''Splendid Politics'' () is a 2015

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 ...

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

starring

Cha Seung-won Cha Seung-won (; born June 7, 1970) is a South Korean actor, who began his career as an in-demand model (person), fashion model in the 1990s. Cha achieved stardom through the hit comedy films ''Kick the Moon'' (2001), ''Jail Breakers'' (2002), ' ...

, Lee Yeon-hee, Kim Jaewon, Seo Kang-joon, Han Joo-wan and Jo Sung-ha. It aired on MBC from April 13 to September 29, 2015 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 22:00 for 50 episodes. The

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

title ''Hwajeong'' is a shortened version of ''Hwaryeohan Jeongchi'' (literally "Splendid Politics").

Plot

Prince Gwanghae (portrayed by

), son of a concubine, usurps the

Joseon 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 ...

throne from the direct bloodline of his father, King Seonjo (portrayed by Park Yeong-gyu). After her younger brother, Grand Prince Yeongchang (portrayed by Jeon Jin-seo), is executed,

Princess Jeongmyeong Princess Jeongmyeong (; 27 June 1603 – 8 September 1685) was a Joseon Royal Princess as the tenth daughter of King Seonjo from Queen Inmok. During her older half-brother's reign, she suffered hardships, and her title was revoked, but later it ...

(portrayed by Lee Yeon-hee), who managed to flee the palace during the massacre, starts living as a commoner disguised as a man while plotting her revenge.

Cast

Main

as Yi Hon, Prince Gwanghae ** Lee Tae-hwan as young Yi Hon * Lee Yeon-hee as

**Jung Chan-bi as young Princess Jeongmyeong ** Heo Jung-eun as child Princess Jeongmyeong * Kim Jae-won as Prince Neungyang, later King Injo * Seo Kang-joon as Hong Joo-won **

Yoon Chan-young Yoon Chan-young (; born April 25, 2001) is a South Korean actor. He began his career as a child actor and gained wider recognition for his appearance as Lee Cheong-san in the Netflix series '' All of Us Are Dead'' (2022) and the web series A ...

as young Hong Joo-won ** Choi Kwon-soo as child Hong Joo-won * Han Joo-wan as Kang In-woo ** Ahn Do-gyu as young Kang In-woo **Lee Tae-woo as child Kang In-woo * Jo Sung-ha as Kang Joo-sun, Kang In-woo's father

Supporting

Royal Household

* Park Yeong-gyu as King Seonjo * Shin Eun-jung as

Queen Inmok Queen Inmok (; 5 December 1584 – 3 August 1632), of the Yonan Kim clan, was a posthumous name bestowed to the wife and second queen consort of Yi Yeon, King Seonjo, the 14th Joseon monarch. She was queen consort of Joseon from 1602 until her ...

Choi Jong-hwan Choi Jong-hwan (; born September 24, 1964) is a South Korean actor. Choi won Producer's Award for his role in ''Gyebaek (TV series), Gyebaek'' and ''The Duo'' at the 2011 MBC Drama Awards, MBC Drama Awards in 2011. Filmography Television serie ...

Prince Imhae Prince Imhae (; 20 September 1572 – 3 June 1609; personal name Yi Jin, childhood name Yi Jin-Guk), was a Joseon Royal Prince as the eldest son of King Seonjo and the elder brother of King Gwanghae. He was known for such a violent and arrogant ...

Jang Seung-jo Jang Hyun-deok (; born December 13, 1981), known professionally as Jang Seung-jo, is a South Korean actor, known for his roles in ''Money Flower'' (2017–2018), ''Snowdrop'' (2021-2022),''Familiar Wife'' (2018) and ''Encounter (South Korean TV ...

as Prince Jeongwon, Prince Neungyang's father *Kim Gyu-sun as Princess Jeonghye *Jeon Jin-seo as Grand Prince Yeongchang *Lee Seung-ah as Queen Inryeol *

Baek Sung-hyun Baek Sung-hyun (; born January 30, 1989) is a South Korean actor. Career Baek Sung-hyun made his acting debut in the 1994 film ''I Wish for What Is Forbidden to Me'' when he was five years old. The child actor practically grew up onscreen, pl ...

as Crown Prince Sohyeon ** Shin Ki-joon as child Crown Prince Sohyeon * Kim Hee-jung as Crown Princess Minhoe * Lee Tae-ri as Grand Prince Bongrim, later King Hyojong **Song Jun-hee as child Grand Prince Bongrim * Kim Min-seo as Jo Yeo-jeong / Royal Consort So-yong of the Okcheon Jo clan *Choi Woo-jin as Yi Jing, Prince Sungseon

Northern Faction (Gwanghae Group)

