SEOUL (THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Military doctor Yoon Myeong Joo, played by rising star Kim Ji Won, was supposed to be killed in a draft script for Descendants Of The Sun, the local media said on Friday (April 15).

The final episode that aired on Thursday had a happy ending, with none of main characters - military officer Yoo Shi Jin, surgeon Kang Mo Yeon, officer Seo Dae Yeong and Yoon - wounded or killed.

After a series of discussions between screenwriter Kim Eun Sook and the production team, it was decided that the drama would end on a happy note.

"I was initially told that I was supposed to die," Kim Ji Won told the media off the record when the drama was being aired. "But I was content with the final scenario, which makes everyone happy."

In 2004, Kim Eun Sook left many viewers baffled and upset with the ending to her drama Lovers In Paris. The last episode had record high nation-wide ratings of 56.3 per cent, but was harshly criticised because it hinted that the drama's love story between an ordinary woman and a rich businessman could have just been a figment of a writer character's imagination.