became a frequent visitor, their house is described as very quiet and boring. Bum also owns a puppy that he and Min-ho name it 'Bum-min' or “Min-bum”. Soon-jae describes the dog as a 'shitty dog' after Bum asked if Bum-min could have his own house in the Lee household (Episode 132). At the end of the show, Bum moves away to the US in the summer of 2008, much to the Lee family's surprise as he was like a member of the family. Sadly, Moon-hee is the only one to say farewell to Bum as the other family members were either busy or away (Soon-jae working in Africa, Hae-mi busy with work at hospital, Yoon-ho away travelling around the country etc.)
Kang Yoo-mi (Park Min-young)
Lee Min-ho's girlfriend. Very pretty but extremely poor at studies, always getting the lowest scores at school. She is also secretly three years older than her schoolmates, but only Kim Bum and Lee Min-yong, her homeroom teacher who doesn't care about that so much, know it. She is usually seen being punished by Min-yong for her misbehavior such as combing her hair in class. She has lied to Min-ho many times about what talents she has, but they keep a good relationship. However, her natural ability as a runner was disclosed in one episode, while running away from Min-yong, and she represented the high-school at a running competition. Soon-jae always calls Yoo-mi, "Soo-mi" by mistake, which upsets her. Later in the show she has to escape the city as mobsters are looking for her, and disappears from the screen. During the last several shows, she is once shown getting on a car at night, which explodes as soon as she turns the engine on, leading many watchers to think she died. However, at the last show, she is also shown luxuriously cruising on a yacht in Jeju-do.