''Innocent Defendant'' () is a

South Korean television series Korean drama (), also known as K-drama or Koreanovela, refers to Korean-language television shows made in South Korea. These shows began to be produced around the early 1960s, but were mostly consumed domestically until the rise of the Korean Wa ...

starring

Ji Sung Ji Sung (; born Kwak Tae-geun on 27 February 1977) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his roles in the television dramas '' All In'' (2003), ''Save the Last Dance for Me'' (2004), ''New Heart'' (2007), ''Protect the Boss'' (2011), ...

Um Ki-joon Um Ki-joon (; born March 23, 1976) is a South Korean actor. He made his acting debut in 1995 in the stage play ''Richard III'', though he later became best known as a musical theatre actor, starring in ''Singin' in the Rain'', ''The Sorrows of Y ...

Kwon Yu-ri Kwon Yu-ri (; born December 5, 1989), known mononymously as Yuri, is a South Korean singer, actress, and songwriter. She debuted as a member of girl group Girls' Generation (and later its subgroup Girls' Generation-Oh!GG) in August 2007, which ...

Oh Chang-seok Oh Chang-seok (born June 2, 1982) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his leading role in the 2013 television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for v ...

, and

Uhm Hyun-kyung Uhm Hyun-kyung (; born November 4, 1986) is a South Korean actress. She first appeared in '' Rainbow Romance'' in 2005. In her recent years, Hyun-kyung became notable for playing the evil and two-faced villain A villain (also known as ...

. It aired on SBS from January 23 to March 21, 2017 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 22:00 ( KST) for 18 episodes.

Synopsis

Park Jung-woo is a prosecutor at Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office. One day, he wakes up and finds himself a convict on death row. Suffering from temporary amnesia, Jung-woo has no idea what transpired to land him in prison. He struggles to recover his memory and clear his name.

Cast

Main

as Park Jung-woo :A Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office. The head of the violent crimes investigative division who never loses a case. *

as Cha Sun-ho / Cha Min-ho ** Han Ki-won as young Cha Sun-ho **

Han Ki-woong Han Ki-woong is a South Korean actor. He is known for his roles in dramas such as '' Love to the End'', '' Mother of Mine'', '' Apgujeong Midnight Sun'' and '' The Second Husband''. Filmography Television series Awards and nominations Ref ...

as young Cha Min-ho :Cha Sun-ho is the President of Chamyung Group and Cha Min-ho's older brother. :Cha Min-ho is the Vice President of Chamyung Group and the younger brother of Cha Sun-ho. He is neglected and abused by his father. *

as Seo Eun-hye :A defense lawyer who strives to be eloquent and rational, but loses in court every single time. She takes up Jung-woo's case. *

as Kang Jun-hyuk :Jung-woo's best friend and fellow Prosecutor at the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office. *

as Na Yeon-hee :Sun-ho's wife and daughter of a bankrupt

chaebol A chaebol ( , ; , ) is a large industrial South Korean conglomerate run and controlled by an individual or family. A chaebol often consists of multiple diversified affiliates, controlled by a person or group. Several dozen large South Kore ...

, who has a fiery ambition to succeed.

Supporting

People around Jung-woo

Son Yeo-eun Son Yeo-eun (; born August 4, 1983), birth name Byeon Na-yeon, is a South Korean actress. Son was nominated for Best New Actress for Television at the Baeksang Arts Awards The Baeksang Arts Awards (), also known as the Paeksang Arts Awards, ...

as Yoon Ji-soo, Jung-woo's wife. *

Shin Rin-ah Shin Rin-ah (; born May 14, 2009) is a South Korean actress. Filmography Film Television series Awards and nominations References External links Official websiteat IOK Company * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shin, Rin-ah 2009 births Living peopl ...

as Park Ha-yeon, Jung-woo's daughter. * Kang Sung-min as Yoon Tae-soo, Jung-woo's brother-in-law. A prison officer. * Sung Byung-suk as Oh Jung-hee, Jung-woo's mother-in-law.

