Jumong in Iran

The Iranian state television has many considerations when purchasing and broadcasting foreign series the most important of which is how actresses are clothed. Therefore, historical productions of Australia and Canada have been favorites of the Iranian television because female characters are suitably clad. The second criterion is that their subjects should not be against religious and moral rules of the Iranian society. About two decades ago, a Japanese series was aired on the television in which the main character was followed from childhood up to her death. It was greatly welcomed by Iranians and made state television a regular customer of oriental series. In addition to Japanese series, television productions of South Korea have been also on the list. Yangum was the name of a Korean series. It was a melodrama based on oriental traditions and customs in which cooking was a focus of attention. Iranian people’s enthusiasm to watch it prompted television officials to add more Korean series to their sale basket. The latest of those series is Jumong which is more welcome than Iranian series. That enthusiasm caused Iranian intellectuals and journalists to study the reasons behind Iranian people’s interest in such series. Jumong is a brave warrior whose personality has been perpetuated in history of Korea because of his role in establishing the Korean empire and his manliness. His likes can be found in ancient Iranian books of literature and situations in those series are sometimes like what Iranians have read about their historical and national heroes. The sequel to those series is also to be aired on the Iranian television.