''Royal Secret Agent'' () is a South Korean historical comedy,

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...

television series. The series is directed by Kim Jung-min and stars Kim Myung-soo,

Kwon Nara Kwon Ah-yoon (; born March 13, 1991), better known by the stage name Kwon Nara (), is a South Korean actress and former singer. Before she transitioned to acting career she is best known as one of the original members of the South Korean girl g ...

, Lee Tae-hwan,

Lee Yi-kyung Lee Yi-kyung (; born January 8, 1989) is a South Korean actor. Career Lee enrolled in Seoul Institute of the Arts Acting Department class of 2011. Lee made his acting debut in 2011, and first gained recognition from playing a rebellious stud ...

, and

Jo Soo-min Jo Soo-min (; born March 5, 1999) is a South Korean actress. Filmography Film Television series Web series Television shows Awards and nominations References External links * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jo, Soo-min 1997 births L ...

. Written by Kang Min-sun and Park Sung-hoon the series is about a government position in

Joseon dynasty Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

known as

Secret royal inspector The secret royal inspector in Korea was a temporary position unique to the Joseon Dynasty, in which an undercover official directly appointed by the king was sent to local provinces to monitor government officials and look after the populace whil ...

, who monitors corrupt government officials while remaining undercover. It aired on

KBS2 KBS 2TV is a South Korean free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen ...

every Monday and Tuesday at 21:30 ( KST) from December 21, 2020, to February 9, 2021.

Synopsis

Set in the era of

the series revolves around Sung Yi-gyum ( Kim Myung-soo), a state examination top scorer who works in the administrative and research department of the government office. He is caught gambling and as punishment, he is reassigned to a new position as a

secret royal inspector The secret royal inspector in Korea was a temporary position unique to the Joseon Dynasty, in which an undercover official directly appointed by the king was sent to local provinces to monitor government officials and look after the populace whil ...

to investigate the corrupt practices of public officers. Yi-gyum carries out his new job with the help of Hong Da-in (

), a female inspector, and Park Chun-sam (

), his talkative but affectionate servant.

Cast

Main

The three musketeers

* Kim Myung-soo as Sung Yi-gyum, a

* Kwon Na-ra as Hong Da-in/Honglang/Lee Young-sin, female police posing as a courtesan whose beauty is comparable to

Hwang Jini Hwang Jini or Hwang Jin-yi (; 1506–1567), also known by her '' kisaeng'' name Myeongwol ("bright moon", ), was one of the most famous '' kisaeng'' of the Joseon period. She lived during the reign of King Jungjong. She was noted for her except ...

. She becomes a member of Royal Secret Agent's entourage. *

as Park Chun-sam, Sung Yi-gyum's servant.

Around three musketeers

* Lee Tae-hwan as Sung Yi-beom, Sung Yi-gyum's half-brother, head of the band of vigilante *

as Kang Soon-ae, Sung Yi-gyum's ex-lover, daughter of a courtesan

Supporting

Ahn Nae-sang Ahn Nae-sang (; born December 25, 1964) is a South Korean actor. He began his career on the stage, and in 1994 made his film debut in the Bong Joon-ho short film ''Baeksekin'' ("White Man" or "White-collar worker"), followed by Jang Sun-woo's ...

as Jang Tae-seung, Chief Royal Secretary *

Son Byong-ho Son Byong-ho (; born August 25, 1962) is a South Korean actor. Son is known for his role in action films, notably, '' R-Point'' (2004), '' Running Wild'' (2006), '' The Good, the Bad, the Weird'' (2008) and '' Insu, The Queen Mother'' (2011). ...

as Kim Byeong-geun, Chief State Councillor * Kim Young-cheol * Choi Jong-won as Kang In-chung, corrupt sheriff * Ha Young as Kim Mi-ok * Park Joo-hyung as Seo Yong * Kim Kyung-sook * Lee Min-woo *

Um Hyo-sup Um Hyo-sup (born October 24, 1966) is a South Korean actor. Um mostly plays supporting role A supporting character is a character in a narrative that is not the focus of the primary storyline, but is important to the plot/protagonist, and ...

* Chae Dong-hyun as Kim Man-hee, Kim Byeong-geun's first son * Jong Ho as Man Deok * Shin Ji-hoon as Choi Do-kwan * Jo Deok-hee as Jung Moon-ho *

Yang Byung-yeol Yang Byung-yeol (; born 23 November 1993) is a South Korean theatre, film and television actor. He debuted in 2015 in Naver TV's web drama ''Dream Knight'' and was active under the stage name 'Kang Yun-je'. He later on began working under his b ...

as Civil servant Kim

Production

By July 2020, the main cast of the series with Lee Tae-hwan, Kim Myung-soo, Kwon Nara and Lee Yi-kyung was finalized. The broadcast was initially scheduled to be premiered on November 2, 2020, but due to re-proliferation of COVID-19, the production was delayed. In October, group script reading was held. The still photos in the period costume, from the set of series were released by KBS as the filming progressed.

Original soundtrack

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Episodes

Viewership

As per the audience rating of AGB Nielsen Media Research, the second part of the final episode, recorded 14% average TV viewership ratings. This is the highest record for its ratings.

Notes

International broadcast

The series is available same time as Korea, as an iQIYI Original and exclusively on

iQIYI iQIYI (, pronounced in English as ), formerly Qiyi (), is a Chinese subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Baidu. Headquartered in Beijing, iQIYI primarily produces and distributes films and television series. i ...

globally (except China and Korea) with multi-languages subtitles. It is also available non-exclusively on

in South Korea.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
''Royal Secret Agent''
at Daum * * * {{Works by IWill Media Korean Broadcasting System television dramas Korean-language television shows 2020 South Korean television series debuts 2021 South Korean television series endings Alternate history television series Television series set in Joseon South Korean historical television series South Korean comedy television series Television series by IWill Media Television productions suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic