The Story

The story starts with a very tardy girl named Jung Yujin, who comes from Choonchun and is a junior in her high school. Her childhood friend, Kim Sang Hyuk, is always there to help her on her problems, especially her tardiness. On a bus that stops near her school, she falls asleep in the bus and misses her stop. There she meets the dark and mysterious Kang Joon Sang, a transfer student from Seoul. The two happen to go to the same school and share a cab back to the school.

The two are complete opposites. Joon Sang is quiet and he likes to keep things to himself. Yujin is sometimes too loud and she's known to draw people out of their shells. Yujin and Joon Sang play hooky and skip school to be with each other. Yujin finds out on this day that Joon Sang came to Choonchun because he is looking for his father, who his mother says is dead. This is the point where Yujin and Joon Sang start falling for each other, and when the next day arrives, Oh Chelin, a friend of Yujin's and Sang Hyuk get very jealous. Joon Sang starts courting her, until Sang Hyuk has had enough and follows Joon Sang, finding out that he is taking private lessons with his father. He makes Joon Sang spill out his secrets and Yujin hears that he is only using her, which leads them to stop dating each other.

Joon Sang and Yujin are supposed to have a date on Saturday, but the gang, Chelin, Jin Suk, Yong Kuk and Sang Hyuk have plans and invite the two to a cabin in the forest for a getaway. The two come along, but what they don't know is that this outing only brings them back together. Soon after, they start dating again, and fall for each other even more. Yujin gives Joon Sang her gloves and asks that he return them on New Years Eve. This day is also the day that Yujin and Joon Sang tell each other a secret. Though for some reason, Joon Sang doesn't come and Yujin finds out the next day. It turns out that Joon Sang died in a car accident and Yujin breaks down in tears.

Ten years later, Yujin is engaged to Sang Hyuk and the two have an engagement ceremony. On that day, Yujin gets her hair done and sees Joon Sang. She spends so much time looking for him but loses him in the crowd. She then misses the engagement ceremony but the two eventually get engaged. After the engagement, she is assigned to work at a firm, where she sees the Joon Sang look-alike. She then finds out that he isn't Joon Sang and that he is Lee Min Hyung, an architect from the United States. He says he has never been to Korea and he was born and raised in the U.S. She also finds out he is dating Chelin, who also happens to have loved Joon Sang.

Things get complicated for Yujin as she tries to keep the memory of Joon Sang alive in Min Hyung. Min Hyung falls in love with Yujin and breaks up with Chelin. Chelin gets very angry and feels that this is happening all over again. Sang Hyuk also feels uncomfortable because Yujin can only see Joon Sang in Min Hyung. Yujin also falls for Min Hyung and dumps Sang Hyuk. But Sang Hyuk drives himself crazy and doesn't eat or drink for days. She leaves Min Hyung and goes back to Sang Hyuk, even though she still loves Min Hyung.

Time passes and nothing much changes. Min Hyung is often mistaken for Joon Sang and suddenly gets much information about him, only finding out that he himself is Joon Sang. He tries to tell Yujin this, but Yujin says he is only trying to fool around with her feelings. Min Hyung gives up and decides to move back to the States. On the day the he goes to the States, she finds out that he really is Joon Sang and stops him from going. Min Hyung doesn't remember anything and then leaves her the next day when she's asleep, knowing this wasn't meant to be. Yujin wakes up shortly and reads his message. She looks for him and sees him across the street. She runs between the cars and as soon as she gets almost hit by a car, he pushes her out of the way and gets into a car accident again, which helps him remember memories of Yujin. The two fall in love again and decide to get married. Trying to get blessings from their parents, they see that both of their mothers disagree. The two investigate and find out the real reason, which is because Joon Sang's mother loved Yujin's father, and she can't come to this decision for that.

Joon Sang investigates more, knowing this isn't the real reason. Then the real reason is revealed, and he finds out Yujin and Joon Sang are half brothers and sisters from Yujin's dad and Joon Sang's mom. This breaks Joon Sang's heart and tries not to tell Yujin. Yujin finds out anyway and sees that they cannot be. Joon Sang decides to really go back to the States and Yujin decides to study abroad. Yujin gives Joon Sang a design she made for a house, and Joon Sang also finds out that he is dying from some severe damage done to his head. He is told to get an operation and after the operation, he is either blind or he dies. Before he goes back to the States, he finds that Sang Hyuk's dad is his real father, and not Yujin's, meaning Sang Hyuk and Joon Sang are half brothers. And Joon Sang did not tell Yujin the truth that they are not half brother and half sister because Sang Hyuk asked him to let Yujin go. However, Sang Hyuk told Yujin the truth that he and Joon Sang are half brothers and Joon Sang is not her half brother out of sympathy for Joon Sang as Sang Hyuk found out that Joon Sang is either going blind or dies. However, Joon Sang and Yujin still separate apart as Joon Sang is having surgery in the States and Yujin is studying in France. The two split apart for three years. After three years, Jin Suk and Yong Kuk have a baby girl and Yujin comes back from France where she studied. The gang have a reunion and Yujin goes back to work. Her boss, Jung Ah, shows her a house that looks exactly like the design she gave Joon Sang. Yujin visits this house, and on that same day, Joon-Sang visits that house,too, since he built it, and then Joon-Sang meets with Yujin. She discovers Joon Sang is blind from the operation and the two are finally together in the end.

good drama..i watch a few time only

my all time favourite drama..watched this more than 10X & still loving it...Jung Sang & Yu Jin was such a great pair...very2 great chemistry

Winter Sonata rocks. Its so romantic to me and I could actually feel the feelings that the chac have in the movies. I was kinda sad when Kang Joon Sang dies and Yujin but there is a lot of beautifukl scenes in the story so if you haven't watched and you want to watch it get it fropm any selling stores that sells Korean movies.
LOVE THAT MOVIE!

sad and a worthwhile drama to watch. nothing really different, except i was surprised that it took them so long to reunite at the end. i was extremely sad to find out that he had permanently lost his vision though! the childhood parts are really sweet even though it's short.

oh it is a very beautiful story. here in Uzbekistan all the people due to the movie are in luv with kdramas and can't help watching them. They are translated into russian and uzbek languages and millions watch them. Currently at 8 pm there're at least 3 korean movie series going on. It all started with the Winter Sonata... great one! hi from the Central Asia, center of the world))

winter sonata was actually my first korean drama I've ever watched!
got the DVD box as a present...I didn't expect much..but then..awww...it's really beautiful!!!!
I was crying..even I didn't understand everything...><

This was one of the first Korean Drama that I watched over the Christmas holidays and got me hooked. Very sad and of course I cried a lot. There's no turning now.

really love this dramma.. i bought the Cd... jung sang mesmerize....

I adore this drama, it was among the first ones I ever watched. The story, the music, the actors, the surroundings; everything was perfect. Out of dramas from Endless love, I liked Winter sonata the best. And the music was awesome, I even got the cd!