* Jung Woong-in as Lee Yi-cheom * Kim Yeo-jin as Court Lady Kim Gae-shi ** Jo Jung-eun as young Kim Gae-shi ** Shin Rin-ah as child Kim Gae-shi *Han Myung-koo as Chung In-hong *Yoo Seung-mok as Yoo Hee-boon *Jung Kyu-soo as Lee Choong *Lee Jae-gu as the Chief Eunuch

Western Faction (Injo Group)

Jo Min-ki Jo Min-ki (November 5, 1965 – March 9, 2018) was a South Korean actor. He is best known for his roles in the television series ''Love and Ambition'', '' East of Eden'', '' Queen Seondeok'', and '' Flames of Desire''. He was also a noted photo ...

as Kim Ja-jeom *

Park Jun-gyu Park Jun-gyu (born June 27, 1964) is a South Korean actor. The son of acclaimed veteran actor Park No-sik, Park is best known for playing the role of Ssangkal in '' Rustic Period''. Filmography Film *''Quit Your Life'' (1971) *''Zip Up'' (1972 ...

as Kim Ryu * Jang Gwang as Yi Gwi *Kim Hyung-beom as Kim Kyung-jing, Kim Ryu's son *

Lee Seung-hyo Lee Seung Hyo (; born 5 May 1980), is a South Korea , South Korean actor. He debuted as an actor in 2006. He rose to fame as Kim Alcheon in ''Queen Seon Deok''. Biography He had military service as a sniper in Joint Security Area (JSA) from D ...

as Lee Si-baek *Kim Seo-kyung as Lee Si-bang *Jung Wook as a State Ceremony Eunuch

People around Princess Jeongmyeong

* Im Ho as Choi Myung-gil *

Lee Jae-yong Lee Jae-yong (; born June 23, 1968) is a South Korean business executive who has served as the executive chairman of Samsung Electronics since October 2022. He is the only son of Lee Kun-hee and Hong Ra-hee. As of December 2024, Lee has an e ...

as Kim Sang-hun * Kim Chang-wan as Lee Won-ik *Kim Seung-wook as Lee Hang-bok *

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 ...

as Hong Yeong, Hong Joo-won's father *Kim Young-im as Court Lady Jung * Gong Myung as Ja-gyung ** Kang Chan-hee as young Ja-gyung

Other subordinates

* Ahn Nae-sang as

Heo Gyun Heo is a family name in Korea. It is also often spelled as Huh or Hur, or less commonly as Her or Hue. In South Korea in 1985, out of a population of between roughly 40 and 45 million, there were approximately 264,000 people surnamed Heo. The na ...

* Lee Sung-min as Lee Duk-hyung **Nam Da-reum as young Duk-hyung * Park Ji-il as Kim Je-nam,

's father *

Jung Hae-kyun Jung Hae-kyun (; born August 16, 1968) is a South Korean actor. He is known for his roles in '' The Villainess'', '' Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds'' and '' Confession of Murder''. He has appeared in many films and television series in a ...

as Kang Hong-rib

Cameo

* Park Won-sang as Jang Bong-soo * Kim Kwang-kyu as Yi Yeong-bu * Kwak Dong-yeon as Yi Ui-rip *Jo Jae-ryong as Bang-Geun * Lee Seung-hyung as Yi-seo * Kim Hyun as Court Lady Inspector * Hwang Young-hee as Ok-joo *Baek Su-ryeon as Soo Ryun-gae *Lee Jae-gu * Kim Ki-bang as Gu-bok * Kim Kyu-chul *

Kang Shin-il Kang Shin-il (born November 26, 1960) is a South Korean actor. Kang graduated from Kyung Hee University with a degree in electronic engineering, but he soon put aside his studies and spent most of his time in Daehangno, Seoul's theater district, ...

Jung Ji-so Hyun Seung-min (; born September 17, 1999), known professionally as Jung Ji-so () is a South Korean actress. Hyun made her acting debut as a child actress in the 2012 television drama ''May Queen''. She is best known internationally for her rol ...

as Eun-seol *Kang Dae-hyun as Su-Deok *Kang Moon-young as Lady Yoon, Kang Joo-sun's wife *Kim So-yi as Court Lady Choi *Baek Soo-ryun as Soo Ryun-gae * Jang Hyuk-jin as Maruno *Jung Sung-woon as

Hong Taiji Hong Taiji (28 November 1592 – 21 September 1643), also rendered as Huang Taiji and sometimes referred to as Abahai in Western literature, also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizong of Qing, was the second khan of the Later Jin ...

*Kim Joon-bae as Yong Gol-dae

Ratings

In the table below, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

''Splendid Politics'' official MBC website
* *

at MBC Global Media {{Works by Kim Jong-hak Production 2015 South Korean television series debuts 2015 South Korean television series endings MBC TV television dramas South Korean historical television series Television series by Kim Jong-hak Production Television series set in Joseon