A Pledge to God (Korean신과의 약속) is a South Korean television series starring Han Chae-young, Bae Soo-bin, Oh Yoon-ah and Lee Chun-hee. The series aired four episodes every Saturday on MBC TV from 20:45 to 23:10 (KST), from November 24, 2018 to February 16, 2019.

A Pledge to God
Promotional poster
Also known asA Promise with the Gods
Hangul
신과의 약속
Hanja
神과의 約束
Revised RomanizationSingwaui Yaksok
GenreMelodrama
Family drama
Written byHong Young-hee
Directed byYoon Jae-moon
Starring
Country of originSouth Korea
Original languageKorean
No. of episodes24[a]
Production
Producers
  • Lee Myung-sook
  • Sohn Ok-hyun
Running time35 minutes[a]
Production companyYein E&M
Original release
NetworkMBC TV
ReleaseNovember 24, 2018 (2018-11-24) –
February 16, 2019 (2019-02-16)

Synopsis

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Little Hyeon Woo is gravely ill and needs a bone marrow transplant. His current parents are not compatible donors. His doctor advises his parents that the cord blood of a sibling could be a potential donor. However, his birth parents are no longer married to each other.

Cast

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Main

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Supporting

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Ji-young's family

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  • Wang Seok-hyeon as Song Hyeon Woo, eldest son of Ji-young and Jae-wook, in custody of Ji-young and Min-ho
    • Ha Yi-an as young Hyun-woo
  • Lee Hwi-hyang as Heo Eun-sook, Ji-young's mother

People at Cheonji Construction

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  • Park Geun-hyung as Kim Sang-chun, father of Jae-hee and Jae-wook, chairman of family-controlled Cheonji Construction
  • Kang Boo-ja as Lee Pil-nam, Sang-chun's wife
  • Oh Hyun-kyung as Kim Jae-hee, older sister of Jae-wook, heads the family company foundation
  • Byung Hun as Jo Seung-hoon, son of Jae-hee[3]
  • Nam Ki-won as Kim Joon-seo, second son of Ji-young and Jae-wook, in custody of Jae-wook and Na-kyung
    • Kim Hyun-bin as young Joon-seo

Others

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  • Chu Ye-jin as Na Hae-ji, Hyeon Woo's girlfriend from high school
  • Jung Min-sung as Ji Do-yeob
  • Kim Hee-jung as Ahn Joo-ryun, producer of Ji-young's program at the TV broadcaster
  • Bae Hae-sun as Oh Sun-joo, secretary to Na-kyung
  • Choi Phillip as Jung Kyung-soo, director of Ji-young's program at the TV broadcaster
  • Oh Eun-ho as Hwang Ma-ri
  • Lee Jin-hee as Na Hae-Jim’s mother.

Production

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The first script reading took place on October 5, 2018 at MBC Broadcasting Station in Sangam-dong, Seoul, South Korea.[4]

Original soundtrack

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A Pledge to God OST
Soundtrack album by
Various artists
Released2018–2019
GenreSoundtrack
Language
LabelDanal Entertainment

Part 1

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Released on December 8, 2018 (2018-12-08)
No.TitleLyricsMusicArtistLength
1."The Last Promise" (마지막 약속)
  • Jeon Chang-yup
  • Ahn Su-wan
  • Jeon Chang-yup
  • Ahn Su-wan
Sohyang5:10
2."The Last Promise" (Inst.) 
  • Jeon Chang-yup
  • Ahn Su-wan
 5:10
Total length:10:20

Part 2

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Released on December 15, 2018 (2018-12-15)
No.TitleLyricsMusicArtistLength
1."I Think It's An Anesthetic" (마취가 됐나봐)
  • Jang Chang-yup
  • Ryu Wonk-wang
  • Jeon Chang-yup
  • Ryu Wonk-wang
Lim Jae-hyun4:12
2."I Think It's An Anesthetic" (Inst.) 
  • Jeon Chang-yup
  • Ryu Wonk-wang
 4:12
Total length:8:24

Part 3

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Released on December 22, 2018 (2018-12-22)
No.TitleLyricsMusicArtistLength
1."Can You Hear Me" (들리나요)Kim Seong-jong
  • Kim Seong-jong
  • Mama Gorilla
Sanha3:25
2."Can You Hear Me" (Inst.) 
  • Kim Seong-jong
  • Mama Gorilla
 3:25
Total length:6:50

Part 4

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Released on January 5, 2019 (2019-01-05)
No.TitleLyricsMusicArtistLength
1."An Unfilled Seat" (채워지지 않는 빈자리)Kim Seong-ranKim Ji-hwanSong Ha-ye3:58
2."An Unfilled Seat" (Inst.) Kim Ji-hwan 3:58
Total length:7:56

Part 5

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Released on January 19, 2019 (2019-01-19)
No.TitleLyricsMusicArtistLength
1."It Was All" (전부였더라)
  • Major League
  • Lim Yu-bin
  • Major League
  • Lim Yu-bin
Michelle Lee3:57
2."It Was All" (Inst.) 
  • Major League
  • Lim Yu-bin
 3:57
Total length:7:54

Part 6

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Released on January 26, 2019 (2019-01-26)
No.TitleLyricsMusicArtistLength
1."Lie" (거짓말)
  • Major League
  • Lim Yu-bin
  • Major League
  • Lim Yu-bin
Heo Young-saeng3:56
2."Lie" (Inst.) 
  • Major League
  • Lim Yu-bin
 3:56
Total length:7:52

Part 7

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Released on February 2, 2019 (2019-02-02)
No.TitleLyricsMusicArtistLength
1."Give Me A Day" (하루만 돌려줘요)
  • Jeon Chang-yeop
  • 5959Mont
  • Jeon Chang-yeop
  • 5959Mont
Yeoeun (Melody Day)3:59
2."Give Me A Day" (Inst.) 
  • Jeon Chang-yeop
  • 5959Mont
 3:59
Total length:7:58

Part 8

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Released on February 4, 2019 (2019-02-04)
No.TitleArtistLength
1."See You In My Dreams" (꿈에서 만나요)J-Cera3:38
2."See You In My Dreams" (Inst.) 3:38
Total length:7:16

Viewership

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In this table, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.