Prosecutors

Park Ho-san Park Ho-san (; born Park Jung-hwan on October 18, 1972) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his performance in the stage play ''Suck'' (2008), ''In the Heights'' (2015), ''Chuncheon There'' (2009, 2015), ''Waiting for Heroes'' (2013), ...

as Choi Dae-hong * Lee Shin-sung as Ko Dong-yoon * Han Ji-woo as Yeo Min-kyung *Jung Dong-gyu as Deputy Prosecutor General

Wol-jeong Prison

* Kim Min-seok as Lee Sung-gyu :Born on 16 December 1990, Lee Sung-gyu is a convict charged with assault. The prison's quick-witted mood maker, who helps take care of Jung-woo. *

Jo Jae-yoon Jo Jae-yoon (; born October 29, 1974) is a South Korean actor. He made his acting debut in 2003 and has since starred as a supporting actor in numerous films and television series, including '' The Man from Nowhere'' (2010), ''The Chaser'' (20 ...

as Shin Cheol-sik :Jung-woo's jail-mate who was serving life imprisonment for murder. He was jailed by Jung-woo for killing his boss, later to be revealed that he was falsely accused of the crime. * Yoon Yong-hyun as Chief Priest *

Woo Hyun Woo Hyun (born 1964) is a South Korean actor and former democracy activist. Filmography Film Television series Variety shows References External links * Living people Male actors from Gwangju South Korean male television actors ...

as Han Sang-wook aka Milyang A former doctor, he is a life convict and who had been imprisoned for twenty-years by the time he became Jung-woo's jail-mate. *

Oh Dae-hwan Oh Dae-hwan (born July 5, 1979) is a South Korean actor. He appeared in television series such as '' Squad 38'' (2016), ''Shopping King Louie'' (2016), ''Radiant Office'' (2017), ''The Red Sleeve ''The Red Sleeve'' () is a South Korean tel ...

as Cheon Pil-jae / Moong Chi aka Bundle :Jung-woo's helper. * Jo Jae-ryong as Oh Hyuk-joo aka Rockfish :Jung-woo's jail-mate.

Chamyung Group

Jang Gwang Jang Gwang (born January 5, 1952) is a South Korean actor in film and television. Filmography Film * ''Taste of Horror – Gym for Residents'' (TBA) * '' Air Murder'' (2022) * ''Sinkhole (2021) * ''White Day: Broken Barrier'' (2021) * ' ...

as Cha Young-woon *

Ye Soo-jung Ye Soo-jung (; born on 25 March 1955) is a South Korean actress. In 1979, she made her debut in the play ''A Woman Named Solitude'' and she presented a well-balanced and solid performance with her solid interpretive skills and broad perspectives ...

as Myung Geum-ja *

Kim Kyung-nam Kim Kyung-nam (; born December 21, 1989) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his roles in the television series ''Prison Playbook'' (2017–2018), ''Come and Hug Me'' (2018), ''Where Stars Land ''Where Stars Land'' () is a South Kor ...

as Executive Secretary

Extended

*Kim Seung-hoon as Prison Security Chief *

Baek Ji-won Baek Ji-won (; born April 30, 1973) is a South Korean actress. She graduated in Horticultural Science from Kyung Hee University. She made her acting debut in 1996 in play ''My father got cancer''. She is known for her role in television serie ...

as Eun-hye's aunt *Seo In-sung as Cha Eun-soo, Yeon-hee's son. *Lee Jung-hun as Yeo Sung-soo * Oh Seung-hoon as Kim Seok, Cha Min-ho's henchman. *

Seo Jeong-yeon Seo Jeong-yeon (; born September 23, 1975) is a South Korean actress. She has starred in television series such as '' Righteous Love'' (2014) and ''Descendants of the Sun ''Descendants of the Sun'' () is a 2016 South Korean television ser ...

as Kim Sun-hwa, a psychiatrist. *

Hwang Young-hee Hwang Young-hee (born March 22, 1969) is a South Korean actress and model. She is known for her roles in the dramas '' Queen of Tears, '' While You Were Sleeping'', '' My Healing Love'', and ''Nokdu Flower,'' and in movies such as '' The Witne ...

