''West Palace'' () is a 1995

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

Lee Young-ae Lee Young-ae (; born January 31, 1971) is a South Korean actress. She is known for her appearances in the Korean historical drama ''Dae Jang Geum'' (2003), and as a revenge-seeking single mother in Park Chan-wook's crime thriller film ''Lady V ...

Kim Kyu-chul Kim Kyu-chul (born April 6, 1960) is a South Korean actor. Kim spent more than a decade as a stage actor before he made his onscreen breakthrough in 1993 with Im Kwon-taek's '' Seopyeonje'', considered one of the classics of Korean cinema. Kim b ...

and

Lee Bo-hee Lee Bo-hee (; born 25 May 1959) is a South Korean actress. Lee won a number of awards for her film roles in the 1980s, including Best New Actress for ''The Green Pine Tree'' at the 22nd Grand Bell Awards, Best Actress for '' Eoudong'' at the 22n ...

. 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 ...

from July 7 to December 26, 1995, on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:40 for 52 episodes.

Synopsis

The series is based on the reign of

Gwanghaegun of Joseon Gwanghaegun or Prince Gwanghae (; 4 June 1575 – 7 August 1641), personal name Yi Hon (), was the 15th monarch of the Joseon, Joseon dynasty of Korea. As he was deposed in a ''coup d'état'', he did not receive a temple name. Biography Bi ...

, a conflict with his stepmother,

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 ...

and scheming concubine, Kim Gae-shi. Kim Gae-shi (portrayed by

) is given ''Seung-eun'' (승은) by the Crown Prince Gwanghae (portrayed by

). Although Kim receives seung-eun, she already has a lover, Won-pyo (portrayed by Kim Bo-sung), an excellent swordsman, who enters the palace to stay by her side. However, Won-pyo dies after trying to protect her during the rebellion. Meanwhile,

(portrayed by

) is a virtuous lady that fell victim to palace politics and is subsequently banished to the West Palace along with her children:

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 Park Rusia) and

Grand Prince Yeongchang Grand Prince Yeongchang (; 12 April 1606 – 19 March 1614), personal name Yi Ui, was a Joseon royal prince as the only legitimate son of King Seonjo, from Queen Inmok who was born when his father was already 55 years old. Due to this, Yeonguij ...

(portrayed by Choi Kang-won) after Gwanghaegun is bewitched by his scheming concubine, Kim, whose ambitions and insatiable thirst for power leads to her own downfall.

Cast

Main

as Court Lady Kim Gae-shi / Gae-dong **Lee Jung-hu as young Kim Gae-shi *

as Yi Hon, Crown Prince Gwanghae, King Gwanghae *

as Queen Dowager Inmok (Soseong) **Park So-ra as young Queen Inmok

Supporting

Royal Household

*Kim Sung-ok as Yi Yeon, King Seonjo *Park Jin-hyung as Yi Jong, Prince Neungyang King Injo *Lee Han-na as Royal Noble Consort In of the Suwon Kim clan *

Jang Seo-hee Jang Seo-hee (; born January 5, 1972) is a South Korean actress. She has starred in numerous television dramas, including '' Miss Mermaid'' (2002) and '' Temptation of Wife'' (2008), which were both extremely successful in the ratings and earne ...

as Crown Princess Consort Yu, Queen Yoo *Im Hyuk-joo as Yi Jin, Prince Imhae *Park Nam-hyun as Yi Je, Prince Heungan *Choi Kang-won as Yi Ui, Grand Prince Yeongchang *Park Rusia as

*Lee Jae-yun as Yi Bu, Prince Jeongwon, King Wonjong

Ministers and nobles

Seo In-seok Seo In-seok (born February 22, 1949) is a South Korean actor. Seo made his acting debut in 1976, and among his notable television series are the historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramati ...

as Yi I-cheom *Han In-soo as Kim Je-nam, Queen Inmok's father. *Ahn Dae-yong as Kang Hong-rip *Moon Chang-kil as Yoo Geun *Kim Jong-kyul 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 ...