Ep. Original broadcast date Average audience share
AGB Nielsen[5] TNmS
Nationwide Seoul Nationwide
1 November 24, 2018 9.5% (8th) 8.3% (15th) 10.1%
2 11.4% (5th) 10.5% (7th) 11.5%
3 10.6% (6th) 10.3%
4 12.0% (4th) 11.0% (4th) 11.1%
5 December 1, 2018 8.1% (11th) 7.0% (18th) 8.9%
6 9.5% (8th) 8.4% (9th) 10.4%
7 9.9% (6th) 8.9% (8th) 9.5%
8 11.9% (3rd) 10.9% (4th) 10.7%
9 December 8, 2018 8.8% (14th) 8.0% (16th) 10.0%
10 9.7% (6th) 9.0% (9th) 11.1%
11 9.5% (7th) 8.5% (10th) 10.0%
12 10.1% (5th) 9.5% (7th) 10.8%
13 December 15, 2018 10.2% (8th) 9.6% (9th) 8.6%
14 10.7% (6th) 10.0% (8th) 9.6%
15 12.7% (5th) 11.0%
16 12.9% (4th) 11.1%
17 December 22, 2018 10.5% (7th) 10.0% (8th) 8.2%
18 11.5% (6th) 10.9% (6th) 9.0%
19 11.8% (5th) 11.3% (5th) 10.4%
20 12.1% (4th) 11.7% (4th) 11.0%
21 January 5, 2019 11.8% (6th) 10.7% (7th) 10.8%
22 13.4% (5th) 12.0% (6th) 13.1%
23 13.5% (4th) 12.6% (4th) 12.1%
24 14.8% (3rd) 13.7% (3rd) 13.2%
25 January 12, 2019 11.5% (6th) 11.0% (7th) 11.4%
26 14.5% (5th) 14.3% (5th) 13.7%
27 15.2% (4th) 15.1% (3rd) 12.5%
28 15.5% (3rd) 13.1%
29 January 19, 2019 11.9% (6th) 10.7% (6th) 12.4%
30 14.2% (5th) 13.1% (5th) 14.8%
31 14.8% (4th) 14.5% (4th) 14.2%
32 15.4% (3rd) 14.9% (3rd) 15.2%
33 January 26, 2019 13.2% (6th) 12.3% (6th) 12.8%
34 15.0% (5th) 14.0% (5th) 15.1%
35 15.1% (4th) 14.2% (4th) 14.1%
36 15.7% (3rd) 14.9% (3rd) 14.0%
37 February 2, 2019 12.0% (7th) 11.5% (8th) 11.8%
38 14.9% (5th) 14.8% (5th) 14.7%
39 15.2% (4th) 15.1% (4th) 14.2%
40 15.5% (3rd) 15.2% (3rd) 14.5%
41 February 9, 2019 13.4% (6th) 12.6% (7th) 13.6%
42 15.2% (4th) 14.5% (5th) 15.2%
43 14.9% (4th) 14.6%
44 16.2% (3rd) 16.0% (3rd) 15.1%
45 February 16, 2019 14.7% (6th) 14.1% (7th) 13.6%
46 17.5% (5th) 17.0% (4th) 16.8%
47 17.8% (4th) 15.9%
48 18.4% (3rd) 17.8% (3rd) 16.9%
Average 13.0% 12.4% 12.4%

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Recipient Result Ref.
2018 2018 MBC Drama Awards Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Weekend Special Project Bae Soo-bin Nominated [6]
Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Weekend Special Project Han Chae-young Nominated
Excellence Award, Actor in a Weekend Special Project Lee Chun-hee Nominated
Excellence Award, Actress in a Weekend Special Project Oh Yoon-ah Nominated
Golden Acting Award Kang Boo-ja Won
Best Supporting Cast in Weekend Special Project Lee Hwi-hyang Nominated
Oh Hyun-kyung Nominated
Best Child Actor Wang Seok-hyeon Won

Notes

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  1. ^ a b In order to circumvent Korean laws that prevent commercial breaks in the middle of an episode, what would previously have been aired as single 70 minute episodes are now being repackaged as two 35 minute episodes, with two episodes being shown each night with a commercial break between the two.[1]

References

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  1. ^ Park, Jin-hai (May 16, 2017). "Drama viewers angry over commercial breaks". The Korea Times. Retrieved April 17, 2020 – via PressReader.
  2. ^ "Oh Yoon-ah joins new MBC show". Korea JoongAng Daily. 3 October 2018.
  3. ^ "Byung Hun to Joins "A Pledge to God" as Oh Hyun-kyung's Son". HanCinema. Kukmin Ilbo. October 11, 2018.
  4. ^ "'신과의 약속' 한채영vs오윤아, 대본리딩부터 불꽃 튀었다". Newsen (in Korean). October 9, 2018.
  5. ^ "Nielsen Korea". AGB Nielsen Media Research (in Korean). Archived from the original on June 1, 2016. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
  6. ^ Jung, Yu-jin (December 31, 2018). 소지섭 ‘데뷔 23년 만에 첫 대상’(mbc연기대상)[포토엔HD] [So Ji-sub Soo'First Debut in 23 Years' (mbc Drama Awards)[Photo and HD]]. Newsen (in Korean). Archived from the original on December 31, 2018. Retrieved June 5, 2020 – via Naver.
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