Welcome to Samdal-ri follows a successful fashion photographer returning to her hometown years after making it big in Seoul, when a false allegation ruins her professional life. When she returns, she is welcomed by her ex-boyfriend and another friend who has always liked her.
When a false allegation ruins her career, talented and now infamous fashion photographer Cho Sam-Dal has to reluctantly move back to her hometown of Samdal-ri on Jeju Island.
The reluctance is owed to more than one reason. She always wanted to get out of Samdal-ri and make it big in Seoul, and now she must return to that small stream, which is symbolic of the decline she’s suffered from.
Additionally, it’s the place where her ex-boyfriend Cho Yong-Pil still lives. They had quite a heartbreaking separation after going from childhood best friends to lovers.
When she arrives, she’s not just welcomed by him, but another one of her childhood best friends, Boo Sang-Do.
Cho Sam-Dal
It has been eight years since her breakup with Cho Yong-Pil, the person Sam-Dal spent all her life with until she was well into her adulthood.
Cho Yong-Pil always wanted to remain a Samdal-ri citizen and take care of the elderly citizens. Sam-Dal wanted to make it big in Seoul. Both managed to achieve what they dreamed of.
However, Sam-Dal has to return to her hometown when the media makes her life hell back in Seoul.
She knows her chances of stumbling upon Yong-Pil are very high, so she tries to avert the encounter as much as possible.
They do end up crossing paths and soon get back to their old bickering ways, like the two best friends and lovers they were.
She didn’t want to see him because he broke up with her, although this breakup and the reasons surrounding it are kept ambiguous.
She also didn’t want to see him and later, reveal her recent ex’s name because she was embarrassed.
She explains it to him later on, saying she was supposed to find someone better than Yong-Pil after they broke up, but she didn’t, and she was embarrassed to face Yong-Pil after that.
Cho Yong-Pil
Cho Yong-Pil never stopped loving Cho Sam-Dal. From the moment they were born, their destinies were intertwined.
He always wanted her to achieve her dream and even made helping her achieve her dream his own dream.
As adults, they transition from best friends to lovers and Cho Yong-Pil also follows after her to Seoul. Their breakup comes with heartbreaks on both sides, but the reason is yet to be shed light upon.
Yong-Pil, well after their breakup, continues to keep tabs on her career, following her secretly, via his computer at work and other resources.
He also hasn’t gotten into a relationship with anyone after his breakup with her.
Now that she’s back in Samdal-ri, he wrestles with feelings for her, feelings that are very much alive still. He immediately begins caring for her and tending to her needs like he used to before their breakup.
Boo Sang-Do
Boo Sang-Do was always an outlier in the best friends group that Sam-Dal and Yong-Pil are a part of as well. He was the underprivileged member who was often left behind due to his inability to expend necessary funds.
He also got left behind in Samdal-ri when everyone else migrated to Seoul for better prospects and future. He also missed out on education after school because of his economic background.
Boo Sang-Do always liked Sam-Dal and noticed, observed, and truly saw her, as Yong-Pil did. However, his feelings never made their way to her because Yong-Pil and Sam-Dal were always locked in with each other since day one.
Now that Sang-Do is a prosperous man with all the resources and wealth he struggled and strove for during the younger days, not to mention Sam-Dal and Yong-Pil have been apart for nearly a decade — he wants to pursue her freely.
He begins tending to her and being there for her small and big needs every chance he gets, trying to do everything for her he could never do when they were young, because of his best friend Yong-Pil.
Also Read: Cho Yong-Pil: Welcome to Samdal-ri character explained