*Su-hak as Ki Ja-hun * Shin-goo as Yi Won-ik *Park-woong as Jung Chul *Park Chil-yong as Yi San-hae *Tae Min-yung as Yoo Hee-boon *Im Byung-ki as Park Seung-jong *Kim Si-won as Yi Duk-hyung *Park Yung-mok as Yi Hang-bok *Lee Jung-woong as Yi Gwi *Park Seung-kyu as Yi Gwal *Kim Sung-chan as Kim Ja-jeom *Kim Chang-bong as Yi Kwang-jung *Kim Sung-won as Kim Yoo *Lee Doo-sup as Kim Yook *Sun Dong-hyuk as Choi Myung-kil *Lee Han-wi as General Jang Soo *Yoo Byung-han as Ha-sam *Choi Dong-joon as Lee Duk-hyung *Lee Kyung-yung as Park Ja-heung, Crown Prince Gwanghae's relative *Heo Hyun-ho as Yi Soo, Prince Gwichun *Kang In-duk as Seo Yang-kap *Kim Kyung-eung as Shim Woo-yung *Seo Yung-jin as Park Eung-su *Ahn Gwang-jin as Park Chi-ui *Kim Jung-hoon as Im Sook-yung *Park Kun-shik as Han Hee-kil *Lee Han-seung as Yun Bang *Lee Yong-jin as Kwon Pil *Jo Jae-hoon as Jung Hang *Jin Woon-sung as Yi Jung-pyo *Ki Jung-soo as Han Hyo-soon *Park Yong-shik as Yi Heung-rip *Heo Jung-kyu as Yi Ahn-jin *Jang Ki-yong as Kim Kyung-su *Park Hae-sang as Shin Kyung-jin *Sun Dong-hyuk as Choi Myung-kil *Kim Dong-wan as Choi Kwon *Choi Hun-chul as Uhm Il-goe *Lee Chun-shik as Choon Bo * Kim Bo-sung as Won-pyo **

Jung Tae-woo Jung Tae-woo (; born March 23, 1982) is a South Korean actor. Much of his work has been in the genre of Korean historical dramas such as '' Taejo Wang Geon'', '' Dae Jo-yeong'', and ''The King and I''. Career Like many South Korean actors Jun ...

as young Won-pyo *Seo Sang-ik as

Jeong In-hong Jeong (the Revised Romanization spelling of ) may refer to: *Jeong (surname) *Jeong (given name) *Qing (concept) In Chinese philosophy, ''qing'' ( zh, c=, p=qíng) is a concept translated variously as "emotion", "feeling", "sentiment", or "passion" ...

*Park Jung-woong as Eo-ui

Palace maids and eunuchs

*Kim In-moon as Eunuch Ham *Lee Jong-man as Eunuch Han *

Kim Eul-dong Kim Eul-dong (; born 5 September 1945) is a South Korean politician and former actress. She entered politics after retiring from acting. She was the 18th, 19th (Songpa District) member of the National Assembly, and the female chairperson of the ...

as Court Lady Uhm *

Jang Jung-hee Jang Jung-hee (; born June 20, 1958), is a South Korean actress. She mostly plays supporting roles in television dramas. Filmography Television drama Film References External links * * 1958 births Living people South Korean ...

as Court Lady Ji * Kim Min-hee as Maid Eum-duk

Other families

Yang Geum-seok Yang Geum-seok (; born January 22, 1961) is a South Korean actress. Filmography Film Television series Variety show Awards and nominations References External links

* * * 1961 births Living people People fro ...

as Lady Kang, Kim Gae-shi's mother. *Uhm Yoo-shin as Lady No, Kim Je-nam's wife. *

Park Joon-geum Park Joon-geum (; born 29 July 1962) is a South Korean actress. An alumnus of Kyung Hee University, Department of Dance, she is also a visiting professor in College of Culture and Arts Engineering, Kangwon National University. She made her act ...

as Lady Lee, Lee Yi-cheom's wife. *

Kim Young-ok Kim Young-ok (; born January 6, 1938) is a South Korean actress who debuted in 1957. She is known as South Korea's "National Grandma" for her many portrayals of grandmothers in film and television. Career In 1959, Kim joined the Chuncheon B ...

as Lady Ryu, Lee Yi-cheom's mother. *Ko Hee-joon as Won-pyo's adoptive father.

Extended cast

*Park Byung-ho as a missionary ambassador *Park Yong-gi as a Buddhist monk *Lee Hyo-jung *Seo Yung-ae *Moon Su-in *Yoo Byung-hwan *Kwon Oh-hyun

Production

#It was

and Choi Dong-joon first appearance in a historical drama. #The series emphasized Kim Gae-shi's role as Gwanghae's concubine so the production team added a fictional character, ''Won-pyo,'' who is Lady Kim's lover, to promote a love conflict.

References

{{reflist Korean Broadcasting System television dramas South Korean historical television series Television series set in Joseon 1995 South Korean television series debuts 1995 South Korean television series endings