Romantic Doctor, Kim S1/Korean with K-drama 01

The first scene of the first episode of the Season, one.

A little boy comes in a general hospital with a bat as if to destroy everything in sheer rage.

The boy implores the medical staff to treat his father first since his father came first.

살려주세요. 우리 아버지가 먼저 왔잖아요.

Please, save my father! My father was here first!

살려주세요 came from a verb, 살려주다, which means ‘to save’, and 다 is replaced with 세요 in order to make an imperative sentence. 우리 is actually ‘our’, but its meaning is ‘my’ by the context because we Koreans use 우리 more than 나의, which is ‘my’ when indicating a member of family. And 아버지 is ‘father’, And 먼저 is an adverb, which means ‘first’, and 왔잖아요 came from 왔다, which is the past tense form of 오다, which means ‘to come’. So, 오다 is ‘come’, and 왔다 is ‘came’, and the letter, 다 is replaced with 잖아요 in order to make an honorific predicate. So, 우리 아버지가 먼저 왔잖아요. My father came here first!

저 사람이 나중이고 우리 아버지가 먼저라고요.

Are you just going to leave my father to die even though he was here first?

Actually, the subtitle of this sentence has been translated too liberally. The literal translation is this.

저 is ‘that’, and 사람 is ‘man’, and 이 is the subjective case. So, 저 사람 is ‘that man’, and 나중이고 can be divided into two parts. 나중 is a noun, which means ‘the next part in time’, and the letter 이고 means ‘and’. 우리 아버지 is ‘my father’, and 먼저 is ‘the preceding time and sequence’, and 라고요 is used as an honorific predicate. So, 저 사람이 나중이고 우리 아버지가 먼저라고요. That man is later on, and my father is first.

And then comes a phrase, 불평등의 시대. To be honest, by the historical context, Korea and Japan has been influenced by Chinese letters for a long time. So, when you learn Korean words, there could be a lot of words based on Chinese letters just as English has so many words based on the etymology of Latin language.

불평등 is ‘inequality’, 불 means ‘negation’, and 평 means ‘even’, and 등 means ‘class, or priority’, so 평등 means ‘equality’, and 불평등 is the same as ‘inequality’, and 의 is a genitive case. And 시대 is ‘era’. So, 불평등의 시대 is ‘An era of inequality’.

 

The boy goes on a rampage with the baseball bat, breaking this and that.

불만과 불신으로 가득한 시대. An era full of discontent and distrust.

The letter, 불 is also ‘negation’ as in 불평등, and the letter, 만 means ‘full of something in mind’, so 불만 is ‘discontent’, and the letter, 신 in 불신 means ‘trust’, so 불신 is ‘distrust’, right?, and 으로 is a postposition equivalent to the preposition, ‘with, by, of, or through’ in English. And 가득한 is an adjective meaning ‘full to the brim’. So, 불만과 불신으로 가득한 시대. An era full of discontent and distrust.

 

20시 23분, 강원형씨 사망하셨습니다. 20:23. Mr. Kang has passed away.

이십 means ‘twenty’, and the letter, 시 means ‘hour’, and 이십삼 means ‘tweny three’, and the letter, 분 is ‘minute’. And 강원형 is the name of patient. 사망하셨습니다 came from 사망하다, which means ‘to die’, and the letter, 다 is replaced with 셨습니다 in order to make a present perfect tense form of 사망하다. So, 강원형씨 사망하셨습니다. Mr. Kang has passed away.

In fact, they treated a congressman first because has money and power.

다행히 수술은 잘 끝났습니다. 의원님께서는 무사하십니다. Thankfully, the surgery ended well. The assemblyman is safe.

다행히 is an adverb, and its meaning is ‘fortunately, or thankfully’. And 수술 is ‘surgery’, and 은 is the subjective case. 잘 is also an adverb, meaning ‘well’, and 끝났습니다 is the past tense form of 끝나다, which means ‘to finish, or end’. So, 다행히 수술은 잘 끝났습니다. Thankfully, the surgery ended well. And the next sentence, 의원님 is ‘congressman, or assemblyman’, and 께서는 is an honorific form of the subjective case, and 무사하십니다 came from 무사하다, which means ‘to be safe’. And the letter, 다 is replaced with 십니다 in order to express an honorific predicate, as well. So, 의원님께서는 무사하십니다. The assemblyman is safe.