as Cheon Pil-jae's older sister

Special appearances

* Kim Hwan as News Anchor (ep. 1) * Seo Dong-won as Detective Oh Jong-min (ep. 3, 7-8) * Han Kyu-won as Lee Chan-young (ep. 6) *

Oh Yeon-ah Oh Yeon-ah (; born December 1, 1981), birth name Kim Mi-ae (), is a South Korean actress. She has played many supporting roles in both films and television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general ref ...

as Jennifer Lee (ep. 7 & 8) *

Lee Deok-hwa Lee Deok-hwa (; born May 8, 1952) is a South Korean actor. Career Lee Deok-hwa studied theater and film at Dongguk University, and made his acting debut in 1972. He and his father, movie star Lee Ye-chun starred together in the 1975 horror fil ...

as Prisoner #2460 (ep. 8) *

Lee Si-eon Lee Si-eon (born Lee Bo-yeon on July 3, 1982) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his comic supporting role in the popular campus drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance ...

(ep. 18)

Production

''Innocent Defendant'' is directed by Jo Young-kwang of ''

49 Days ''49 Days'' () is a 2011 South Korean television series starring Lee Yo-won, Nam Gyu-ri, Jo Hyun-jae, Bae Soo-bin, Jung Il-woo, and Seo Ji-hye. It aired on SBS from March 16 to May 19, 2011 on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55 ( KST) for 2 ...

'', and written by Choi Su-jin of ''

City Hunter is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tsukasa Hojo. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1985 to 1991, with its chapters collected in 35 volumes. The manga was adapte ...

''. Its first script reading took place on November 18, 2016 at the SBS Studio in

Ilsan Ilsan New Town () refers to a planned city occupying Ilsandong District and Ilsanseo District of Goyang. Ilsan is located northwest of Seoul. Like other satellite cities in the Seoul National Capital Area such as Bundang, Ilsan was planned in o ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Original soundtrack

In December 2016, co-producer

Signal Entertainment Group Signal Entertainment Group Corp. (), founded in 1991, is a South Korean company specializing in the following businesses: show business, media and entertainment content, cosmetics and information technology. History Founded in 1991 as Sign ...

signed a deal with

KT Music Genie Music (), a subsidiary of KT Corporation, is a South Korean company that specializes in the production and distribution of music content. Its music streaming service is the second most used in South Korea with 2.5 million subscribers as ...

for the soundtrack of ''Innocent Defendant''.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Reception

The series was a commercial success with over 25% ratings and topped popularity charts. It received praise for its plot-focused narrative, impressive acting performance of lead actors

and

and its ability to resonate with the public. ''

The Korea Times ''The Korea Times'' () is a daily English-language newspaper in South Korea. It is a sister paper of the ''Hankook Ilbo'', a major Korean language, Korean-language daily. It is the oldest active daily English-language newspaper in South Korea. ...

'' said the drama is like a "warning sign to the evil and powerful figures of the real world"; and ''

Yonhap News Agency Yonhap News Agency (; ) is a major news agency in South Korea. It is based in Seoul, South Korea. Yonhap provides news articles, pictures, and other information to newspapers, TV networks and other media in South Korea. History Yonhap was esta ...

'' praise Ji's character as "putting a relatable human face on a tale that is often disturbingly grim and somber". However, it also had criticisms about its unrealistic plot and its tendency to repeat the same pattern of twists and turns to keep viewers hooked.

Ratings

In the table below, represent the lowest ratings and represent the highest ratings.

Awards and nominations

Adaptations

The series was adapted in Turkey as "Mahkum - Şehrin Kralları" and it has been broadcast on

Fox TV Fox Broadcasting Company, LLC (commonly known as Fox; stylized in all caps) is an American commercial broadcast television network serving as the flagship property of Fox Corporation and operated through Fox Entertainment. Fox is based at Fo ...

References

External links

''Innocent Defendant'' official SBS website

{{Studio S (South Korean company) Seoul Broadcasting System television dramas South Korean legal television series South Korean thriller television series Television series by Signal Entertainment Group Television series by Studio S 2017 South Korean television series debuts 2017 South Korean television series endings South Korean television series about prosecutors