오, 선생님 감사합니다. Oh, thank you, Doctor!

Actually, 선생님 is ‘teacher’, but when we, Koreans call a doctor, we use the word, 선생님. The reason is 선생님 means not only ‘teacher’, but also ‘honorific title’, such as, Mister, or Sir. And 감사합니다 is ‘thank you’.

 

The boy got angry, and loses his reason.

우리 아버지가 먼저 왔는데...

My father got here first, though.

 

그 사람보다 우리 아버지가, 우리 아버지가 먼저 왔잖아요.

Before that man, my father, my father came first.

그 사람 is ‘that man’, and 보다 is actually ‘than’ in comparative degree, but 보다 is also used as ‘before’ in time and space context. and I explained 먼저, and 왔잖아요, right?

 

놔! 놔! 우리 아버지가 먼저 들어왔단 말이에요. 저 사람보다 우리 아버지가 먼저 들어왔단 말이에요.

Let go! Let go of me! My father got here before that person did!

놔 came from a verb, 놓다, which has two meanings. The first is‘to put, or place something’, and the second is ‘to release, or let go of something’. In this sentence, the second meaning. 들어왔단 말이에요 came from 들어오다, which means ‘to come in’, and 들어왔다 is the past tense form of 들어오다. And 들어 왔단 말이에요 is the honorific predicate form. By the way, I think you would wonder why the boy uses honorific form even though he got really angry. That’s because we, Koreans must say to their older people honorific forms regardless of emotional situations.

 

먼저 했어야 될 거 아니에요?

He should've been treated first!

As we went over, 먼저 is ‘first’. 했어야 될 거 아니에요? is should have past pariciple, but by the context, 치료 is omitted, that is to say, 치료했어야 될 거 아니에요? 치료하다 is ‘to treat’, so 치료했어야 될 거 아니에요? is ‘You should have treated him first, right?’, or ‘He should’ve been treated first!‘

 

무분별한 의료시술과 차별적 환자 맞춤 서비스의 홍수 속에서 의료계마저 돈 때문에 울고 웃는 그런 시대가 되어 버렸다.

‘It became an era in which patients were discriminated against based on who they were and how much money they had’.

This sentence is kind of long and tricky, so the subtitle is written as liberal translation, but you can make it, all right? I will show you the literal translation.

무분별한 is an adjective, and its meaning is ‘indiscriminate’, and 의료시술 is ‘medical procedures’, and 차별적 is ‘discriminatory’, and 맞춤 서비스 is ‘patient-tailored service’, and the letter, 의 is a genitive case. And 홍수 is ‘flood’, and 홍수 속에서 is ‘in the midst of a flood’. So, 무분별한 의료시술과 차별적 환자 맞춤 서비스의 홍수 속에서 is ‘In the midst of a flood of indiscriminate medical procedures and discriminatory patient-tailored services’,

And the next word, 의료계 is ‘medical profession’, and 마저 is ‘even’, so 의료계마저 is ‘even the medical profession’. And 돈 때문에 울고 웃는, this phrase modifies the nound behind 시대, which is ‘era’. 돈 is ‘money’, and 때문에 is ‘because’, so 돈 때문에 is ‘because of money’ And 울고 is combined form of 울다, and 그리고. And 웃는 came from 웃다, which means ‘to laugh’, and the letter, 다 is replaced with 는 in order to modify the noun behind it. And 그런 is ‘such’. So, 돈 때문에 울고 웃는 그런 시대 is ‘such an era as we cry and laugh because of money’. And 되어 버렸다 is ‘has become’, the present perfect tense form.

So, 무분별한 의료시술과 차별적 환자 맞춤 서비스의 홍수 속에서 의료계마저 돈 때문에 울고 웃는 그런 시대가 되어 버렸다. In the midst of a flood of indiscriminate medical procedures and discriminatory patient-tailored services, even the medical profession has become such an era as we cry and laugh because of money.

왜! 왜! 사람 목숨 가지고 장난해? Why the hell did you toy with a person's life, huh?

왜 is ‘why’, and 사람 is ‘man, or person’, and 목숨 is ‘life’, and 가지고 is ‘with’, and 장난해? came from 장난하다, which means ‘to play with, or toy with’